Ashley Young nightmare ruins huge protests as Dominic Calvert-Lewin leads reaction – Everton player ratings vs Manchester United
Everton fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on a day where Sean Dyche’s men were unable to take advantage of dominance in an explosive atmosphere to be undone by quality and indiscipline.
The game kicked off in unsurprisingly deafening circumstances as the fans made their anger clear over the Premier League points deduction but was briefly silenced after just three minutes as Alejandro Garnacho scored an incredible overhead kick.
Everton rallied and were well on top up to the break but the response was undercut soon after the restart as Ashley Young brought down Anthony Martial in the box for Marcus Rashford to double the lead, and the resistance fell apart on the counter as Martial added a third late on.
Here, Goodison News rates the Everton players out of 10 for their performances against Erik ten Hag’s men.
Jordan Pickford – 6
Saw his goal breached by a rare piece of quality and a needless penalty. Couldn’t do much about the stunning opener or Rashford’s penalty high into the net. Beaten relatively easily for the third one on one.
Ashley Young (off for Patterson ’73) – 2
Nightmare. After his first-half red card at Anfield the veteran again hurt his side with reckless challenges. Booked for a lunging foul on Garnacho early in similar fashion to his display at Liverpool and again followed it up with a big mistake. VAR has not been kind to Everton and in the context of the occasion it sparked fury once more but there can’t be too many complaints that Martial’s booking for a dive was overturned. Lucky not to see a second yellow for the challenge or the reaction to the penalty. Delivered some threatening crosses but place is surely under threat.
James Tarkowski – 7
Didn’t do a great deal wrong in a game where the home side were probably on top for the majority of the action aside from a few of key moments. Largely marshalled the defence well as the visitors didn’t fashion a great deal of obvious chances until the Toffees were chasing a two-goal deficit late on.
Jarrad Branthwaite – 7
Reasonable afternoon. After an oddly chaotic performance in the win at Crystal Palace he caused brief concern immediately in a coming together in the Everton box but looked more like his usual self thereafter. Got his head to numerous balls into the box as usual.
Vitalii Mykolenko – 7
Responded well after a poor start but slack in a key moment. Was arguably played round with too much ease as the cross that led to the opening goal came in under no pressure. Contributed well going forward from then on and largely kept the door closed at the back throughout the following 87 minutes. Smashed a late strike off the bar.
Idrissa Gana Gueye – 6
Inconsistent game but certainly put himself about. One of the few Everton players to get a foot on the ball after the early goal but his passing was wayward. Skied a big chance over the bar before half time which was an ugly miss but then fired a wonderful swerving volley towards the top corner just after the penalty that was only just kept out by Onana. Was caught in possession for the United break that saw them go three behind.
James Garner – 5
Relatively neat but too quiet against his former side as he struggled to get into the game early and couldn’t do much with possession when the Toffees were dominant.
Jack Harrison – 5
Energetic but ineffective display as the Leeds United loanee was unable to reproduce much of the threat he has added to the side since his return from injury. Eager runner but failed to make a major impact on the game.
Dwight McNeil (off for Danjuma ’72) – 7
Poor when Everton were second best but very good when the team roared back into the game. Couldn’t get going to start with but exploded into life late in the first half to have rebound effort hooked off the line by Kobbie Mainoo, then found Doucouré unmarked in the middle for what probably should have been the equaliser. Unlucky to be sacrificed over Harrison.
Abdoulaye Doucouré (off for Dobbin ’90) – 7
Decent performance but as with his teammates he lacked a key bit of quality in front of goal in the crucial moments. Harshly booked for pointing out John Brook’s own failure to notice the ball being kicked away by Garnacho shortly before directing a big opportunity to equalise wide of the post.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (off for Chermiti ’82) – 8 (Man of the Match)
Threatening display but lacked the crucial finishing touches as he did everything but score during a strong first-half. Instrumental in attack for Everton as they turned the momentum after the early set back, giving Victor Lindelof nightmares in defence. Came to life after half an hour with only to be kept at bay by Andre Onana multiple times, and headed narrowly over just before the break. In the right places often but couldn’t find a finish. Influence faded as the fight left the hosts.
Substitutions
Nathan Patterson (on for Young ’73) – 6
Showed some incision down the right but the damage had already been done.
Arnaut Danjuma (on for McNeil ’72) – 5
Barely registered as the game fizzled out.
Youssef Chermiti (on for Calvert-Lewin ’82) – 6
Went close to a late, long-range screamer.
Lewis Dobbin (on for Doucouré ’90) – N/A
In other Everton news, Simon Jordan slams the Toffees supporters’ protests as “pointless” as Jim White amazed by what he read.