Alex Iwobi made his first Premier League appearance as Everton moved to the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, Completesports.com reports.
Iwobi, who had missed Everton’s opening two games against Tottenham Hotspur and West Brom, replaced James Rodriguez on 86 minutes.
Also in action was Eberechi Eze who was in the starting line-up for Palace before he was replaced by Michy Batshuayi with 15 minutes left.
Also Read:Championship: Mikel Bags Assist In Stoke City’s Away Win; Dele-Bashiru, Ejaria Also In Action
Everton have now won their opening three games to a Premier League season for the first time since 1993-94 season.
Everton took an early 10-minute lead when Dominic Calvert-Lewin netted his fifth goal in his opening three Premier League matches of the campaign.
James Rodriguez released Seamus Coleman down the right as the full-back cut the ball back to Calvert-Lewin.
Cheikhou Kouyate brought Palace level when he headed in Andros Townsend’s corner in the 26th minute.
Everton wanted a penalty soon after when Richarlison’s cross hit Ward’s arm, but Friend, and a VAR check, did not agree with the shouts.
However, Ward was not so lucky for a second time as he appeared to be harshly penalised when Lucas Digne’s knockdown hit him from close-range.
Richarlison stepped up and made no mistake as he opened his Premier League account for the season and put Everton 2-1 up on 40 minutes.
By James Agberebi
33 Comments
Good play from English boy Eze but still a class just below Iwobi,who didn’t get enough minute today, obviously due to maintaining a winning team. Everton honestly playing quite impressively at the moment. Their attacking brand of football is very pleasing to watch, very unlike before. Thumbs up Ancellotti/ Ferguson for this attacking brand of football.
The English boy Eze has a lot of growing up to do. Eze never finish school.
BTW, what the heck is going on in the West Midlands? Westbrom are crushing Chelsea by 3 nil! Game still dey sha.
O boy lobi small thing lo. Chelsea dey fall my hand badder here o.. Lampard go soon understand why Mourinho go grey so quickly.
Up Chelsea. Whaoooo. Great come back. West brom need sort out their defence endurance. Great game man.
It was a close call. This kind of tension is not good for Chelsea fans. I really thought defeat was sure today!
I feel so sorry for the Chelsea, despite all that money
My Ogas’ what did you watch today?? Football or Cricket? For anyone that watched Crystal Palace Vs Everton truly today without sentiment knows deep down that even with Eze’s pride, if he says he’s playing for Nigeria Tomorrow, we’ll all go into jubilation.
His every touch, passes were class. His Crosses from both Free Kicks and Corner kicks were threatening. A real Playmaker and Attacking Midfielder. The mould of No.10 we lack in the Super Eagles currently. Please @GLORY and Pompei just stop your nonsense sentiments and praise a player and stop exalting Iwobi Everytime. Iwobi is good yes and Eze is equally good. Eze possesses everything Iwobi has and even add Jara. Somebody came on 86 minutes(Iwobi) and Eze played 75 minutes and all you could do is not to commend Eze for his true master class all through his stay on the pitch but to come here saying “still a class just below…”. SMH. Our CSN analyst ehn..I hail thee
Chairmanfemi, your craze don start again today? I have looked at my comment and Glory’s comment again and again. I don’t see how we insulted or disparaged the guy. We only said the fact. His game is good, but he is not yet the finished product. So what is the NONSENSE SENTIMENTS you’re referring to? I’m not surprised though. You usually make good comments, but from time to time when you smoke that your gbana, all sense goes out the window, lol. Please disagree all you want, but refrain from insults, otherwise you will be on the receiving end as well!
@Pompei you are the one that is crazy everybody who watched today’s game knows that Eze is class @Glory saying “he is a class below Iwobi” has sentimental ludacrisy written all over it. Eze is class. Iwobi is good too when he wants to be but, Eze is class let’s face it.
Ugo Iwunze, you and your entire generation are crazy. Me and you have history on this CSN. Your way is to force your opinion on others with insults, and in the past I gave it to you real good. If you want us to start again, I am ever ready for you, nincompoop! Stupid idiot!
Mr Iwunze, I actually regret my above response to you. I should not sink to your level by returning insult for insult, as I used to do in the past. As the saying goes, a leopard can’t change its spots. This is who you are. Insulting people to prove your point is your way. You can’t function any other way. Perhaps its a mental problem? I don’t know. I do know for sure that barking at others like a rabid dog is your modus operandi. All because you simply can’t stand it that others have an opinion that is different from yours!
I have clashed with you severally in the past because of your uncouth and ill-mannered behavior. Your penchant for insults and lack of toleration for other people’s opinions is the stuff of nightmares. As long as you continue in this way of yours, I will not respond to you anymore. Why should I exchange words with you, when you are completely lacking in decorum? I love to debate and exchange ideas with most forumites here. But some, with you as the chief, I avoid like the deadly plague.
Change your behavior, Mr. Iwunze. Change your behavior!
@Ugo Iwunze
We are the ones making this young man feel he’s too big for SE.
While watching his game on sat.day, i got to a point that i asked myselft if this is the EZE the NFF and some people are hyping up and down.
So absurd, the guy did nothing special.
Just a normal “receive & pass”, “try to cut in & pass”, “it was only one defender that marked him compared to our CHUKWUEZE where 2 defenders are always struggling to mark.
Ask MADRID & BARCA”.
I thought he’s a kind of player in the caliber of the likes of SANCHO, CHUKWUEZE, SAKA, MOUNT, RASHFORD, VINICIOUS, FATI, RICHALISSON, GREENWOOD or even ODOI, ABRAHAM, WILLOCK & NKETIAH that can change or inflence any match with their tricks and skills, that can force the opposition coach to caution his FULLBACKS to be mindful of them but only to DISCOVER that the young man is just one overated HENRY ONYEKURU.
No wonder he want to force himself on SOUTHGATE.
If he continue playing like that i bet him he wouldn’t even have a place in england’s standby list.
Oga Ade I no insult you oo. I put down True facts above. Put yours. Can Iwobi play Free Kicks like Eze did today plenty times for Crystal Palace for his club too or even in Naija shirt? I can’t remember Iwobi taking Corner kicks for Nigeria also…Abi I lie? Eze did that plenty times today and the crosses are threatening. If only Kouyate and co. could have met the crosses with a perfect header they wouldn’t have lost. You can watch the game again
@ Chairman, I take it you are only making a comment n not to insult or go name calling. Anyway I watched the game well and equally accept the fact that English boy Eze played well. My comparison therein to Iwobi is simply based on the fact that we have seen Iwobi in his Arsenal even at such young age dished out far better stuff than what Eze did today. Thats not to take anything from Eze. He has the potential not a doubt about that, just like Ejaria but National team is different and Iwobi has proved himself at both club and national team level. So after Eze prove him well for Crystal palace and do same at national team level whether England or Nigeria or Biafra, then we start to compare. Shekena? lol.
Nice response @Glory. But you agree Iwobi is not the “FINISHED PRODUCT” neither? as @Pompei said above.
@ Chairmanfemi, very true. That same journey Iwobi, dey travel, Eze, Ejaria, Olise, all of dem dey travel am too. But Iwobi don pass all d junctions wey d rest just dey about reach. Na when dey pass all those junctions, me go start to compare dem oo.
Take it or leave it, Iwobi as at now is better than Eze in football sense. And in terms of achievement and experience, Iwobi is miles ahead. Iwobi is simply a team player. He know how to do dirty jobs if required and he could be flamboyant if need be. We need to wait a few more years before we can begin to compare the two.
Iwobi played for Arsenal for years under different managers, surrounded with all manner of wicked hostilities from English fans, because he chose Nigeria. Yet he survived and gave a good account of himself.
And as far as Super Eagles is concerned, Iwobi has been excellent. Only a blind, sentimental and biased person will deny that. There are players who are even doing well in their club but are major flop in their national teams. But Iwobi is not one of such. He gives his all in SE’s colour
Along the way, Eze will likely have ups and downs in his career too. It is just a simple reality of life. Then we shall see what some fair weather fans will have to say. If Eze says yes to Nigeria it is good, because we have more options. But to start saying he will automatically bench Iwobi in SE is a very shallow football analysis.
What some people call constructive criticism on this forum is extremely far from being constructive. When you are in that position, if people criticize you “constructively” like some people do on this forum, then you will fully understand how “constructive” such tones of criticisms actually are.
Iwobi was raised in an English environment. As such, you cannot imagine how mean and demoralizing some of the comments some people make here feels, if he ever happens to read them. In Nigeria we sometimes misinterpret insults and pulling people down as constructive because many of us have been abused all our lives, and we have been told abuse is form ofcorrection.
Some people while growing up were treated less than humans by their high school teachers beating them like a goat, and sometimes even their parents do the same needlessly. All was done in the name of corrections and they have come to value “corrections” in that light.
Coming from that background, some people sometimes think they are being constructive with the measure we give, based on the way they grew up. But they are actually being mean to another, considering the lenses through which others see such words and actions, based on how different they were raised.
That is exactly what Taribo also did to Aribo. Taribo could have made exactly the same point he made with more common sense. And some people termed Taribo’s style of criticism as “professional. Many comments are laughable to me on this forum but I realized one cannot always respond to all laughable comments. We need to be sensitive about how we talk to people who were raised outside of Africa.
There are ways to pass the right message across by presenting it the right way, and by being sensitive to where others are coming from. That is just fair enough.
I want to appreciate those who make intelligent comments based on facts on this forum. And those who sensitive to other people’s feelings when they make such comments. We all need to be sensitive to one another’s feelings, and the feelings of the players we are trying to criticize constructively.
@Debo, thumbs up, very intelligent submission. Some people doesn’t understand what is called “environmental culture” even here within the country we are brought up differently with different mindset and culture, not to talk of out the whole continent. Weldone my guy
God bless to you @ Debo. That’s just all I can say for now concerning your write up. Thumbs up man.
Debo, let’s call a spade a spade. Negative feedback is always difficult to swallow however subtle or polite in the way it is delivered. If you prepare very hard for a job interview and gave it your all when the day comes, you will still be very disconcerted if you are told that you didn’t get the job, no matter how ‘gently’ the news is delivered.
There is confusion in the air but some of us refused to be confused. Why are we even having this conversation? Because Iwobi underperformed last season and has cultivated for himself a reputation of an inconsistent player even from his days at Arsenal. This has nothing to do with Super Eagles matters. FOR THE SUPER EAGLES, IWOBI HAS BEEN PHENOMENAL but in club football he is timid. And that is fact. Should I now because of Iwobi’s contributions to Nigeria now auger-coat his performance at club football? Do you think the media are that generous? If people who write about football for a living are not economical about the truth, why should I? Oh please!!! We should elevate our own cognitive tendencies and learn how to make sensible distinctions.
Rohr Nigeria supers eagles need the service of Augsburg defender called Felix uduokhai. That guy is far better than Kevin akpoguma and Jordan torunarigha.
Debo, just because some fans state the obvious about Iwobi’s performances, all of a sudden, they want Ramon Azeez to take his place in the Super Eagles, they want Keshi to come back from the dead to coach the Super Eagles, they are football agents trying to convince Rohr to drop Iwobi for their own tribal players, they are juju people who want to cast a spell on Iwobi, they are business people who are hurting financially because Iwobi is hurting their business…… Blah blah blah…
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO SUCH LUNACY? We all love Iwobi and we want him to do well. But for one particular lunatic on this platform to ascribe evil motives to people making honest observations is just mad! I can’t just wrap my head around it.
Ovie ejeria is a better player than Eze,I watched him today,you need to see how he dribbles in thight spaces. And that olise boy is a good player..I think SE needs ejeria more than Eze, Reason been that he possess what Eze has (Attacking Treats) And what Eze doesn’t have,(Defense)
Rohr has said this a lot of times that he has got the better midfielder in EJARIA. We actually need OLISE and not EZE, as confirmed by Rohr.
It’s only Pinnick that feels he needs EZE
Guys, let’s not go sentimental. I know we need to love and encourage our own, but the stats in the Crystal Palace/Everton match today gave it to Eze. Iwobi was phenomenal in the Carabao Cup earlier this week and so was highly rated by pundits in the English press. But today BBC football gave Eze an average rating of 6.41 (the highest in Crystal Palace, despite not being the scorer). In contrast, Iwobi was rated 5.45 (the lowest in Everton).
Personally, I don’t like that Eze boy cos of his annoying shakara, but that was the cold fact for today. Iwobi has many times been a game-changer for the SE, scoring crucial goals at the most dire moments. He’s humble, committed and hardworking. For me, the only chink in his armour of steel is inconsistency. And it’s a big chink.
Iwobi’s performance in the Argentina friendly illustrates just how good the lad can be. He was a thorn in the flesh of the Argentines, and scored 2 superb goals. I still recall how he humiliated Mascherano before slotting home his second and the fourth Nigeria goal. Even when he is not producing his best, Iwobi’s simple but effective style is very helpful to whatever team he is playing for. His ability to keep possession and unlock defenses with passes is top notch. The big thing missing in his game is goals. He just does not score enough, given his skill level. He seems to score more for Nigeria than he did for Arsenal in the past and Everton currently. If he added goals to his game, he would be likely be playing in a bigger club.
Granted, Eze is his match if we’re comparing skills. But in a big match situation, Iwobi has been there and done that, while Eze is just starting. Of course, Eze has potential, and has what it takes to eventually surpass Iwobi in the future. He will hopefully get there with hard work.
Iwobi’s performances for Nigeria are never in question as he has been great. It is in club football that he has been known to blow hot and cold. This is not being horrible to Iwobi as data and statistics publicly available can back up that assertion.
I think it is way too early to compare Eze and Iwobi. I have said it before and I will say it again. Until Eze plays against Argentina in the world cup and Algeria in an Afcon, until Eze plays for a big club like Arsenal and score in Europa or Champions League, I will always rate Iwobi over Eze. That is my personal opinion regarding the comparison. For me, there are no right or wrong answers, just a matter of opinion. As for Iwobi, records and statistics will hold that he has done very well for Nigeria. Something fans are very happy about. That, however does not alter the fact that he underperformed for Everton last season. Anyone who believes that he played well for Everton last season has to prove it. Anyone of us who allows the facts and statistics to guide our conclusions aren’t being disloyal to Iwobi or being ungrateful to what he has done for Nigeria. Club football analysis is very different from international football analysis. Adults should be wise enough to make the distinction. I watched the match today with a couple of friends who were screaming at the screen every time Iwobi needlessly gave the ball away after he came on. In fact, a friend of mine counted 4 times within the time Iwobi came on when his use of the ball was not consistent with what is expected of a world class player. Is my friend being disrespectful to Iwobi? No, that was his subjective view of how Iwobi performed. Everyone is entitled to their views without the fear of being bullied and harassed. I don’t pay for anyone’s data and no one pays for my data. We are free to express ourselves according to our conscience. I really don’t care what people think about me but I will stand up to bullies all day long (not all night Lolzzz).
Beautifully articulated comment. Thanks, Igbekun Abo!
My sincere gratitudes @Pompei.
With all his talent Eze cannot not claim a starting shirt in current Everton starting 11
Well maybe because I only watched 2nd half,but Eze to me did nothing special, except he played well in the first half,he wasn’t able to really influence the game at all
From his YouTube videos I had watched in the championship,I expected him to be controlling the midfeild, dribbling and giving killer passes.He hardly did any of that.Iwobi on his own part misplaced most of his passes in the few minutes he spent on the pitch