Everton vs. Hull City: Winners and Losers from EPL Game
Everton and Hull City shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park on Wednesday, as the host's poor home form continued.
The Toffees, looking for just a third Premier League home win of the season, seemed on course for three points when Romelu Lukaku steered Kevin Mirallas' cut-back home on 34 minutes.
That goal led to several fluid moves up until half-time, with the home side clearly in the ascendancy.
After the break, however, this dynamic changed slightly. Everton were suddenly edgy at the back, and the visitors took full advantage, scoring through Sone Aluko's explosive run and shot on 59 minutes.
The draw sees the Toffees slip to 11th in the table, while Hull sneak out of the relegation zone to 17th.
Here's a look at the main winners and losers from this Premier League game.
Winner: Sone Aluko
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Sone Aluko was a clear and obvious winner in this match.
Entering the fray on 52 minutes, he injected some much-needed impetus into an unambitious Hull side, giving Sylvain Distin a particularly troublesome time.
His run for the goal left the Frenchman for dead, and his thunderous finish was too quick for Tim Howard to react to.
Aluko also created another two chances during his 38-minute showing, matching the top return by any Hull player in this game.
After he started just one game all season, this performance has surely forced Aluko into the Tigers' next line-up.
Loser: Roberto Martinez's Team Talks
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Were Premier League matches to end at half-time, Everton would be second with 25 points.
While that's not the most revealing statistic, it does suggest the Toffees need to work on their approach immediately after the break.
A lead has been squandered all too often this season; in fact, Martinez's side have now dropped 12 points from winning positions in just 14 games—matching their entire return from last season.
This was obviously the case against Hull, and Everton seemed alarmingly void of ideas once the visitors had equalised.
Aluko's goal arrived on 59 minutes, and Everton's response was a paltry two (blocked) attempts over the following 31 minutes.
That sounds even worse when you consider Hull averaged the most shots against them (17.4) in the Premier League this season before this game.
Winner: Kevin Mirallas
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For the time he was on the pitch, Everton's sole winner in this match was Mirallas, who showed excellent understanding with Lukaku in the final third.
The winger tore past Michael Dawson to lay off a perfect pass for Lukaku to open the scoring and continued to combine well with his international team-mate.
The assist means the winger has now been directly involved in four of Everton's six goals since returning from injury, which highlights his importance to the side.
Sadly, Mirallas was only fit enough to last an hour, and the Toffees never found the same attacking rhythm in his absence.
Loser: Ross Barkley
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There were several options for another loser in this game: Distin, for being skinned far too easily by Aluko on more than one occasion; Howard, for conceding the only shot on target at his near post; and Leon Osman, for an especially error-prone game.
In a close call, it's Ross Barkley who narrowly takes the honours.
The England international is yet to find form after a lengthy lay-off, and he endured another frustratingly patchy showing.
After Barkley struggled on the flanks for several recent fixtures, Martinez restored the youngster to a central role, where he was expected to pull the strings.
Aside from a couple of neat moves in the first-half, that influential performance never materialised, and he remained on the fringes.
Winner: Ahmed Elmohamady
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It's tough to outline another winner in a forgettable contest.
Hull's display was hardly littered with standout performers; in truth, Steve Bruce's side spent a lot of time using every way possible to waste time.
Another player who did impress, however, was Ahmed Elmohamady.
The right-sided wing-back kept Leighton Baines in check for most of the game, severely limiting his normal quota of creative input.
Elmohamady also found time to regularly bomb forward and sent in a number of teasing deliveries, creating two chances in the process.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
