Halloween came a day late at Goodison Park on this day in 2015, when Sam Allardyce’s Sunderland succumbed to a 6-2 thrashing, despite starting the game well and getting themselves back into the game after
going 2-0 down.
A week after our 3-0 victory against Newcastle United, the team started like a steam train against a vulnerable Everton defence and chances for Patrick Van Aanholt, Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher all went astray as the team remarkably hit the post three times in the first half.
These misses were punished as Everton scored twice through Arouna Kone and Gerard Duelofeu before Defoe gave us a lifeline at the end of the first half, making it 2-1.
Fletcher’s header levelled matters at the start of the second half but three quick Everton goals changed the course of the game, with Sebastian Coates’ own goal, Romelu Lukaku’s solo effort and Kone’s second arriving before he headed in late on.
Whilst Lee Cattermole’s injury didn’t aid the Sunderland defence, it appeared that Big Sam’s switch to a 3-5-2 formation didn’t work as Everton cut through a Sunderland defence that looked extremely slow, with the likes of Wes Brown, Coates and Billy Jones looking like relegation fodder.
Throughout the game, the Sky Sports cameras would consistently focus on Big Sam, who looked increasingly infuriated as the game progressed. The manager seemed bemused by the ease of Everton’s goals and how after getting back into the game, we threw it away again.
After the game, the manager essentially summed up these points when speaking to the media and insisted that his team need to improve their defending if they want to stand any chance of surviving in this league.
The defensive frailties were just too much today and we allowed Everton to win the game comfortably in the end. If we don’t sort those out, it will be a long haul over the next few months or so.
I don’t understand why they did it.
We came here to look after Everton and we didn’t play too bad in the first half at all, and for us to get it back to 2-2, that should be enough for us today. We needed to make sure Everton just couldn’t score but we made it so easy for them to score three in seven minutes.
I need the players to understand what an opportunity they had today. They let their emotions get carried away.
Allardyce’s conservative system still hadn’t reaped the rewards for his new team but as the weeks went on, the team would become increasingly solid and certain players who started in this game would find themselves out of the team for most of the season to come.
