City had to wait until the second half to break down a well-drilled Everton side who defended with discipline and in numbers, but Jesus provided the spark of genius they needed.
He collected an Ilkay Gundogan pass on the edge of the area to put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead with a brilliant curling right-footed shot into the top corner that Jordan Pickford got a hand to, but could not keep out.
Seven minutes later, the Brazilian made it 2-0, this time with his left foot, when he darted on to a Riyad Mahrez pass and buried a low shot past Pickford.
The City fans – who had earlier seen a close-range Phil Foden strike ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee – did not celebrate either goal fully until the game had restarted.
Guardiola’s side also had to wait before securing the three points, with a couple of Ancelotti tactical tweaks seeing Everton go on the attack, and soon pull a goal back.
It came courtesy of a City mistake when stand-in goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, playing because Ederson was ill, tried to play out from the back but under-hit his pass.
Seconds later the ball was in the back of his net when Theo Walcott’s deflected cross found Richarlison unmarked to tap in at the back post.
Alarm bells were suddenly ringing for City, who had capitulated from 2-0 up to lose against Wolves last week – albeit with 10 men for most of the match – but this time they saw the game out.
While Everton looked dangerous when they came forward, the only real scare for the home side came when substitute Moise Kean found space in their area to acrobatically fire wide.
