‘Respect the point’ certainly came to mind again after Sunday’s game, and it’s hard to have any other outlook.
Speaking to Evertonians I know pre-match, their stance was very much ‘a draw would be accepted’ and mine was the same.
There is an argument doing the rounds that, for a fair portion of the game, City struggled to get to grips with Everton. Despite the data showing David Moyes’ side missing four big chances in the first period, I didn’t exactly feel all too nervous when the Toffees were in range of Konstantinos Tzolakis’ net, whereas such views can, to an extent, be backed up by periods of the second 45.
Football is, of course, a game of opinions, and I’m not surprised in the slightest to see the 50/50 split of them over Brennan Johnson’s disallowed goal, which, from my South Stand view, seemed as though if it was going to be ruled out for anything, it was a ‘foul’ on Tzolakis.
I personally don’t think the referee had the best of games, and having covered West Brom vs Birmingham City on Saturday, it’s not the only time I’ve had such thoughts this weekend.
I was surprised, however, to see some criticism come the way of Sorba Thomas post-match.
By no means have we seen his full capabilities or would you expect to after just four appearances in the Premier League. But the ‘error’, which, at the same time, can be seen as intelligent play from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who ran the game at this particular moment, shouldn’t define his performance, which was extremely positive in the main in terms of wanting to create.
Joe Gelhardt certainly deserved his goal having caused makeshift full-back Jarrad Branthwaite a handful of issues in the first-half without being spectacular, and as seen in the final 20 minutes, it felt as though Sergej Jakirovic had a greater amount of quality on the bench than in the starting XI in some areas.
This was exemplified by Mo Belloumi’s fifth G+A of the season, but also by Elliot Stroud, who had been somewhat unfairly judged for his pre-international break involvement, with the Swede’s energy and endeavour crucial to the equaliser despite the catalogue of unusual mishaps in Everton’s backline.
Given his injury scare, it was pleasing to see Tim Iroegbunam have a similar impact off the bench as at Newcastle, and, in my opinion, it would be a smart move to slot him alongside Regan Slater against Fulham, with Matt Crooks’ performance on Sunday not exactly one to write home about.
That said, any overall criticism remains minor for now, as, after six games, City have gone from “the worst team *insert opposition club* have ever played” to now ‘bang average or ‘mediocre’, which shows the top-flight return is still going well.
