Cancelo's "absolutely ridiculous" Man City assist leaves viewers speechless

A full hour after Joao Cancelo's latest assist for Manchester City, Micah Richards was still lost for words.

The former City defender was in the Sky Sports studio to watch his old club breeze past Everton in the second half, but Cancelo's moment of magic at the end of the first half made it all possible.

Rodri's second-half thunderbolt might have got viewers out of their seats, with Bernardo Silva's quick-thinking helping Pep Guardiola's side complete a three-goal victory late on.

However, it was Cancelo who produced the game's defining moment to lay on City's opener for Raheem Sterling, producing one of those moments which reminds us why he - and City - are such a daunting proposition.

When a loose touch from Sterling surrendered possession on the edge of the Everton box, it looked like City's final chance of the first period had gone.

However, mere seconds later, the England man had the ball in the back of the net.

Sterling's instinctive finish deserves plenty of credit, but the goal wouldn't have been possible without the brilliance of his teammate.

The sign of a great assist is an ability to make something look simple while reminding those watching that it is anything but.

At face value, it's just one pass, from point A to point B, but the way he shapes the ball around the Everton defence while timing his pass perfectly requires him to make so many calculations all at once.

What's more, he has shown this quality time and time again at Manchester City, whether starting on the right or on the left.

Indeed, his use of the outside of the boot makes a mockery of the idea that playing on his 'wrong' flank might limit the Portugal international's productivity.

"This is absolutely ridiculous from Joao Cancelo," co-commentator Gary Neville said after witnessing the assist.

"He's got no right to be able to get that into that space."

Most players wouldn't even think to attempt such a pass, let alone pull it off, but there was no doubt in the 27-year-old's mind that he would get it absolutely spot on.

It was the kind of pass that serves a dual purpose: first and foremost there's the immediate end product, but it also gives opponents a reminder that they can never relax, not even for a second.

'He can do it all,' one viewer tweeted after witnessing Cancelo's assist, while another said 'Cancelo's pass is so absurd that you almost miss how great everything that Sterling did was'.

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The assist was Cancelo's third in the league this season, the same number compatriot Bruno Fernandes has managed a few miles away at Manchester United, and his sixth in all competitions

They have all been important ones, too: it was his ball from deep which helped create Bernardo Silva's clincher in the Manchester Derby, while a Cancelo shot was collected and put away by Gabriel Jesus for the winning goal at Chelsea.

Some might have been worried by the absence of Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish from the matchday squad against Everton, but City showed there was no need to be concerned at all.