20 For 20: Felli Has City In A Spin

The rundown of our most exciting Premier League games continues.

In a bid to discover the Club's most memorable games of the Premier League's 20 seasons, we asked fans to vote in an exclusive poll on evertonfc.com. Today, our countdown from 20 to one continues with an afternoon which saw Marouane Fellaini put Manchester City to the sword...

EVERTON 2-0 Manchester City, 16 January 2010
(Pienaar 36, Saha (pen) 45+3)
Att: 37,378

Marouane Fellaini’s remorseless mockery of Craig Bellamy encapsulated the chasmic superiority Everton enjoyed over defeated and demoralised Manchester City at Goodison Park.

Steven Pienaar’s sleek free-kick and Louis Saha’s unerring penalty had the game won by half-time – and the second period proved a torturous and harrowing experience for the clearly outclassed visitors.

Fellaini produced his finest display yet in an Everton shirt as he ruthlessly exposed City’s deficiencies with a midfield tour de force.

His impudent punishment of Bellamy with an extravagant pirouette was the highlight of a swaggering, arrogantly-brilliant performance from the sinewy youngster.

The imperious Marouane Fellaini gets to the ball ahead of Robinho

Fellaini’s sheer dominance was mirrored all over the pitch as the Blues won every individual battle, and the only unanswered question was how the scoreline lacked an appropriately humiliating complexion.

Bad luck was probably the only explanation. Tim Cahill, Fellaini and Saha all struck the woodwork, while a dizzying array of other chances went astray.

This really could have been an epic drubbing.

City will surely have better days but this was one to test their manager’s sanity.

Roberto Mancini even had to endure another rubber-spined cameo from Robinho, the ineffectual Brazilian subbed on and later withdrawn.

The Blues, meanwhile, are unbeaten in seven, seem to have found a gem in loan signing Landon Donovan and the imperious Fellaini already looks one of the Premier League’s most complete midfielders at the tender age of 22.

For a full match report, click here.

"I said two or three weeks ago I thought he was playing as well as anybody in that position [in the Premier League] and I think his performance today confirms that." - David Moyes on Man of the Match Marouane Fellaini

"The last few games he [Fellaini] has played really well, but in this game he was amazing. I don't know how many times he took the ball off the opposition - he was just everywhere." - Sylvain Distin

"From the time we came out of the tunnel through to the last minute when the ref blew the whistle, they were loud and supportive. It was fantastic." - Home debutant Landon Donovan thanks Everton’s supporters for his warm reception 

Making a point: Steven Pienaar celebrates his stunning free-kick opener

• A bus carrying the Togo national football team is attacked by gunmen on its way to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, killing three and injuring several others.
• A 4.5 magnitude aftershock strikes Haiti just days after an earthquake had devastated the country.
• China announces an increase of 28 per cent in the number of internet users in the country, taking the predicted figure to 384 million.
• The Sunday Mirror's defence correspondent Rupert Hamer is killed in an explosion in Afghanistan. He is the first British journalist to be killed there and the first to be killed in a war zone since 2003.
• 'Replay' by lyaz is No.1 in the UK singles chart, while acclaimed 3D flick ‘Avatar’ is attracting cinema-goers across the UK.
  

• Everton's next game saw them crash out of the FA Cup to Birmingham at Goodison Park but a run of five wins in their next six, including victories over Chelsea and Manchester United, revived their campaign.
• The Blues ended the season one-place outside of Europe in eighth.
• Manchester City finished fifth, narrowly missing out on the fourth and final Champions League spot, which instead went to Tottenham.
  

For a full 2009/10 fixture list, click here.