One Everton star was hailed as ‘superb’ in the FA Cup defeat against Luton Town

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Very few players walked from Everton’s corner walked away with credit following their disappointing 2-1 defeat against Luton Town, but there was one player who did.

Luton opened the scoring in the 39th minute as a corner deflected off the back of left-back Vitali Mykolenko and ended up in the back of the net.

Jack Harrison then equalised proceedings in the 55th minute. He took the ball down superbly and curled an effort into a bottom left corner that squirmed under the body of Tim Krul.

In a match that hung in the balance, it was the visitors who had the last laugh by scoring in the final minute of added time.

Once again, the Toffees failed to defend a set piece. A corner resulted in a goal-mouth scramble in the box and Cauley Woodrow was on hand to slam the ball past Joao Virginia.

In truth, Sean Dyche’s side struggled to take control of the game throughout and only really looked threatening in the final half an hour of the match. They were outfought and outrun by an aggressive Luton side.

The visitors, indeed, had more possession (54%/46%), more shots (15/14) and shots on target (6/2), as per Sofascore, and thoroughly deserved to win the game.

Dyche would have been bitterly disappointed with most of his players on the pitch today but one star who can hold his head high is goalkeeper Virginia.

Joao Virginia was ‘superb’ vs Luton despite conceding twice

Virginia has progressed well at Goodison Park this season and was praised for his performance in the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the previous round of the FA Cup.

After being labelled as a ‘top pro’ by Dyche, the Portuguese shot-stopper had to impress his manager once more against Luton, and he did just that.

Virginia made some excellent flying saves in the second half to keep his side in the game, denying both Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo before being beaten right at the death.

Those saves drew some high praise, including from well-reputed Everton journalist Patrick Boyland, who labelled the 24-year-old as ‘superb’ for his reflexes to prevent Adebayo from scoring.

In the two games in which he’s featured, the goalkeeper has been a stand-out and perhaps executed saves that number one Jordan Pickford wouldn’t be able to pull off.

He’s shone in between the sticks for a side that gets put under a lot of pressure and while Pickford will remain Dyche’s first-choice for the foreseeable, it’s good to know he has a very reliable back-up in Virginia who can now push for a chance in the Premier League.