Leicester City 2-2 Everton: Player Ratings

Tim Howard: 6

Didn’t have much to do other than two close range finishes for the Foxes’ goals that he could do nothing about.

John Stones: 5

Didn’t really look comfortable filling in for Seamus Coleman; especially when Jeffrey Schlupp came on and troubled him with electric pace.

Phil Jagielka: 6

It wasn’t either a star performance or a faulting performance from the skipper.

Sylvain Distin: 6

Similar to Jagielka, Leicester didn’t trouble the Everton defence enough for either centre-half to be judged. The Frenchman was unlucky to have his clearance hit Leonardo Ulloa to set him up for the first goal.

Leighton Baines: 7                                                  

Played well going forward, especially in the first half; working well with Pienaar – the two of them being the most creative threat for the Blues in front of goal.

James McCarthy: 6

Not an outstanding performance from McCarthy but at the same time didn’t play bad either with Leicester not attacking him enough and Everton controlling the possession.

Gareth Barry: 7

Barry was good in possession and had a solid game, working well with and feeding Pienaar and Baines. Possibly lucky not to be sent off but the first yellow card was soft.

Aiden McGeady: 7

Excellent finish for his goal and could have possibly had a hat-trick with a bit more composure. The Ireland international looked like the biggest goal threat and was one of the more sharp performers.

Steven Naismith: 7

Good finish from the Scot for the second goal and looks to have picked up where he left off from last season with another confident performance.

Steven Pienaar: 8

The best performer in white yesterday, especially in the dominance of the first-half. The South African didn’t look like a player trying to find his way back into the first team after injury. Pienaar resumed his telepathic relationship with Leighton Baines and was the most creative outlet throughout the 80 minutes Pienaar was on the field.

Romelu Lukaku: 6

Not quite the second debut that was expected of Lukaku but to be fair to the Belgian; not many chances were created for him and as he didn’t see much of the ball he dropped deeper and deeper something he has to cut out of his game because he must lead the line.

Subs

Kevin Mirallas (Steven Pienaar 80’): N/A

Considering the Belgian had only played in a behind closed doors friendly last week, it would be unfair to judge him for not making an impact so late in the game.

Seamus Coleman (Aiden McGeady 84’): N/A

Considering the only pre-season friendly Coleman had, he only completed a few minutes before suffering his hamstring injury; it was just a positive to see the right-back playing, even though it was very late in the game which makes it impossible to give him a rating.

Man of the Match: Steven Pienaar

After a below his standard season last campaign, mostly through injury, many were predicting the beginning of the end for Pienaar in an Everton shirt but there wasn’t a player that looked more likely to create an opportunity than the South African yesterday. The playmaker also resumed his excellent partnership with Leighton Baines, which also brought the best out of the full-back.