Boro Draw: 5 Things We Learned by somebody at Everton
We look at five talking points from Everton’s scoreless draw with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium…
1. Everton continue to be ‘more aggressive’ on their travelsBack on 10 December, at Vicarage Road, Everton slipped to a fourth successive away defeat in the Premier League with a 3-2 loss to Watford. Since then fortunes have taken a turn for the better with the Toffees now going five top-flight matches unbeaten on the road.
Speaking before the trip to Middlesbrough, Ronald Koeman explained in his pre-match press conference: “We had a bad run but the team is now more comfortable and the team is stronger and more aggressive.”
Those attributes the manager has demanded from his players were on show again on Saturday. Everton were not at their fluent best in attack but if they weren’t going to find a way to win this game, they made sure they were at least returning home with a point to their name.
2. Joel proved his worth againThe Riverside Stadium was hit with rain and swirling winds from the North Sea but Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles stood up to that and Middlesbrough’s attack to record his fourth clean sheet in his last six Premier League matches.
It is more than fair to say that Joel has taken his chance since Maarten Stekelenburg suffered an injury in the Merseyside derby in December. The Dutchman has been back fit for the last five matches but manager Ronald Koeman has rewarded Joel for his reliability and form by keeping him in the team.
The former Wigan stopper didn’t have much to do against Middlesbrough but he made an important contribution late on, pulling off the save of the match from Rudy Gestede to earn what could end up being an important point for the Blues.
3. Baines remains Mr ReliableCo-commentator on evertonfc.com’s audio coverage of the game, Graeme Sharp picked out Leighton Baines as his man of the match at the Riverside.
With Gareth Barry and Phil Jagielka not in the starting line-up, Baines wore the captain’s armband and used his know-how to help thwart the threat of Middlesbrough’s most dangerous player, Adama Traore.
There were a couple of moments at the start of the second half when the jet-heeled winger caused concern with runs at Everton’s defence but otherwise he was kept reasonably quiet as the Toffees recorded another hard-earned shut-out.
4. Davies a willing runner from midfieldYesterday’s fixture was the first time Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gana Gueye and Tom Davies all started a match together.
What was noticeable early on was the licence given Davies to push forward and assist the attacking trio of Romelu Lukaku, Ademola Lookman and Ross Barkley. Indeed, there were a couple of occasions in the opening minutes where the young midfielder got into promising positions in and around the Middlesbrough box.
Davies’ willingness to push on was largely due to the protection given by Gana and Schneiderlin who sat vigilantly protecting the back-four.
With Gareth Barry selected on the bench yesterday, James McCarthy not risked because of a minor hamstring problem and Muhamed Besic on his way back from a long-term knee injury, Koeman will soon have plenty of options in the central areas.
Earlier this week, the Blues boss said: “With that competition, we have what we need [to play against] every opponent. We can change and we don’t drop quality. And, in detail, all our midfield players are different.”
5. Lookman again impressesLookman retained his place in the side for the trip to Teesside and, in a game of few chances, he was arguably Everton’s most dangerous player.
Playing from the left, he had openings in each half of the game. He got his shot away on both occasions, ensuring that he at least worked the Middlesbrough goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Lookman left the action on 73 minutes and received a standing ovation from the 3,000 travelling Toffees who have quickly realised that the January recruit from Charlton Athletic looks to be a shrewd addition to the Everton squad.
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