Reggae Boyz target, Gray, earns Everton point at Man City
LONDON, (CMC) – Jamaica Reggae Boyz target, Demarai Gray, scored a stunning equaliser as Everton held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in a feisty English Premier League match on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.
The goal on 64 minutes – the fourth for the 26-year-old winger – cancelled out the 24th minute opener for City from Erling Haaland.
The equaliser came after the Spaniard, Rodri, gave the ball away and Gray made ground before curling home a right-footed shot from the left side of the box into the top right corner from a little inside the area.
City threw everything they could at the visitors during 11 minutes of stoppage time, including six minutes to fix the headset of an assistant referee, but Everton held firm.
Second-placed City slipped to seven points behind leaders Arsenal, who won the late match 4-2 at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Everton – nicknamed the Toffees – are 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone.
Last year, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President, Michael Ricketts, included Gray in a list of English players with Jamaican heritage he suggested “were in the process of acquiring their Jamaican passport”.
It was part of an ultimately unsuccessful plan of the JFF for the Reggae Boyz to qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.