Arsenal 4-1 Everton: Player Ratings

Joel Robles: 6

Joel didn’t’ look comfortable when crosses and corners were near to him, electing to punch every time. Other than that, he pulled off a couple of good saves from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla.

Seamus Coleman: 7

A solid game from the Irish fullback, not much got past him on the defensive side. Attacking wise Coleman provided another option but saw less and less of the ball as the game went on.

John Stones and Sylvain Distin: 7

Both could be rated the same as Stones and Distin had similar performances. Neither had much to do when faced with Yaya Sanogo and when Olivier Giroud scored his two the Toffees were chasing the game so it would be unfair to have that discredit what was otherwise solid performances.

Leighton Baines: 7

Good performance from Baines as he coped well with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Bacary Sagna defensively and going forward was probably the biggest threat for Everton going forward.

James McCarthy: 6/7

McCarthy played well in the middle of midfield however I never really felt he stamped his authority on the game. Having said that he did break up a lot of Arsenal play and there weren’t many times I can remember were the former Wigan man gave the ball away.

Gareth Barry: 6

Average performance from Barry, like his midfield partner I would say Barry never enforced his authority on the Arsenal midfield and of course for the penalty; it was a stupid challenge to make and a surprise from someone with his experience.

Kevin Mirallas: 6

Too quiet. The Belgian had little influence on the game and it is becoming an increasing problem that he doesn’t get the ball enough. It’s frustrating knowing the player has the ability to win matches and we are not capitalising on that.

Ross Barkley: 7/8

The youngster was close to being back to best; he was easily the most threatening out of our attacking players and dominated Arsenal’s two holding midfielders. The 20-year-old is still developing and so is his composure and his final ball or final shot is the only thing holding him back from being one the country’s best midfielders – it is important to remember that this is his first season at the top level and it wouldn’t be fair to heavily criticise the rising star. This performance was 7/8 but if he’d dispatched that attempt to make it 1-2 it could have easily rose to 9.

Steven Pienaar: 6

Pienaar’s influence on the game was non-existent, he didn’t link up with Baines as much as he usually does and didn’t see much of the ball.

Romelu Lukaku: 7

One of the better performers yesterday afternoon, held the ball up well and looked dangerous when he peeled off to the right and cut inside; the only problem with that is he was the loan striker so coming from a wide position there was less attackers in the box.

Subs

Aiden McGeady (Kevin Mirallas 76’): 6

The winger was sent on to make a difference but continued were Mirallas left off and had little effect on the game.

Leon Osman (Steven Pienaar 76’): 6

Osman didn’t have the desired effect when he was brought on but he wasn’t the only one.

Gerard Deulofeu (Ross Barkley 84’): 6

The Spaniard didn’t have the influence he was sent on for in the short amount of time he was on the pitch, but the game was lost by the time he entered the fray.

Everton Man of the Match: Ross Barkley

There weren’t many other contenders really, particularly in attack, although Lukaku had a case. However Barkley, who hasn’t looked the same player since returning to the team from injury, looked close to being back to his best again yesterday. His run for the goal was typical of the youngster and he looked the most dangerous in a blue shirt all game. Many will reprimand him for not putting the Toffees in lead before the Arsenal penalty but that can’t take away from a good performance on his way back to full fitness, not too much at least.