Thursday, March 28, 2024

Everton must improve – Martinez

SoccerNews in English Premier League 20 Dec 2014

80 Views

Roberto Martinez ordered his Everton side to rediscover their form after the 3-0 Premier League defeat at Southampton.

Romelu Lukaku’s first-half own-goal combined with efforts from Graziano Pelle and Maya Yoshida ensured Southampton ended a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions for Ronald Koeman’s side at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.

Everton have now won only one of their last six games and Martinez conceded that his team must become more consistent and climb back up the Premier League table. 

“It’s a big setback because we had a very good result on Monday [a 3-1 win against QPR] and obviously you want to follow that through,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve had any run of good results like we did last season and that’s why we’re chasing. And clearly it is a real setback because Southampton have been on an unfortunate run.

“They had everything going their way, but from our point of view we just need to get ready for the game against Stoke [City on Boxing Day] and try and get a good run of results now.”

Southampton came into the game without several key players, including influential midfield duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama, as well as playmaker Dusan Tadic.

Although the visitors were confident in possession in the early stages, Southampton could have been awarded a penalty when Shane Long was brought down by Phil Jagielka, although referee Jon Moss instead gave a corner.

Replays showed that the ball clearly came off Long, but the hosts will feel that justice was done when Lukaku nodded into his own net under pressure from Jose Fonte at the resulting set-piece.

Despite a strong start after the interval, Everton were unable to trouble Fraser Forster and Southampton doubled their advantage after 65 minutes when Pelle prodded past the advancing Tim Howard after linking up with Long.

Yoshida then put the result beyond all doubt with an 82nd-minute header to leave Martinez disappointed with his side’s inability to deal with crosses into the area.

“It’s most disappointing in the way we defended, we were a bit soft and we got done by three balls going into the box,” he added.

“The first goal is disappointing because first off it’s not a corner. I know there’s a lot of talk that it could have been a penalty and I’m quite open for that debate, but it was never a corner.

“Phil Jagielka is always looking at the ball and for me it’s not a penalty. We are the ones to blame, though, we didn’t defend a simple cross well enough.

“It’s quite simplistic and it’s disappointing from our point of view to concede three goals from those sort of actions, but clearly it was a day that nothing went in our favour.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SoccerNews

Soccernews.com is news blog for soccer with comprehensive coverage of all the major leagues in Europe, as well as MLS in the United States. In addition we offer breaking news for transfers and transfer rumors, ticket sales, betting tips and offers, match previews, and in-depth editorials.

You can follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/soccernews.com or Twitter: @soccernewsfeed.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top