David Moyes has pointed to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye’s loss of scoring touch as a reason behind Everton’s loss of form at a crucial period of the season.
The Toffees could only draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park yesterday, to all but end the club’s European football hopes.
Which Everton player frustrated you the most against Crystal Palace? 😬
Everton needed three points after being held by Manchester City.
But it was another case of surrendering the lead. Not just once, but twice.
The Toffees have now given up a handful of points since the last international break, and there will likely be some regrets come the end of the season.
And after the draw with Palace, David Moyes pointed to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye losing their scoring touch.
What Moyes said about Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye after Crystal Palace draw
Against Palace, Dewsbury-Hall had two great opportunities to score.
One came in the first-half and the other in the second when he didn’t pull the trigger and ended up losing the chance.
Ndiaye also had a golden opportunity to win all three points for Everton in injury-time, but fired his shot too central, allowing Dean Henderson to make the save.
Ndiaye also missed a flurry of chances in the 3-3 draw against Manchester City on Monday.
After the draw with Palace, Moyes actually spoke about the pair’s loss of form, as he assessed Everton’s place in the European football race.
No win in any of Everton’s last five games… what would you say to David Moyes? 🫣
He told Everton’s in-house media team: “I just didn’t think we were at the levels we can play. I think we can play a lot better than we did do.
“But I’ve just said it there. Key players for us like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye have been getting some big moments in games and not quite finishing them.
“And in the main, over most of the season, they’ve been the two who’ve been doing that for us, and we’ve been grateful for their goals. But both of them just haven’t quite got the knack of getting it in the net at the moment.”
Wasteful Everton now set to miss out on Europe
With just two games left now, Everton realistically need two wins to have any chance of European football, and for other teams to lose.
The likelihood is that even the Conference League is now beyond the Toffees – and wastefulness will be a huge reason why.
It’s still been a good season.
But it could have been so much more and it’s a major shame that the form of two top players has gone out the window at just the wrong time.
Has that just ended Everton’s hopes of European qualification? 😫
More points dropped by the Blues… 😡
To solely blame them though would not be right though.
Moyes will also have to take some of the flak, with his lack of trust in other players who could have made a difference, and his tendency to be too slow to make changes in games.
Everton’s defenders will also need to look at themselves for falling short of the required levels in recent fixtures.
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