Everton ‘machine’ who won 77% duels just put in ‘superb showing’ v Crystal Palace

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Amadou Onana has put on another ‘superb’ performance for Everton in the FA Cup.

Amadou Onana kept his place in the starting line-up for the fifth consecutive game as Everton held Crystal Palace to a 0-0 stalemate in the third round of the FA Cup.

The two sides played out a fairly even game at Selhurst Park, with neither team managing to break the deadlock before taking it to a replay.

The Toffees were left a man down when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was controversially sent off with only ten minutes to go, but Everton still managed to go on and claim their first clean sheet since the win over Burnley last month.

While Joao Virginia made three saves and pulled off an impressive second senior appearance for Everton, it was Amadou Onana’s display that was hailed as a ‘superb’ showing for a dominating performance in the middle of the park.

As per Sofascore, the Belgian had 61 touches, completed 92% of his passes (44/48), completed 4/8 long balls, won 100% of his headers, 6/9% ground duels and made four tackles.

Onana’s pass accuracy was the highest of any player on the pitch, while himself and his midfield partner James Garner were the only players to win more than one aerial duel.

Are we seeing the best from Amadou Onana?

It wasn’t long ago that the 22-year-old was hailed as a ‘tackling machine’ and ‘one of the most talented youngsters in Europe’ following his arrival from Lille in 2022.

Onana was subject to interest from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, however he struggled for form in the early stages of the current campaign and received a lot of criticism.

The Belgium international seems to be climbing towards his potential now though, becoming one of the most important players under Sean Dyche since their turnaround in results.

In the Everton squad this season, Onana has made the third-most tackles (41), the fourth-most dribbles (20) and the fourth-most aerials won (37).

Onana is definitely coming into his own and it is very exciting to see for an Everton fan, who can only feel hope around the future of their team when he is there, alongside young stars such as James Garner, Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko.

Onana has become key to Everton’s brick wall defence, with the Merseyside outfit picking up eight clean sheets in their last 16 games in all competitions.

But the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace shows they are still struggling further up the pitch, and that seems to be apparent since Abdoulaye Doucoure picked up an injury.

The midfielder has been ‘fantastic’ again this season, but he isn’t the player Everton can be relying on week in week out. Sean Dyche will know he needs attacking reinforcements this month if they are to crawl back up the table.