Everton went into the game against Chelsea facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge. With 12 of their senior players out for various reasons, the squad facing the champions of Europe felt rather makeshift.
The 11 consisted of fringe players, veterans and even teenage debutants due to which the Toffees looked to be in for a long night against a comparatively stronger Chelsea.
However, the Blues were also lacking a striker, with all 3 of their potential number 9’s out due to Covid. This worked heavily to their detriment as chance after chance was squandered, and what could’ve been an easy win for the Blues ended up being an agonizing draw.
Nonetheless, the Toffees deserve ample credit, as they remained defensively determined despite the barrage of attacks from Chelsea. Looking to hit the Blues on the counter, Everton rarely ventured forward.
The second half brought a key change as The Toffees stitched together attacks in their opposition’s half and they had a golden opportunity to stun Stamford Bridge, if only had they been more decisive in the final third.
Pouncing upon a bit of disorganisation from the Blues, Everton launched a swift counter after defending a corner. The Toffees quickly got numbers forward, Abdoulaye Doucouré in particular made a wonderful run towards the Chelsea box with no markers around him.
The ball then fell to Alex Iwobi and with time and space on his side, the Nigerian International simply had to thread the ball through to his teammate.
What followed left Everton fans perplexed.
Instead of opting to pass the ball to Doucoure who was in on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat, Iwobi instead slowed down the attack before passing the ball onto Isaac Simms.
Unfortunately, the move fell apart, Chelsea got back in numbers and the ball was soon cleared.
Iwobi, who has already faced criticism for not living up to the expectations that surrounded his departure from Arsenal, received some more flak from the Everton faithful.
While a draw would have surely been an acceptable result before the game, Everton supporters were left to wonder whether their side missed out on an opportunity for a classic smash and grab.
Here’s the reaction to Iwobi’s awful passing decision –
