View: Tom Davies failed to take golden opportunity v Arsenal
Everton midfielder Tom Davies missed a golden opportunity to impress Carlo Ancelotti against Arsenal on Saturday.
Davies came into the Everton line-up ahead of Andre Gomes, with Ancelotti needing to replace the injured Allan, who was forced off against Leicester last week.
It was a rare Premier League start for the young Englishman, who has only made the starting XI on three occasions this season.
Despite some tidy moments on the ball and even some post-match praise from the manager, Davies may look back on the 2-1 win as an opportunity to do more.
With around 10 minutes left to play in the first half, it was Davies who gave away the penalty for Arsenal, handing the Gunners a route back into the game.
It was a reckless moment for Davies, a tackle so poor that Everton decided to leave it out of their official match highlights as if it never happened!
Having just played a cross into the box, Ainsley Maitland-Niles chased down the second ball. Running to the left of Davies, his attempted clearances turned into a mistimed tackle as he hacked down the Arsenal wide man.
Davies can feel thankful that Everton came away with the win in the end, but Arsenal found themselves level in a game they really had no right to be.
Compounded by the penalty decision, which was one of three fouls he made during the game, Davies was statistically Everton’s worst performer on the night by some distance.
He was awarded a lowly WhoScored match rating of just 5.9 – only Alex Iwobi came close to rivalling the midfielder with a 6.3.
Davies simply did not offer the same level of defensive protection as Allan would, winning 59% of his duels, as per Wyscout.
While on the ball Davies looked more composed and he was generally tidy in possession, he did not leave Ancelotti with any touch decisions to make when Allan does make his return from injury.
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