Everton remain unbeaten in the Premier League after picking up a point against Bournemouth.
Everton secured a 1-1 draw away at Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a late James Tarkowski equaliser.
The game was undoubtedly overshadowed by the news that Nottingham Forest are pushing to sign young midfielder Harrison Armstrong. Everton fans made their feelings known about the situation at the Vitality Stadium, and that’s certainly been similar on social media.
But anyway, a game was played. Everton started strongly, creating multiple chances, which were often falling to Thierno Barry.
Unfortunately, it certainly wasn’t Barry’s day. The French striker pounced on a rebound from Tyrique George’s strike, but he failed to convert from close range. Barry also had multiple opportunities in counter-attacking moments, but a mix of good goalkeeping and poor finishing prevented Everton taking the lead.
Alex Scott produced a moment of magic to put Bournemouth in front going into the break, and Everton were chasing the game in the second half.
It wasn’t a shocking performance by any means, but it did feel like we were never scoring in the second half.
Despite a disastrous looking corner being launched into the box late on, the ball somehow fell to James Tarkowski who fired home to level things late on.
Anyway, onto the player ratings. Interestingly, although it wasn’t a bad performance, I don’t think there were many who stood out in a hugely positive manner.
Jordan Pickford - 7
Felt like Pickford didn’t have an awful lot to do. Pickford did make some important saves at times, but we defended well enough where he wasn’t tested huge amounts, barring a spell in the second half.
Merlin Rohl - 5
Maybe I got ahead of myself with thinking Merlin Rohl could be somewhat of an answer at right-back. I think he was poor against Crystal Palace and not good against Bournemouth.
No blame on him, it can’t be easy. It’s clear he’s a makeshift option.
James Tarkowski - 6
Certainly a score boosted by his goal. I think he struggled at times during the game, and could have done better for the Bournemouth goal.
Think this could be the season he’s slowly filtered out.
Jarrad Branthwaite - 6
Wasn’t his strongest performance, but not a stinker either. Positionally, the defence were all over the place at times, particularly in the second half, but Branthwaite wasn’t one who stood out in a negative manner.
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Vitalii Mykolenko - 7
Pretty strong performance for Vitalii Mykolenko. There were some important blocks and clearances thrown in there, and he deserves credit. Probably our best performer.
Credit where it’s due, but he’s started the season pretty well.
James Garner - 5
One of his poorest performances for us in a while. He’s clearly not fully fit, but injuries have forced him to play both games this week.
Looked sloppy in possession and was uncharacteristically falling over under weak challenges. Not huge blame on him, as clearly not fully fit.
Harrison Armstrong - 7
I don’t think it was his best performance for us, but I do think he deserves credit for the performance he produced considering the circumstances. I didn’t even expect him to play, so for him to start and play well, he deserves huge credit as a young lad.
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Once again, he showed he’s capable of playing regularly at Premier League level.
Iliman Ndiaye - 6
Didn’t see too much from Iliman Ndiaye this weekend. Felt he struggled to get into really dangerous areas to create or produce a chance for himself. The attack just didn’t click.
Showed signs of his usual dribbling ability, but final product not there.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - 7
Was tempted with a six here, but he was one of our most threatening going forward. Led a lot of the transitional moments, but did think he was sloppy in possession at times.
Still a key cog in our attack and was a creative threat.
Tyrique George - 7
I felt Tyrique George was our biggest threat. End product needs work, and that’s fine, but every time he got the ball I felt like something was going to happen.
Once that final product starts to click, he’s going to be some player.
Thierno Barry - 5
Very torn on this one. Delighted to see him getting into dangerous positions, more so than last season, but obviously lacked that clinical edge.
Has to do better for some of the chances, but produce opportunities for him like that every week, he will score goals.