Pep Guardiola has been honoured to play at Goodison Park following Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

Guardiola’s side, who struggled for rhythm and fluency for much of the match, were made to wait until the 84th minute for their opening goal.

Youngster Nico O’Reilly broke the deadlock with a close-range finish following Matheus Nunes’ centre, while Mateo Kovacic sealed the points with a lovely finish in stoppage time.

Everton created some good chances of their own, mainly through headed efforts from James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite, but ultimately could not find the back of the net, resigning the Toffees to their first home Premier League loss since January.

Goodison Park will now host just two more matches before Everton leave the stadium, which has been their home since 1892.

“It has been truly, truly an honour to come here to Goodison Park for many years,” Guardiola said.

“Today I was on the pitch [before the game] watching on the screen, watching all the goals [at Goodison Park over the years] and I said, ‘Wow! This is English football!’”

Goodison Park is a stadium where Guardiola has had great success. In his nine visits across his time in the Premier League, he has won eight times and lost just once, at an aggregate score of 20-8 across those meetings.

He retains a win percentage of 88.89%, having picked up 2.67 points per game.

His one defeat came in his first visit to the ground back in 2017, when Everton won 4-0.

Guardiola said: “My friend Ronald Koeman destroyed me the first time I came here in a 4-0, with [Romelu] Lukaku [playing for Everton]. I remember perfectly.

“The beginning of an incredible adventure that we are living and have lived for almost a decade.”

Kevin De Bruyne, who is also set to have made his final appearance at Goodison,  received applause from around the ground when he went off in the 88th minute.

“I would like him to stay on the pitch for more time. When I made the substitution, he should walk, stay there, and enjoy that moment,” Guardiola said.

“Away [from home], the recognition for Kevin in this country has been and will be enormous.

“Because he gave a lot, a lot of joy, made the Premier League better, and he's behaved unbelievably as a sportsman.”

O’Reilly, who only scored his first senior goal in City’s 5-2 win over Crystal Palace last weekend, provided the breakthrough for City, and the youngster has been a real bright spark in recent months.

“I saw the space, so I just thought 'run into it' because I knew we had cover at the back,” O’Reilly, who is playing out of position at left-back, told Sky Sports.

“Luckily, Nunes flashed it across and I was there to finish it.

“My defending and positioning while defending is definitely improving. Every day I am just learning, and I am grateful for that.”

O'Reilly has had a hand in six goals across his last six appearances for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists).

Moyes, meanwhile, cited a second-half injury to Tarkowski as a turning point in the game.

“We might have just ran a little bit out of juice in the second half,” Moyes told BBC Sport.

“Losing James was a blow to us. We played really well for 60 minutes and then just ran out of it a little bit in the final 30 minutes.

"They have quality and more to bring off the bench. We'd done a good job of nullifying them.

“I was disappointed with the goal we conceded. We gave away a sloppy pass and then didn't defend the box well enough.”

While Everton have been in strong form under Moyes to surge clear from danger, they have won just two of their last 10 in the league (D6 L2), with both wins coming on the road.

City, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League games against Everton (W13 D3).