Everton’s mini revival was brought to an unceremonious halt as the Toffees succumbed to a disappointing 1-0 loss at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in midweek.
Up against the league leaders, Everton had put in a spirited display and deserved to claim at least something out of the clash. However, such has been Everton’s luck of late that they were unable to see out the game and were undone by a deflected shot from Willian at the death.
Manager Roberto Martinez was left bitterly disappointed by the fact that his side could not claim anything from the game despite their decent display but the Spaniard would have been encouraged by his brave players and the Toffees will now be looking to build on their performance for their upcoming match against Leicester this weekend.
Here is an analysis of the performance of the Everton players on the day –
|
Player Rating |
Comment |
| Tim Howard – 7.5
|
Howard was brought back straight into the starting lineup following his return from injury and it has to be said that his selection ahead of Joel Robles was justified. The American international was equal to everything Chelsea threw at his way, with his save to deny Loic Remy from close range particularly impressive and no blame could be attached to his direction for the goal that he did concede at the end. |
|
Seamus Coleman – 6
|
It was a decent defensive display from Coleman as he managed to keep Eden Hazard at bay for majority of the game.
However, from an attacking sense – Coleman was very quiet and did not offer much support to Aaron Lennon. |
| Phil Jagielka – 7
|
It was another solid performance from Phil Jagielka against Chelsea. The England international did well to deal with the threat posed by Remy and he perhaps did not deserve to be in the losing side. |
|
John Stones – 7.5
|
Much like Jagielka, even John Stones put in a fine display at the back to deny the dangerous Chelsea attack.
The young man did not put a foot wrong on the day and his distribution of the ball was also first class. |
| Bryan Oviedo – 6.5
|
Handed the difficult task of dealing with the threat posed by Juan Cuadrado, Bryan Oviedo did really well to deny the Colombian star too many chances. Oviedo also provided a wonderful cross to Lukaku for Everton’s best chance of the game but the Belgian striker failed to convert. |
|
Muhamed Besic – 5
|
One cannot fault Besic’s desire to impress but he somewhat shot himself on the foot by picking up a booking in as early as the fourth minute of the game.
The midfielder was then left walking on eggshells throughout the first period and was unsurprisingly substituted at half time. |
| Gareth Barry – 5.5
|
It was a decent performance from Gareth Barry but his sending off at the end was probably the main reason why Everton could not hold on to a point. The midfielder’s first yellow was a harsh one but he should have known better before hauling down Willian for his second booking. |
|
Ross Barkley – 5
|
Barkley had earned a start following his bright cameo against Liverpool last week but the young man mysteriously looked short on confidence against Chelsea.
Barkley did not do much with the ball and he also seemed to shirk his defensive duties. A poor display overall. |
| Aaron Lennon – 5.5
|
Lennon looked to be positive whenever on the ball but he could not do much of note in the final third. Seems like he is not quite match fit as of yet and he was substituted in the second period for Kevin Mirallas. |
|
Steven Naismith – 5.5
|
Pushed out wide in the wings, Naismith did not have the most effective of matches.
Although the Scottish workhorse did well to help Oviedo out in dealing with Juan Cuadrado, he could not make the desired impact in the final third of the pitch. |
| Romelu Lukaku – 6
|
Lukaku had approached the game against his former club with a point to prove and although the striker did not score, it has to be said that he did well throughout the match. The young striker came close with the best chance of the game for Everton but his effort was fantastically saved by Petr Cech. An encouraging performance from the striker though. |
Substitutes
|
Darron Gibson – NA
|
Gibson came on late into the second half and did well. |
| James McCarthy – 6
|
McCarthy came on for Besic at half time and he was decent with the ball. Although he did not do anything eye catching, the midfielder was neat and tidy whenever in possession. |
|
Kevin Mirallas – NA
|
Mirallas was brought on to provide more impetus to the Everton attack in the second half but he did not see enough of the ball to make an impact. |
