Analysis after Everton played out a spirited 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Tyrique George (Photo by Tony McArdle - Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images)
Tyrique George (Photo by Tony McArdle - Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images)
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On what was a traumatic final week and deadline day for Everton at the end of the transfer window, the return of Jack Grealish was heralded as the morale-boost to lighten an understandably angry and apprehensive mood among beleaguered Blues felt let down again by those who run the club they love.
However, if there was one person who could have been forgiven for not doing cartwheels at the prospect of Grealish’s second coming then it would be Tyrique George.
Originally arriving at Hill Dickinson Stadium on deadline day of the winter window, on loan from Chelsea, the 20-year-old was drafted in after Grealish had suffered a season-ending stress fracture in his left foot in the 1-0 win at his boyhood club Aston Villa on January 18.
Despite Grealish’s absence, George was unable to hold down a regular starting place in the side and all but one of his 11 appearances were off the bench. Everton’s decision not to take up their option to make George’s move permanent was no reflection on their opinion of him but rather a business decision as they were able to drive down his fee by £7million to renegotiate his asking price.
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Since then, the Londoner has enjoyed a summer of promise, hinting at what he is capable of with a smartly taken first goal in Blues colours in their 3-1 friendly win over Newcastle United at Murrayfield on the evening of the eclipse. But here he got his first strike in competitive action, and it was even more spectacular.
In Everton’s previous home game, the 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace, home supporters voted George their man-of-the-match but his big moment on this occasion only arrived after Grealish entered the fray and he switched to the right wing.
With Beto’s return to Italy to join Fiorentina and the collapse of the Folarin Balogun signing on deadline day leaving David Moyes with just one recognised striker in Thierno Barry, George looked like he could suddenly become the Blues’ Plan B when it came to centre-forward options but wherever he is deployed, he showed here that he can strike the ball and hopefully it’s the first of many, however they go in.
Scouser on the pitch
Back in 2004, Manchester United took Everton’s brightest teenage talent – who happened to be the brightest prospect in world football at the time – when they snatched Wayne Rooney from David Moyes. Last year, when the club moved from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium, Francis Jeffers, another young Blue who left too soon for Arsenal, told the ECHO that he hoped the days of having to sell the most gifted prospects were now gone.
So, imagine how loyal but long suffering Evertonians felt at the prospect of losing their latest home-grown hero Harrison Armstrong, not to one of the game’s superpowers, but Nottingham Forest, in a sale sanctioned without input from Moyes. After Dan Friedkin had finally seen sense and bowed to fan pressure to kibosh the transfer, Armstrong returned to home turf to receive the biggest cheer among the Everton’s players names when they were read out before kick-off.
Over a year ago, Moyes had brought the midfielder on as a stoppage time substitute in the 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion to ensure there was a Scouser on the pitch for the opening competitive fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium but fast forward to September 2026, and having made a successful early return from a loan spell at Preston North End, Armstrong is now part of the Blues starting line-up on merit.
Players from this city need no extra incentive when opponents from Manchester are lining up against them. While he was booked for being over-physical with United captain Bruno Fernandes, Armstrong – like he’d done at Bournemouth in Everton’s previous game when he appeared to be heading for the exit door – produced another polished performance, displaying maturity and composure beyond his tender years, keeping his cool among the explosive action.
Hailing a Hackney
On signing the Championship’s Player of the Season from 2025/26, Moyes cautioned that it might take Hayden Hackney time to get up to speed in the Premier League. While the £16.5million acquisition from Middlesbrough is still finding his feet, there are already encouraging signs that he can become yet another one of the Glaswegian gaffer’s rough diamonds mined from the second tier of English football who can become a polished top flight performer under his guidance after a hugely impressive track record that includes Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Jarrod Bowen.
Premier League stars can be notoriously coy about divulging personal targets in public but after making his Everton debut at Stoke City, Hackney told this correspondent that he is aiming for double figures when it comes to goals and assists.
He’s been a bit unfortunate in that score in that the official statistics will tell you that setting up George for the Blues’ opener here is his only registered assist, but the 24-year-old has had a big role in setting up each of the team’s last three goals.
Granted it wasn’t the best of deliveries, but it was Hackney’s corner-kick that found James Tarkowski for the captain’s stoppage time equaliser at Bournemouth and he also did the running to get the ball into the box for it to fall – via Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Noussair Mazraoui’s clearance for Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ last-gasp leveller against Manchester United. The Redcar-born prospect certainly has a positive approach to make things happen.
Right-back changes
To Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s relief, Jake O’Brien has not been one of the players deployed in that role, but Everton have used four different players at right-back in their last two games. Merlin Rohl got the nod to start in both against Bournemouth and Manchester United but Tim Iroegbunam’s final moments for the club saw him there at the end of the contest at the Vitality Stadium before he made his deadline day move to Hull City.
When Rohl made way here, James Garner became a third central midfielder to occupy the berth as a square peg in a round hole but within seconds he cramped up and the opportunity arose for Maitland-Niles the long-awaited specialist who the Blues had been waiting to see since Moyes returned. It was certainly an eventful debut for the 29-year-old who looked like he could be one of the fall guys when he failed to stop Luke Shaw from putting a cross in for Benjamin Sesko’s goal, but nobody could deny him his dream start.
Never mind an 18-month wait for a right-back, Maitland-Niles doubled his career tally in the Premier League to become, as cited by EFC Statto Bradley Cates, the first Everton player to score on his debut in the competition since Richarlison at Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2018. He’s already ahead of previous number two Tony Hibbert (328 competitive appearances) on that one!
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