Everton went down to Manchester City with little fight put up in their Premier League Matchday 16 catchup game. This hugely due to no Dominic Calvert-Lewin to lead the line.
Carlo Ancelotti had the tough task of taking on Manchester City without his star striker and one of the most in-form forwards in the Premier League this season – that forward being Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Ahead of the game, the Toffees boss was optimistic he would still be able to use his ruthless goalscorer against Man City, as well as his first-choice goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford.
Unfortunately, it was way too early for DLC to return to the pitch, following a hamstring injury sustained in their FA Cup victory over Tottenham but thankfully, Pickford regained his place between the sticks.
This left Ancelotti with Richarlison and Joshua King to lead the line
Everton started the City loss with Brazilian Richarlison as the team’s number 9. It did not go as plan, even though he scored Everton’s first and only goal of the night.
This further justified Richarlison’s excellence when operating on the wing and why he is not as effective at the striker position. Late on in the 69th minute, Joshua King was introduced to the game.
He nearly added his name to the scoresheet but came out second best in a 1-V-1 situation with Ederson. It was clear these two were unable to fill in for Calvert-Lewin adequately. They too only recorded three shots at goal with only two on target and one hitting the back of the net.
If they had one man things could have been better
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During last year summer Everton thought it was the best option to send promising striker Moise Kean to Paris Saint-Germain for the season on loan. Let’s just say it was Carlo Ancelotti’s worst transfer decision at the club.
Over in France the out-of-favour forward has scored 16 goals across all competitions this campaign. Ten of those being league goals and three scored in Champions League football. He joined in on the humiliation handed to Barcelona midweek.
Mbappe and co beat Messi and co 4-1 in the first leg of the round of 16 – Mbappe scored a hat-trick while Kean added one goal to his name. Imagine that goal came in their 3-1 loss to Manchester City? It would have made things interesting.
His 10 league goals in 17 games could have really helped the Merseysiders when without Dominic and when he was not in scoring form. There were six outings Everton were unable to score in and where they were unable to pick up any points.
The bit that makes the least sense
They loaned out Kean, who was underperforming last season, to sign a player in January who was relegated from the top flight with Bournemouth. Thomas Tuchel, who was the PSG boss at the time, realised the talent he is and the player repaid him for his faith in him.
Now the Toffees struggle to impose the same quality on the pitch week after week because they lack quality and depth in certain areas – striker being one of them.
This has left them with a lot to do as we reach the home stretch. Everton sits seventh in the EPL standings on 37 points after suffering eight losses for the campaign so far.
They’ve improved drastically compared to their previous term that started under the stewardship of Marco Silva but could succumb to the same faith – no European ball. An important Merseyside derby comes the weekend which could decide their faith.
If Dominic Calvert-Lewin is left sidelined again for the clash against Liverpool, they can forget European football for next season and expect nothing more than a loss or a draw against their successful neighbours.