Everton verdict from Joe Thomas after the clash with Leeds United in the Premier League on Monday
Joe Thomas is the Everton FC correspondent for the Liverpool ECHO. He follows the Blues home and away, providing match reports, analysis and insight into events at Goodison Park, Finch Farm and beyond. Joe spent more than a decade covering news on Merseyside, working on award-winning investigations and extensively covering matters related to the Hillsborough tragedy - including the recent criminal prosecutions. Always grateful for tips and feedback, he can be contacted at joe.thomas@reachplc.com and on Twitter via @joe_thomas18
David Moyes, Manager of Everton reacts during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Everton at Elland Road on August 18, 2025 in Leeds, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Everton’s season began with defeat due to a disputed late penalty labelled “bizarre” by James Tarkowski, the player who conceded it. The harsh reality for the Blues, however, is they deserved little from a match that quickly became a fight for survival.
Some of that was down to misfortune. The loss of Vitalii Mykolenko to injury on the eve of the campaign forced David Moyes into one-too-many changes as he attempted to stretch an unbalanced squad across the pitch.
This was, though, a reminder of the scale of the job required across the next fortnight. Everton started this season without a specialist first-choice right back and with no senior right wing option. They may have tried hard to solve both issues but the failure to find answers has left them short as they enter what should be an historic, new era. The symbol of the new-found ambition, Jack Grealish, may have magic in his feet. He can only do so much if the team is left so vulnerable elsewhere.
This was always going to be a tough start for Everton - even before the loss of Mykolenko and talismanic centre back Jarrad Branthwaite in the week before the campaign. There was little doubt Leeds United, newly-promoted and backed by a full-house under the lights of Elland Road, were going to be aggressive, hostile and built for a fast start.
The hope was an Everton side packed with experience would be capable of stewarding the Championship champions. They did little to stem the tide.
When the first XI was released it sparked 75 minutes of head scratching as Blues sought to work out how Moyes was attempting to deal with the loss of Mykolenko. That the absence of one player could trigger such a restructure is more evidence of the work that is required before the end of the transfer window.
The lack of specialist options on the right - in defence and attack - meant there was always going to be a makeshift look about the first Everton team of the new campaign. But Mykolenko’s injury exposed the cracks in the squad as James Garner was pulled from central midfield to left back.
The result was a disjointed display in which those in Royal Blue struggled to cope with the pressure of the home side. The frailties in the Everton team rendered the visitors incapable of the coherence needed to prevent them from being overwhelmed.
One of the biggest needs for Moyes is at least one right wing option. First Carlos Alcaraz and later Iliman Ndiaye struggled to fill that hole while a player who, two years ago missed games for Leeds as Everton fought to sign him, tore them apart.
Wilfried Gnonto produced attacking bursts that caused terror down the Everton right. After five corners in the first 15 minutes, O’Brien looked bewildered as he sought refuge from the winger and the overlapping Gudmundsson. It was Gnonto’s cross that caused the biggest panic of the half. Diverted into the path of Joel Piroe by a helpless Tarkowski, the Leeds forward was presented with a golden opportunity that was denied by the feet of Jordan Pickford. Pickford later required Michael Keane to save him when he was caught under the flight of an Ao Tanaka effort, while he could do nothing but grasp at thin air when a late Gnonto strike beat him but not the crossbar. Twice, O’Brien was forced to clear up at the back post from dangerous corners.
At the other end, Everton posed no threat. That is not an exaggeration. Stats website FotMob had the Blues xG at precisely 0 at half-time. Leeds, meanwhile, had produced 12 shots and won six corners. Everton needed the break when it came.
It provided little respite. Mistakes at the back allowed Leeds to quickly regain momentum and, save for a period in the middle of that half when Alcaraz and O’Brien both missed good opportunities, only one side looked like it would break the deadlock.
Moyes turned to Grealish in the 70th minute and he sought the ball throughout his cameo, winning useful free-kicks and providing a degree of calm to his side as they sought a smash and grab victory.
That hope was ended when Anton Stach drove an effort goalwards from the edge of the area. Tarkowski threw himself at it but the ball hit him high on his left arm and referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot. The decision survived a VAR check and Lukas Nmecha slotted it beyond Pickford’s reach, causing Elland Road to explode.
The analysis of this match will centre on the handball - a call labelled “scandalous” by pundit and former player Chris Sutton but backed by others like Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville. The Premier League matchday centre said Tarkowski was deemed to have “leaned” into the ball. He later told Sky he did not believe it was the right call - describing it as “bizarre” and stressing: “I can’t understand it really.”
Whatever the answer, the penalty should not be allowed to distract from the most important lesson of this match - one that did not need to be taught: Everton need more signings.