City's stellar tandem straight back on the bike

Premier League: Manchester City 2 Everton 0 

Nathan Ake sounded an ominous warning to the rest of the Premier League when he spoke about the effect the return of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne will have on Manchester City's trophy hopes.

City coped impressively enough while their star pair were injured but it is in tight games like Saturday's against Everton when they are really needed.

The Toffees were so well organised and disciplined defensively that City, for all their possession, had not had a shot on target until Haaland broke the deadlock in the 71st minute.

And with Everton then having to show more adventure to try and salvage something it was no surprise that the Norwegian added his second from De Bruyne's inch-perfect pass to seal the three points.

Defender Ake says Haaland and De Bruyne - who has now set up 12 goals for the prolific striker - have an intuitive understanding.

“It's massive for us to have players back who can make differences in tight games like these," he said. "We know how good both of them are and when Kevin came on, straight away he looked for Erling. They look for each other. It’s great that they’re both fit again and both ready to go."

Haaland's goals showed both sides of his scoring capabilities. The first was an instinctive and explosive close-range finish from a loose ball in the penalty area after Everton had failed to deal with Ake's corner.

And the second was a trademark surging run that proved too much for Jarrad Branthwaite before he produced a composed shot past Jordan Pickford.

Ake added: “The first was a goal out of nothing. And when he has got space like he had for the second one it's difficult to stop him because he is so quick and strong. "

While Haaland has