Everton were the latest victims of Erling Haaland's goalscoring wrath when the Toffees travelled to Manchester City on Saturday.
Premier League action is back after the international break, which means the Nordic monster that is Haaland is also back to terrifying top-flight defences, with the lethal 25-year-old finishing off another fine day at the office with a brace against David Moyes' men.
erling-haaland
While the Citizens continue to love life, knowing they have the robotic finishing ability of the Norwegian to hand, Everton continue to feel frustrated by their own striker options.
Beto - once again - fired blanks from minimal opportunities at the Etihad, with Moyes surely at the end of his tether when it comes to his goal-shy number nine.
Beto's poor performances
Before Haaland inevitably broke the deadlock, Everton had several chances of their own to cause an upset on the road.
Wth just 14 minutes on the clock, Beto had a glorious chance to gift Moyes and Co the lead, with Iliman Ndiaye's quick feet initially getting the better of the City defence, before the Portuguese attacker then couldn't get a meaningful connection on the ex-Sheffield United winger's inviting delivery into the box.
Beto's PL numbers this season
Stat
Games played
Goals scored
Scoring frequency
Assists
Big chances missed
Stats by Sofascore
That horrible miss by the former Udinese man is the tale of a season that's worryingly unravelling for the 27-year-old, who has bounced back from similar barren patches of form before.
Indeed, the 6-foot-4 centre-forward would fire home an electric five strikes across Moyes' first seven games back in the Merseyside hot-seat, after only managing a weak seven goals across 50 games under Sean Dyche.
beto-everton
Now, though, he is right back in the mire, with his last Premier League goal falling all the way back in August in a 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Pundit Pat Nevin, after the City loss, even stated that Beto's no-show would no doubt "infuriate" Toffees supporters watching on, with Everton-based writer Ell Bretland going as far as to also openly state that the number nine's wastefulness is beginning to have a "really negative effect" way before the 2-0 defeat.
david-moyes-everton
Moyes will have been left with a lot to ponder about his upcoming team selections; therefore, with Beto not the only noticeable underperformer who might be axed for Everton's next match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Alongside Beto: Another Everton star must be dropped
The former West Ham United boss would have been cursing Jack Grealish's ineligibility for this tie at the Etihad, with the skilful attacker not allowed to line up against his parent employers.
In his place, the Glaswegian would throw Carlos Alcaraz out to the left channel, and based on his lacklustre afternoon, he is unlikely to be retained in this position moving forward.
Alcaraz's numbers for Everton
Position
AM
LM
CM
RM
Sourced by Transfermarkt
In the Argentine's defence, it's clear from the table above that he excels more from a central spot in the Everton XI, with four of his six overall goal contributions to date in Merseyside coming from a number ten role. For Southampton as well, Alcaraz only ever made one outright appearance down the left flank.
Moyes' decision to shoehorn the South American into this spot didn't work whatsoever, with the forgettable number 24 only managing one tame effort at Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal from his poor 70 minutes on the pitch.
Everton midfielder Charly Alcaraz
Moreover, he only amassed a meagre 26 touches with zero dribbles attempted, with Jordan Pickford in between the sticks for the away side, even managing to reach 43 touches come the full-time whistle.
When Spurs do come to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, it looks very unlikely that Alcaraz will remain on the left wing, with his tally of no goals and assists over the entire season to date also making it look rather slim that he will usurp the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in his more familiar number ten position.
Liverpool Echo journalist Chris Beesley dished out a low 5/10 rating to Alcaraz subsequently, with the reporter stating that the ex-Saints man is "far less effective" when moved out to the wing.
Moyes will, hopefully, have learnt his lesson in this regard, with the Scotsman also perhaps ready to ditch Beto as a refreshed Toffees attack potentially takes to the field against Thomas Frank's challengers.