St Dom-index
Tim Howard – 7
Seamus Coleman – 9
Phil Jagielka – 7
Sylvain Distin – 7
Leighton Baines – 8
Kevin Mirallas – 6.5
Gareth Barry – 7
James McCarthy – 7.5
Leon Osman – 8
Ross Barkley – 8.5
Romelu Lukaku – 8.5
Used Subs
Gerard Deulofeu – 8
Steven Naismith – N/A
John Stones – N/A
Blue Match Review
Another brilliant result for the blues. I am sure before the game anyone would have taken a 3-2 win over Newcastle. But the way the game panned out it wasn’t quite as sweet. Similar to our game against Fullham it was a game of two halves, a brilliant first half performance and a disappointing second half showing.
I thought Seamus Coleman had an outstanding game, he had Ben Arfa in his pocket, everything Ben Arfa tried he was able to defend against and the french winger was subsequently substituted at half time. The two centre backs were solid as usual, and Baines put in another good display.
Mirallas had a disappointing game, he was looking his old self for around 20 minutes, unfortunately he then picked up a knock, and from then on his defending was poor and he didn’t offer too much when we were attacking either.
I thought Barry wasn’t at his best, he was solid when they were on the attack, but when in possession of the ball he gave it away too often which put us under pressure, especially in the dying minutes when Newcastle were pushing for the goal. McCarthy looked decent, spreading the play well and putting in a few important tackles to break the defence down, but unfortunately he’s got the pressure of trying to live up to his price tag. Osman had a solid game which was a refreshing sight as he hasn’t been at his best over the recent weeks.
Ross Barkley has really relished the opportunities that Martinez has offered him, and scored a well deserved goal, which was brilliantly worked between him and Lukaku.
Lukaku was unplayable in the first half, every time he got the ball he looked dangerous and again got two well deserved goals. Playing with players of Lukaku’s quality week in week out will be brilliant for Barkley’s development.
Deulofeu looked exciting when he came on, his pace over 5 yards tore the Newcastle defence apart, unfortunately he didn’t get a goal, but that performance will do his confidence no harm.
Overall I think us Blues should be happy with the result, regardless of how we won it, we got another 3 points and are still the only undefeated team in the league. What’s a realistic target this year blues? Top 4? 5th?
Football really is a game of opinions. I thought Barry and McCarthy were brilliant in midfield. The way they kept Everton playing in the first half was a revelation and in the second half they remained calm and withstood the early Newcastle onslaught.