“I enjoyed the game,” said Garry Monk of an entertaining draw that finished goalless but scarcely deserved its bottom billing on Match of the Day. “I think it was probably one of the most entertaining nil-nils you can get,” the Swansea manager added. “Sometimes you get a real drab one when you cancel each other out but I thought both teams were trying to win the game.” Roberto Martínez echoed those sentiments as he reflected on a stalemate that was thrilling, rather than one of those spirit-crushing bore draws hipsters will have you believe was “technically fascinating”.
Although both managers said they were satisfied with a point, Everton should have edged it after enjoying a sustained period of post-interval dominance in which Romelu Lukaku shot over the bar and had another effort cleared off the line, and the full-back Brendan Galloway twice spurned chances to score the goal that would have crowned a splendid performance from the teenager.
Galloway was the youngest member of an Everton back four who included three players aged 21 or under in a team Martínez says is “not built to keep clean sheets, that’s the truth”. But keep one they did, although Bafétimbi Gomis twice went close, the pick of his chances a scissor kick fired straight at Tim Howard, who also saved splendidly from a whipped Jefferson Montero effort from the left side of the penalty area.
Ross Barkley, imperious throughout, earned post-match plaudits from his manager, who said it “puts a smile on my face” to see how the midfielder “takes responsibility, wants responsibility and [is] brave”. Barkley did not have a monopoly on courage; the Swansea defender Neil Taylor twice put his body on the line, to thwart Steven Naismith and James McCarthy, once with eye-watering consequences.
On from the bench, Everton’s Gerard Deulofeu will wonder how Steven Naismith failed to prod home a delightful ball squared across the six-yard box. His fellow substitute Kevin Mirallas enjoyed the briefest of cameos before seeing red for an over-the-top challenge on Modou Barrow. “I always tell my subs to come on and give a real intention and a real intensity, so I was pleased with the manner of Mirallas arriving on the pitch,” said Martínez, who was less than thrilled with the way he left it before he had had time to work up a sweat.
Man of the match Ross Barkley (Everton)
