Everton secured a narrow first leg advantage over Manchester City in the Capital One Cup semi-final on Wednesday night with a thrilling 2-1 victory at Goodison Park, but how did the players fare individually?
Here are my player ratings.
Joel Robles – 7
The second choice keeper made two or three very good saves and looked an upgrade on the hapless Tim Howard.
He didn’t command his area that well, but all in all this was another promising showing from the Spaniard.
Seamus Coleman – 7
One of the full-backs best performances in quite a while as he was full of energy and running – more of the same in the next few weeks would do nicely.
John Stones – 8
There have been some questions directed at Stones in the last few weeks, but he answered the critics wonderfully last night.
Against a fearsome attack the youngster coped admirably with a composed and graceful display.
Ramiro Funes Mori – 9
The former River Plate man was almost faultless. He got himself a goal, was unbeatable in the air and cut out a plethora of crosses.
Easily his best display since joining the Blues and if he can maintain this level of form, Everton will have a seriously good defender in their ranks.
Leighton Baines – 8
The left-back has looked short of match fitness in recent weeks following his injury lay-off, but not on Wednesday evening.
He was assured in his defensive duties and full of quality in the final third – it is great to see him back to his best.
Gareth Barry – 8
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A terrific performance against his former club. He may not be the quickest or the most mobile, but Barry has been making up for that this season with his positional intelligence and composure in the middle of the park.
Tom Cleverley – 7
The midfielder was taken off at half time with an injury, but he got through his usual workload with the minimum of fuss in the first half.
Muhamed Besic – 9
Man of the match. The only thing stopping him from getting a perfect ten is that he didn’t get his name on the scoresheet.
The Bosnian was tenacious as he cut out attack after attack and contributed to some wonderful football when the Blues were on the attack – he has to start if he is fit.
Gerard Deulofeu – 8
The winger is an easy target if you want to criticise someone for a lack of work-rate. His display on Wednesday dispelled that myth though, as he ran himself into the ground as he pressed from the front and won the ball back for his team countless times.
The Spaniard was a threat throughout and deserved the ovation he got from the home crowd when he was taken off.
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Ross Barkley – 8
This was arguably Barkley’s best performance of the campaign thus far.
Sometimes his decision making was questionable, but overall the attacking midfielder left the City defence in tatters with his directness and strength on the ball.
Romelu Lukaku – 8
Where would the Toffees be without Romelu Lukaku? The forward got what could prove a crucial goal seconds after the visitors had levelled and he bullied the centre-back pairing of City all night.
His nose for goal paired with his vastly improved hold-up play mean that Lukaku is quickly turning into the complete striker.
Leon Osman – 7
No one has been more of a critic of the Everton veteran than I, but he was full of creativity and brought a calmness to the hosts’ play when he entered the fray – a good display in a tough environment from Ossie.
Next: Everton 2-1 Manchester City
Kevin Mirallas – 7
The frustrated wide man looked desperate to impress when he came on and impress he did.
The Belgian constantly ran at his marker, took him on time after time and on another night could have had an assist or two to his name.