City had to wait until the 84th minute to break the deadlock on its final trip to Goodison, where youngster Nico O’Reilly put it in front with a close-range finish after Everton’s defence had frustrated Pep Guardiola’s side for much of the match.

Guardiola would have been hoping that his side’s 5-2 win over Crystal Palace last time out marked a turning point in the run-in. Instead, City endured a difficult time, struggling to find rhythm or clear chances for much of the match.

But it was O’Reilly, fresh off his first senior goal against Palace, who delivered, meeting Matheus Nunes’s low cross with a composed first-time finish to open the scoring.

Once one goal arrived, another followed as Mateo Kovacic sealed the points with an excellent finish on the slide in stoppage-time.

Everton had hit the post in the best chance of a cagey first half through a glanced header by James Tarkowski, who subsequently went off injured, while Kevin De Bruyne saw his curling strike superbly blocked away by Jake O’Brien.

Jarrad Branthwaite also saw a close-range header saved by Stefan Ortega early in the second half, while Savinho tested Jordan Pickford with a handful of driven shots.

City has moved into fourth place, just one point behind Newcastle United, which was hammered 4-1 by Aston Villa, while Everton remains in 13th place, having lost a Premier League game at home for the first time since January.

Guardiola later said he has been honoured to play at Goodison Park, which will host just two more matches before Everton leaves the stadium, which has been its 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.

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.”

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.”

Everton boss David 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 said.

“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.”