Everton vs. West Brom: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Everton huffed and puffed but could not find a breakthrough at home to West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
The two sides played to a scoreless draw at Goodison Park. With the result, the Toffees are 12th in the Premier League table while the Baggies are 14th—just a point behind.
Overall, there was little to write home about from the match, although one or two performances managed to catch the eye while a host of others were mostly underwhelming.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the encounter.
Winner: Claudio Yacob, Who Helped West Brom Absorb Considerable Pressure
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Claudio Yacob's most high-profile contribution to Monday's match was probably his goalmouth tussle with Steven Naismith ahead of an Everton corner, but the West Bromwich Albion midfielder quietly put in a useful performance that helped the guests absorb the considerable pressure they faced.
In addition to completing 85 percent of his passes, according to Squawka, Yacob won all of his aerial battles and six tackles—winning the ball twice off Ross Barkley and twice off Romelu Lukaku.
His work rate throughout the 90 minutes was exemplary, and no doubt manager Tony Pulis will have the 27-year-old among the first players written into his plans for Saturday's FA Cup encounter at Birmingham City.
Loser: Kevin Mirallas, Who Hit the Post from 12 Yards
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Everton should have taken the lead on the brink of half-time when West Bromwich Albion defender Joleon Lescott was judged to have handled the ball in his own 18-yard box.
And it should have been Leighton Baines stepping up to the spot to take the resulting penalty.
Instead, and rather astonishingly, it was Kevin Mirallas who took control of the situation, only to ring his shot off the upright.
He was substituted at the break.
"So you have one of the Premier League's most successful penalty takers in Baines—15 out of 16—and Mirallas takes and misses. Stupidity," remarked the BBC's Phil McNulty via Twitter.
Toffees boss Roberto Martinez did not criticise Mirallas in public, but will it be different behind closed doors?
"We are making an issue about a penalty taker who misses the penalty," Martinez said. "It makes it a big issue but if he hits the back of the net, nothing would happen."
He continued, "We are a team that is very much together. If we had played this game 10 times, we would have had nine wins. The disappointment is that we can't finish the penalty. Of course I am disappointed."
Winner: Muhamed Besic, Who Was Astonishingly Withdrawn
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One of Everton's better players on Monday was Muhamed Besic, who both asserted himself defensively when required and also distributed the ball with remarkable accuracy in the attacking half of the pitch.
According to Squawka, the 22-year-old completed 92 percent of his passes, beat James Morrison (twice) and Craig Gardner in one-on-one situations and contributed a trio of clearances.
And yet, quite surprisingly, Toffees manager Roberto Martinez opted to withdraw him in the 79th minute and leave Gareth Barry out on the pitch.
The home fans were not impressed.
"With farce of Mirallas missed penalty and toxic reaction to Martinez' inexplicable decision to sub Besic, that's very bad night for Everton," tweeted the BBC's Phil McNulty.
Loser: Leighton Baines, Whose Subpar Season Continued
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Leighton Baines isn't nearly the player he was over the course of last season, and once again on Monday, he put in a subpar performance.
While the Everton left-back's rate of passing (90 percent, according to WhoScored) was decent enough, his crosses lacked accuracy, and his deliveries from set-piece situations were generally poor.
Those lethal overlaps that made him such a dangerous threat on the attacking side of the ball in recent campaigns were absent, and then there was the penalty situation in which he allowed Kevin Mirallas to step up to the spot.
"[Everton] needed [their] captain to intervene and Baines to be stronger," analysed the Daily Mail's Ian Ladyman via Twitter.
Winner: Joleon Lescott, Who Recovered Well After Conceding a Penalty
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Had Everton taken the lead from their penalty situation in the 44th minute, Joleon Lescott would have taken the blame.
It was his hand, after all, that struck the ball inside the area, and no doubt he watched on in relief as Kevin Mirallas hit the upright from 12 yards.
As it happened, the 32-year-old was exceptional in the second half and played a significant role in West Bromwich Albion's consistent repelling of the Everton attack.
According to Squawka, he won all four of his aerial duels, made an eye-popping 14 clearances and blocked four shots over the course of the 90 minutes.
Loser: Romelu Lukaku, Who Didn't Add Enough to the Everton Attack
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Romelu Lukaku is a striker of considerable strength and ability, but too often his smarts don't match his physical talent, and his team's potency in front of goal suffers as a result.
Monday was case in point.
Although the Toffees were nothing if not dominant in possession, they lacked anything resembling a cutting edge, and Lukaku, who should have been providing it, was either ahead of the play or failing to properly time his runs at the end of an intricate piece of buildup.
"One of the few runs Lukaku made so far," tweeted ESPN FC's Janusz Michallik after the Belgium striker had made a rare, bright movement in the second half. "Not just service the issue," he added.
