Everton star Amadou Onana now blasted for ‘arrogant’ thing he did in Fulham defeat

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Everton fans have already formed a strong bond with Sean Dyche, with his work in leading them towards safety miraculous thus far.

In fact, had they not been handed an unprecedented ten-point deduction, European football would be a very serious possibility for the Toffees rather than relegation.

However, such is the case, mid-table mediocrity is seemingly on the agenda this term for the Merseyside outfit, which was an outcome they would have scampered for in pre-season.

That does make last night’s EFL Cup exit even more disappointing though, as a top opportunity to reach the latter stages of the competition without having to worry about the Premier League at last.

Although the game should have been won in 90 minutes, given just how poor the travelling Fulham side were, when it went to penalties it became anyone’s game.

However, and frustratingly so, it again should have been Everton’s. When Jordan Pickford stopped Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s penalty, it handed Amadou Onana the chance to send his side to the semi-finals.

But whether it be through overconfidence or a lack of quality, the Belgian simply passed his spot-kick straight at Bernd Leno with a hop, skip and a jump, drawing mass scrutiny.

Dave Downie of the BBC would take to X to write: ‘That from Onana was atrocious. To get through to a semi-final and he chooses to be so arrogant.’

How did Amadou Onana play vs Fulham?

Even before he fluffed his vital effort straight at the goalkeeper, Onana had endured a torrid night in which he and Dyche will have been disappointed.

The hulking midfielder was anonymous, and went missing for large portions of the game.

For someone boasting his immense physique and the technical prowess too, he should be dominating games like last night’s. After all, he has the vision and quality to execute things his teammates could only dream of. So why doesn’t he?

Last night marked a frustrating one for fans, who were forced to watch him stand out wide or up front, away from the action.

Then, when the ball was inevitably turned over, he had left a gaping vacancy in the engine room.

Losing 40% of his ground duels marked a poor return for the usually reliable enforcer, with his penalty shootout miss just adding to his misery. As such, the Liverpool ECHO would hand him an abysmal 5/10 rating in their post-match piece.

However, such is his confidence, which perhaps spilt into arrogance yesterday as Downie noted, he should bounce back with ease.

Saturday marks a huge opportunity to right those wrongs and at least maintain their Premier League winning run.