Everton 3-2 Swansea City: Player Ratings

Tim Howard – 7

The American was excellent when called upon and saved well on a couple of occasions.

Seamus Coleman – 6/7

It was a quiet game from Coleman, particularly going forward, and at the other end the fullback had no help from Mirallas but he still defended well.

John Stones – 8

Probably the most composed defender I’ve ever seen and he is getting better by the game, it won’t be long before he is a starter for the Blues rather than deputising when needed and getting recognised internationally.

Sylvain Distin – 7

I find myself saying this every game but "solid again from Distin". The Frenchman defended well throughout and played well with the ball as well.

Leighton Baines – 7

Baines defended well and blocked quite a few crosses especially in the second half when Swansea City began to exert some dominance. In the attacking sense the England fullback didn’t have much of an influence as he usually does but this is possibly because McGeady always looks to get his cross in; which isn’t a bad thing from a winger really.

James McCarthy – 7

It was another solid game from McCarthy, with him doing more without the ball than with it for all of Swansea’s possession but I can’t remember many times were Pablo Hernandez had much of an influence – probably thanks to the Irishman and his midfield partner.

Gareth Barry – 7

I could say the same for Barry as I could for McCarthy; both kept the ball well but both had more to do without the ball than with it and to be fair to the centre midfielders, Swansea kept the ball much deeper with José Cañas and Leon Britton in a similar formation to our own.

Kevin Mirallas – 6/7

The Belgian had a quiet and ineffectual performance; that was until his excellent cross gifted Lukaku his goal and regained the lead, as well as claiming a second assist for Barkley’s goal.

Ross Barkley – 7/8

It was a good performance with outstanding sectors from the youngster who looks like he is finally properly recovering from his injury and getting back to the player at the beginning half of the season. His direct running was a constant threat for Swansea and was something the Toffees needed as they didn’t have much of the ball and Barkley was rewarded with the goal his performance deserved.

Aiden McGeady – 7/8

A decent performance from the wide-man; as we are finally seeing the real McGeady as he finds his way back to full fitness, although his defending was questionable for the first goal (without that being what he is in the team for but still tracking back is something vital against attacking fullbacks like Angel Rangel). Like Barkley, McGeady’s direct running was a key component when Everton did have the ball, and the Irishman has shown in his last two performances that there is almost always an end product from the winger – with either a cross or shot and he can always beat his marker with such quick feet.

Romelu Lukaku – 6/7

Saturday was an okay performance from the big striker; he didn’t put a foot wrong although it wasn’t a game where he had much of the ball or much service. One of his only opportunities in the game he scored which is a positive aspect as he has now scored three in his last four games.

Subs

Steven Naismith (Ross Barkley 84’) – 6/7

A decent performance from the Scot without much time to make an impact. He kept the ball well and made some useful runs to close out the game for victory.

Leon Osman (Aiden McGeady 85’) – 6/7

Same could be said for Osman as for Naismith, both were brought on to close out the game and shut-up shop to keep the ball and put their fresh legs to use, without having much time to stamp their influence on the encounter.

Gerard Deulofeu (Romelu Lukaku 93’) – N/A

The Spaniard didn’t have enough time on the field to be fairly rated as his substitution was used to waste time and use his pace to stretch the Swansea defence on the break.

Man of the match: John Stones

An excellent and composed performance from the young defender, with his defending improving game by game. Stones was superb both on and off the ball and although I could have gave the man of the match to Barkley or McGeady, I felt his and Distin’s contributions allowed the match winners in-front of them to win a game the Blues probably shouldn’t have won. Saturday wasn’t exactly a glamorous performance from the Toffees but ultimately they won the game because Everton have more players that can win matches and this is something vital to the run-in to the end of the season as the dream of finishing fourth is far from over if they carry on winning games.