Alex Iwobi put up a lively display as Everton and Liverpool played out a tepid draw in their Premier League clash at the Goodison Park at on Sunday evening.
The Nigeria winger was replaced by Bernard two minutes before regulation time.
Iwobi has scored once in 19 league appearances for Everton this season.
Read Also: Iwobi Seeks End To Liverpool’s Dominance In Merseyside Derby
Liverpool went into the game needing six points to win the title but registered only two shots on target.
Everton had the best chances of the game, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tom Davies and Richarlison all going close.
Everton moved onto 38 points and return to 12th position.
Liverpool remain 23 points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the table.
14 Comments
Iwobi could ve scored if he was squared by Richarlison tho!!! Sad way not to win a derby in a decade
Had a good game…he played in midfield and tracked back a lot
Good game, Iwobi. Comfortable as a winger or midfielder. His link of play remains top notch. Could have got a goal today if Richarlison had squared the ball to him, as Deee mentioned.
Meant to say “link up play”
Digressing a little bit, watching Everton play today brought back memories of the Yak. FEED THE YAK, AND HE WILL SCORE. Yakubu had a great career at Goodison Park. But for many Nigerians, his career seems to be defined by that harrowing miss against South Korea in the 2010 world cup.
Funny thing is, Yakubu is not alone when it comes to embarassing misses. The video below shows accomplished players like Ronaldinho, CR7, Lundberg, Diego Forlan, and Neymar involved in incredible misses as well.
Instead of dwelling on that miss, what I remember is Yakubu’s incredible courage and composure to step up, take and convert the penalty that drew us level in the game. If you put yourself in Yakubu’s shoes, you will realize how difficult that moment must have been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzwXmPy_qKc
95 goals in the premier league is nothing to snub. Yak was an accomplished player
He was a goal grabber, smashing in goals with reckless abandon. And he did it with several clubs, not just Everton, and not just in England. At his peak, THE YAK was a 25 goal a season striker. His goal return for Nigeria was not too shabby either.
Meanwhile in the Turksih Super league, Henry Onyekuru’s Galatasaray faced off against Kayode’s Gaziantep. The game ended 3-3 with Kayode denied scoring a sublime bicycle kick to produce the tying goal by VAR in the dying minutes. They both played 90 minutes. Onyekuru looks unsettled as he seems to rush everything but he was very helpful on the deFensive end
Onyekuru guy ehn! Like those alcohols are not helping matters the way he acts like thug during the last minutes.
Good baller no doubt. And with his stature, one would expect humility in him. Humble. But Nah..not in this one o. He collected a Yellow card after the match due to his rashness to the Officials during and after the match. He can do better.
As for Iwobi, yes Richarlison should have squared the ball for him to score but that was like the 3rd time he bumped into the Attack all through the match. The reason why I can’t blame him much is because he is a player that plays to the Coach instructions. He ought to play as Right Midfielder but for most of the match he was playing as a Right Back with Digne. Why??? Are you afraid to initiate attack or move the ball with confidence towards your opponent? Iwobi should please do better at Everton. His stats are OK in the National team but he needs a lot of improvement now than ever. Like he’s deteriorating…so bad! The once proclaimed “NEXT BIG THING” fa
Thanks Pompei and Lord AMO for the comments on Yakubu and the Onyekuru/Kayode updates respectively.
The miss against South Korea should not in any way define Yakubu’s Super Eagles career. For me, I always analyse our players’ club and national team careers differently and for Yakubu, he did very well in both.
I watched Onyekuru’s match last week and he did look rusty. But, funny enough, he came alive when it mattered most to almost score a score a goal with a sublime effort.
Unlike Iwobi, Onyekuru is struggling for club and country. Both of them could be fantastic players on their day. I do pray that they can both dig deep to rediscover the magic in them. On their day, Iwobi and Onyekuru can be astonishingly brilliant players.
As for Olanrewaju Kayode, the chances of him kitting for the Super Eagles are very remote but I am nonetheless happy for him to have got his club career back on track in Turkey.
Thanks Deo. Kayode was so impressive at the weekend. And that scissors kick goal could have been the icing on the cake. Extremely hard working, full of running, using his pace to terrorize defenders. I was impressed by his performance. Can he keep up this level consistently though? That’s what he needs to do if he wants Rohr to look his way.
_ Spotlight on Iwobi _
At the start of the season, I watched Everton’s first three matches and from what I saw of Iwobi (particularly in his debut against Aston Villa), I felt at the time that he would go on to have an underwhelming season (unless he improved).
That was not me thrashing Iwobi nor maliciously dragging his name into the mud nor undermining his contributions to the Super Eagles. It was just me analysing the football in front of me and making projections based on what I saw.
As it would happen, Iwobi himself as come out to agree with me that his own stats for Everton have been below par.
Injuries haven’t helped but we can’t actually say he was pulling down trees before he sustained his injury.
As I already noted in another post, I remain an admirer of Iwobi’s work ethics. I love his attitude, desire, determination, drive and passion for club and country. However, as noted by Lord AMO (and Iwobi himself in an interview with Daily Mail), we now need to see end products to those ‘endeavours’ at Merseyside.
Did we see that yesterday?
Rating Iwobi, Phil Kirkbride for Liverpool Echo wrote:’Alex Iwobi 4
Rusty. Given almost the full 90 but struggled badly to make any form of impact. ‘
Alex Pettle writing for The Independent opined: ‘Alex Iwobi – 5: Spent most of the first half pinned back by Milner, and failed to get forward much even after the Liverpool man’s departure.’ End.
From what I saw, I actually thought Iwobi was playing as a wing-back at some point as he was deep in his own half for the bulk of the game. But he remained focused and resolute and for me, helped his team to earn a hard fought draw against an invincible Liverpool outfit.
Which is why his best stats were actually in defence not attack.
Goal: 0
Assist: 0
Key passes: 0
Crosses: 0
Shots on target: 0
Shots off target: 0
However
Ground Duels (won) : 3(2)
Aerial Duels (won) : 1(1)
Clearances: 2
Interceptions: 1
Tackles: 1
Heat wave: it was very hot in the defensive side showing where he was most busy.
So, as the first aim of Everton was to avoid a defeat, I think Iwobi played to instructions in a solid but admittedly unspectacular display. I give him 5.5/10.
Good analysis. I agree that Iwobi’s performances of late at Everton have been somewhat subdued. Perhaps he is being wrongly deployed? He seems to play better and score more for Nigeria, compared to the clubs he’s played for.
With Nigeria, he does have the freedom to express himself and do what he does best, which is fulfilling the role of LINK MAN in the attack. Perhaps that is what he also needs at club level to excel.
At any rate, Iwobi needs to keep working to improve on his goals and assists production for club and country.
Thank you Pompei. Well said.