Full Time: Everton 1-2 Lyon
Everton were up for another night of disappointment which saw them edge closer to an early Europa League exit as a 2-1 defeat to Lyon leaves the Toffees at the bottom of Group E with just one point from three matches. They are curently 6 points behind group leaders Atalanta.
They conceded a needless penalty within the first five minutes which set the somber tone for what was their third successive home game which ended in a loss across competitions, as the visitors continued the recent trend that has seen opposing teams continually score the opening goal against Everton.
This loss will add all the more pressure upon struggling manager Ronald Koeman as a seemingly blunt attack and shoddy defending once more affected his team. The match also proved that their tactics and players remain a key issue, for which Koeman needs to find a solution as soon as possible.
Everton Player Ratings
Jordan Pickford – 8/10
Despite having a weak defence in front of him, Pickford managed to ensure Everton lost by a lesser margin. He made a series of important saves throughout the game.
Cucu Martina – 5.5/10
Martina seemed uncomfortable throughout the entire match last night. A natural right-back, the player was deployed as a left-back and somehow he could not make any impact. He was also troubled a lot by Bertrand Traore.
Michael Keane – 5/10
The promising youngster put up a rather disappointing performance last night. He was unusually weak in the air and was somewhat responsible for the second Lyon goal.
Ashley Williams – 7.5/10
He was perhaps the strongest out of all the defenders for Everton. He scored a fine header and proved to be a forceful presence in defence.
Mason Holgate – 4/10
Holgate would probably want to forget about last night as soon as he can. His unnecessary challenge set up the penalty for Lyon and the player’s positional awareness was off for the rest of the night.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 7/10
The player had to walk off due to an injury but he made some important interceptions while on the field. He also made a great sliding tackle but Schneiderlin can improve further if he works on being more dynamic.
Nikola Vlasic – 6.5/10
Vlasic was quite helpful on the right-hand side for Everton. He did look promising but the player created no chances to help the club.
Davy Klaassen – 4.5/10
Klaassen made a lot of mistakes in the first half which saw his confidence drain out gradually, following which the midfielder was substituted at half-time.
Tom Davies – 7/10
Davies set up a fine chance for Mirallas but he was dispossessed easily as his inexperience often shone through.
Kevin Mirallas – 6.5/10
Mirallas almost scored in the first-half but the shot was too wide. The player was strong in the first-half but was nearly invisible in the second-half.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 5.5/10
Calvert’s performance was rather limited last night as the player was unable to get ahead of Lyon’s centre-backs in order to create opportunities.
Subs:
Ademola Lookman – 6/10
The youngster did seem threatening at times but he did not see enough time on the ball to make an impact.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 6.5/10
Sigurdsson improved Everton’s attacking options on the field but nothing materialised.
Sandro Ramirez – 5/10
Ramirez failed to establish a good partnership with Martina and both players were responsible for Lyon’s second goal.