Everton manager Roberto Martinez praised the home crowd following the 2-1 win over Manchester City in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final at Goodison Park.

Goals from Ramiro Funes Mori and Romelu Lukaku on either side of Jesus Navas' strike ensured that the Toffees take the advantage into the second leg at Etihad Stadium on 27 January.

Regarding the display of the Toffees, Martinez felt it was an impressive performance which was aided by the atmosphere created by the Everton faithful.

"I'm very proud of the performance," he said.

"I thought Goodison Park was rocking - the atmosphere was terrific. Our fans allowed us to perform in that manner.

"We had to face a very good team and it was a very good game of football, with both teams carrying threat.

"I felt we carried on our defensive intensity that we had in the last game against Spurs, then we responded as a team to losing [Tom Cleverley] at half-time, Romelu Lukaku and also managed the game with 10 men after Seamus Coleman's injury.

"We went eye-to-eye with a very good team. We conceded a goal from a good counter-attack, but the winning mentality that we showed to get back and win the game was very impressive.

"It was an example of how far we've come. We faced Man City in August and we were probably missing a little bit of the character we showed tonight.

"But it means nothing [at this point]. We had to win our first leg and we'll now have to prepare for a very interesting second leg."