Kevin Mirallas dominates Hull in Everton's 2-1 win

 

Everton made a winning return to Premier League action after the international break with a 2-1 victory over Hull City at Goodison Park to make at least a temporary push into the top five of the table. The visitors turned in a valiant performance on the road but couldn’t avoid falling to their third defeat of the season as Danny Graham and Liam Rosenior each succumbed to injury. Steve Bruce’s men were able to fight back from a 1-0 deficit following Kevin Mirallas’ controversial opener, only for Steven Pienaar to snatch the three points for the Toffees with his first touch after coming off the bench on 56 minutes.

Key Stats:

Everton were the supreme force throughout, with 62% of the possession, but often found it difficult to break down a resolved Hull defence.

The Tigers on the other hand completed only a pithy 68% of their attempted passes, a high proportion of them long balls, but were able to create eight chances by picking the most opportune moments to push forward. Profligacy was ultimately decisive in seeing the visitors slump to defeat, as Yannick Sagbo’s 30th minute equaliser was the only one of their 10 shots to hit the target even as they got into dangerous positions and connected on six of seven corners and nine of 19 crosses.

Everton’s two goals in 13 shots put on display the Toffees’ more clinical edge, even on a day in which they found penetrating the opposition back line repeatedly a difficult task, the superior quality of Roberto Martinez’s outfit eventually telling to determine the result.

Man of the Match

The Belgium international ran out with Man of the Match honours with a Squawka Performance Score of 72, having netted the opener, albeit under contentious circumstances, and getting an assist on Everton’s winner.

Mirallas was superb in wide areas, completing five of eight crosses whilst giving Maynor Figueroa fits on the right flank, and further tacked on an additional three corners that picked out a team-mate in the area. He also finished the day with a joint team-high three take-ons and made 6 key passes, more than any player for either side. He made 42% of Everton’s chances today, thus symbolising his impact on the game.

Performance Score

Mirallas’ goal on eight minutes sent Everton soaring into the ascendancy on Performance Score as they assumed a commanding lead of 89 to -47, but the Toffees’ advantage remained rather stagnant as Hull fought back bravely immediately after until Sagbo’s leveller pulled the Tigers to within five at 37-32.

Even as the away side continued to look threatening on the break and seemed keen to chase down the three points, however, Everton’s vastly greater possession saw them slowly but surely creep back out ahead, with Pienaar’s winner lifting them to an unassailable score of 205 as Hull tumbled down to 11.

Martinez’s men looked rather comfortable in the closing stages and nearly grabbed a third goal through Arouna Kone, only for the Ivorian to hit the woodwork, sending the visitors further into the abyss and bringing the final Performance Score tally to 296 to -59 in their favour.

Key observations

Hull’s best chance of leaving Goodison Park with at least a point was via their dominance in the air, as they won 19 of 34 headed duels, including three in Everton’s penalty area, but weren’t able to finish the chances available.

Steve Bruce may have found a silver lining in both the loss and Graham’s injury, though, as Sagbo proved to be effective leading the attack and tracking back, completing 85% of his passes, making two take-ons, and making three tackles.

From the opposite bench, Martinez will be pleased to see how his side picked up in the second-half after a somewhat lacklustre opening 45 minutes in which Romelu Lukaku was largely starved for service, with Ross Barkley pushing higher up the pitch and spending a great deal of time on the edge of the Tigers’ penalty area to have a greater influence on proceedings.

Mirallas also played his best match of the season thus far, coming away with three Squawka ‘Best’ Awards after taking home a grand total of zero in his first seven appearances, form all surrounding the Everton camp hope will continue as they press on in hopes of coming away with European football at the conclusion of the campaign.