Everton 2 - 2 Leicester City: Five Thoughts

Everton managed a share of the points with Leicester City in a disappointing, rainy afternoon at Goodison Park. Here are five thoughts on the match:

Tim Howard had a terrible day, and will make way soon.

Tim Howard was at fault for both of the Leicester City goals. On the first, he fumbled the cross, and David Nugent equalized the scores at 1-1. The goal that put the Foxes up 2-1 came as a result of a poor Howard clearance, and former Inter Milan man Esteban Cambiasso hit the back of the net.

With a 4-1 advantage over Young Boys and the game at Goodison on Thursday, expect to see Joel Robles get another chance. If that goes well for him, he could start against Arsenal next Sunday in London.

Romelu Lukaku had a pretty bad day, too.

Lukaku was coming off a hat-trick performance in Europe, and hoped to carry that over to the Premier League against last-place Leicester. But he was left on an island for the first half, and couldn't make anything of his opportunities in the second half. Initially thought to have scored the equalizer, replays revealed that it was Matthew Upson's head that knocked the ball into the back of the net, not Lukaku's.

Europa League glory leads to hangover, again.

The results after Europa League wins or draws have not been good, and include losses to Crystal Palace, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur, and draws with Sunderland and now Leicester City.

The addition of Europa League football this season has certainly had an effect on league play this year. Manager Roberto Martinez has not been able to find a formula to bounce back after European matches, and the sluggish play is a big part of Everton's current position on the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Darron Gibson showed his quality today.

Darron Gibson came on in the 54th minute and made an impact for the next 40 minutes.The Irishman did well coming forward, and made some excellent attacking passes. Gibson has always struggled with injuries, but expect to see more of him this season if he can remain healthy.

The Steven Naismith goal was better than it looked.

On first glance, Naismith's goal seemed to bounce in weakly. Lukaku's hold-up play and pass were great and never in question. But if you look at the goal again you will see that Naismith takes three touches, slips it coolly past the two defenders, and past Mark Schwarzer at the near post. The Scotsman did very well, though he probably won't get many goal of the day endorsements.