Everton clashed heads with Burnley at the Turf Moor earlier this afternoon hoping to seal all three points on the road. Robbie Brady gave the Clarets a dream start in the 3rd minute when he capitalised on a poor mistake by the Toffees’ Andre Gomes to convert with a great strike from long range. However, the Merseyside outfit responded positively and finally got the all-important equaliser via Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s finish from close range in the first-half injury time.
Both teams fought tooth and nail in the second 45 minutes but couldn’t manage to find the winning goal. The contest ended with Carlo Ancelotti’s men being held to a 1-1 draw away at Lancashire.
Let’s take a look at how each Everton player fared during the match against the Clarets.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 7/10
The English keeper’s ball-distribution was poor as usual, but he did make some important clearances at the back and also pulled off a couple of crucial saves to restrict the opposition to just one goal.
CB: Michael Keane – 7/10
Keane was a rock at the heart of Ancelotti’s defence and was not shy about clearing his lines when under pressure from the Burnley attackers. However, he will be disappointed about conceding such an early goal.
CB: Yerry Mina – 7.5/10
The South American sensation was not afraid to make some crunching tackles to earn the ball back for his team. He won a lot of headers and passed the ball relatively well out from the back.
CB: Ben Godfrey – 7/10
The English centre-back was strong in the air and made some essential contributions in defence to keep the Clarets attackers frustrated for most of the game.
LM: Fabian Delph – 5/10
Delph struggled to get into the game and had to go off after sustaining an injury.
CM: Allan – 5/10
The Brazilian midfield ace gave away the ball cheaply in the lead-up to Brady’s opening goal in the third minute. He was far from convincing throughout the remainder of the contest in what turned out to be an underwhelming display from him today.
CM: Abdoulaye Doucoure – 6.5/10
Doucoure worked hard to influence the game in both halves. He protected the backline well and even engineered a couple of meaningful chances for his teammates in the final third.
RM: Alex Iwobi – 6/10
Iwobi made some encouraging runs towards the byline, but his final delivery let him down.
LW: Richarlison – 8/10
The Brazilian winger worked his socks off as usual and made multiple driving runs in the attacking third. He was responsible for picking out Calvert-Lewin’s run in the lead-up to Everton’s equaliser just before the half-time interval.
ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 7.5/10
The English striker wasted some good opportunities to find the back of the net. However, he stepped up to score from close range in the first half injury-time which salvaged a point for his side.
RW: James Rodriguez – 6/10
Rodriguez had a few bright moments during the game but never looked like he had a goal in him.
Substitutes:
CM: Andre Gomes – 7/10
Gomes was a constant nuisance for the opposition because of his late runs from midfield.
CM: Gylfi Sigurdsson – 5/10
He squandered a glorious opportunity to snatch the win for Everton after being played in by a mesmerising pass from Rodriguez late in the game.
ST: Cenk Tosun – N/A
Not enough time to make an impact.
