Everton’s hopes of clinching a revenge against their rivals Arsenal were absolutely shattered as they faced a similar humiliation as they did in October, slumping to a 5:1 defeat.
The Toffees were rightfully punished, following their lacklustre start to the game, conceding three goals within the span of just 20 minutes. Arsenal’s newest recruits Henrikh Mkhitaryan provided three assists while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his first ever Premier League goal on his debut.
Everton, on the other hand, were completely destroyed by the ruthless offensive line of Arsenal, especially in the first half. Although an improved performance in the second half did earn them a goal back, as Dominic-Calvert Lewin scored just after coming on, that only proved to be a mere consolation.
Here are the Everton players rated in their disappointing defeat to the Gunners.
Jordan Pickford (6.5/10): Was unfortunate for Arsenal’s third goal, where Ramsey’s shot took a big deflection. However, apart from that, the English keeper failed to make any notable saves but that is more down to Everton’s awful defence.
Jonjoe Kenny (6.5/10): Extremely slow in the build-up play and often clueless on the ball, in the offensive half, Jonjoe Kenny struggled to impose his authority on the right flank against the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Michael Keane (6/10): An absolutely disastrous first half performance from the former Burnley defender, whose awful marking helped Arsenal score their second of the game when Laurent Koscielny found loads of space inside the box. He was rightfully subbed off at the start of the second half.
Ashley Williams (6.5/10): Not a very responsive performance from the veteran defender, who struggled to impose his authority on the defensive line. He also appeared quite tentative, at times.
Ellaquim Mangala (5/10): Not the best of starts to his Everton career for Eliaquim Mangala as he was completely outfoxed by the clever Arsenal attackers as well as midfielders. The former Man City defender was clueless in defensive stances while his positioning was also bad. A night to forget for the French defender.
Cuco Martina (7/10): Despite an awful first half, Cuco Martina did manage to redeem himself in the second half, where he made some decent runs towards the opposition. He provided the assist for the only Everton goal of the night scored by Dominic-Calvert Lewin.
Morgan Schneiderlin (6.5/10): Deploying Schneiderlin as an auxiliary centre-back was a bad idea by head coach Sam Allardyce. The Frenchman appeared quite hapless in dealing with the dynamic midfielders of Arsenal. His second-half performance was decent but the midfielder should have performed much better.
Idrissa Gueye (6.5/10): Appeared quite sloppy in the centre of the park, where he was often dispossessed and outnumbered by the marauding Arsenal midfielders.
Theo Walcott (7.5/10): By far Everton’s best player in the first half, Theo Walcott was the only player who showed a bit of attacking intent from the get-go. The former Arsenal man made some pretty dangerous runs and even came close to scoring once but his shot was blocked by Mustafi. He was subbed just after the hour-mark, which came as a surprise for most of the Everton fans.
Oumar Niasse (7/10): Put in a relatively good shift considering the fact that most of his teammates struggled with the confident Arsenal lineup. His physical presence in the box did prove to be a handful for the Arsenal defence at times.
Yannick Bolasie (6.5/10): A disappointing display from the former Crystal Palace man. Bolasie was left outnumbered by the Arsenal defenders in the final third and couldn’t make much of a difference.
Subs
Tom Davies (8/10): Came on for Michael Keane at the start of the second half, which proved to be an excellent decision from Sam Allardyce. The young English midfielder revitalized Everton’s creative department with some beautiful offensive runs and some key passes. A genuinely good display from the 19-year-old.
Dominic-Calvert Lewin (7.5/10): The decision to take off Theo Walcott and introduce Calvert-Lewin just around the hour mark was vindicated when the youngster scored Everton’s only goal of the game. His energetic display revitalized Everton’s dire attacking line. He could have bagged a second later in the game.
Cenk Tosun (NA): Signed from Besiktas in the January transfer window, the Turkish International didn’t have much of an impact after coming on for Oumar Niasse in the 78th minute.
