Everton set up, predictably, in a low block 4-5-1 conceding 75% possession as they sought to frustrate us and somehow claim a point. Martinelli had other plans, scoring in the 19th minute only for VAR to decide that the shadow of Nketiah’s leg was in an offside position during the buildup. Martinelli was subbed off moments later, and, in a bit of poetic justice, it was his replacement Trossard who finally put it past Pickford in the 69th minute. It was a satisfying and vital win, the first at Goodison Park since October 2017.
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The new offside rule is a joke. An accidental deflection by a defender can’t play you onside but an accidental deflection by a defender can score a goal.
Oh BTW POTM I vote for Trossard.
Benny Blanco. He was back to his old self as fullback. Great to see him having that impact and role again. Let Zinchenko be the inverted fullback and White be the fullback who gets up the pitch to link up with Saka!
It was one of those technically accurate, by-the-books calls but was very harsh. We’ve seen far-worse cases of a player being in an offside position but the goal stands anyway. We saw an egregious case of it when Man City scored against Fulham despite Ake being clearly offside to break a deadlock. He didn’t touch the ball but Leno definitiely anticipated him doing so.
As for the MOTM, Trossard will probably nab it, and, although he was quite good, I’d give to to White for stellar play for a full 90.
White was excellent but without Trossard it’s one point.
When you have subs of this quality it can make a difference… I feel Trossard should have played more minutes by now, he has a lot of goals in him.
He’s one of those who’s redefining the “sub” role—he’s by no means an inferior player to Martinelli. He offers a different quality. We’re getting closer to having serious depth at every position.
It
Sean Dyche