Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho failed to maintain goals spree as the Etihad side forced Everton to one all draw in a Premier League tie on Saturday.
Iheanacho grabbed starting shirt ahead of Argentine Sergio Aguero but all efforts to put the Citizens in the lead were thwarted by the visitors.
The Nigerian was in action for 56 minutes of the tie before he was replaced by Aguero.
Kevin De Bruyne and Aguero both saw spot kicks saved by Maarten Stekelenburg, but ultimately it was Nolito who prevented the hosts from suffering back-to-back defeats when he cancelled out Romelu Lukaku’s opener.
De Bruyne dragged another sight of goal wide moments later before the hosts finally created their first golden chance of the contest when Silva was tripped by Everton skipper Phil Jagielka inside the penalty area.
Referee Michael Oliver had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, but with Aguero on the bench it was down to De Bruyne to take on spot-kick duties and the Belgian saw his penalty pushed away by Stekelenburg.
A dominant half was ultimately one of frustration for the hosts as they went into the break level, and it didn’t take long after the restart for Everton to provide a warning shot when Gerard Deulofeu’s powerful strike was tipped over by Claudio Bravo.
City responded with their best chance from open play of the game so far two minutes later when Leroy Sane, making his first Premier League start for the club, fed a low ball in towards the near post that Iheanacho flicked against Stekelenburg.
Everton hit their hosts on the counter-attack with Yannick Bolasie flicking it through to Lukaku, who beat Gael Clichy before tucking his finish into the bottom corner with aplomb – his sixth goal in his last five Premier League appearances.
City had a glorious chance to level things up just five minutes later, though, when Jagielka conceded his second penalty of the afternoon, hacking down Aguero just inside the area.
The Argentine striker, who had scored 28 goals in his last 28 league games, stepped up to take this one himself, but once again Stekelenburg came to the rescue by making an almost identical save to his first stop – Man City’s fourth missed penalty of the season.
There was nothing Stekelenburg could do about City’s eventual equaliser, though, as Nolito made an immediate impact by nodding Silva’s devilish ball into the bottom corner just a minute after being introduced in place of Sane.
Despite that, Guardiola’s side remain top of the Premier League table on goal difference above Arsenal, while Everton drop to sixth having now gone four games without a win in all competitions.
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