Atsu earns Martinez’s praise

The performance of Ghana winger Christian Atsu and Darron Gibson pleased their boss Roberto Martinez after the two who came on as substitutes helped Everton draw  2-2 with Leicester City in their Premier League match last Sunday.

Atsu’s performance, despite coming on as a second half substitute, earned him the Man-of-the-Match award and praise from Martinez as his effort helped Everton to recover from a 1-2 result to end the game in a draw.

With less than two minutes left,  Atsu provided the cross for Romelu Lukaku, whose diving header flew past Mark Schwarzer after taking a big deflection off Matthew Upson while Gibson offered an attacking threat from midfield.

“I think the introduction of Darron Gibson and Christian Atsu gave us a completely different dynamic and they were very energetic,” said Martinez.

 “Christian, with his low balance, got in some really good positions and Darron’s exceptional passing ability – both short and long – made the pitch very big and allowed the wingers to get in some one-on-one situations. 

“When those two came on, we looked really at ease in terms of trying to score goals. Rom had two good opportunities and then, obviously, we scored and managed to get the equaliser.

 “Overall, we wanted the three points – but I’m delighted we managed to rescue a point because Leicester are fighting for their lives and it is very, very difficult to come back from going behind that late in the game.”

Though Atsu is yet to completely settle in as a loanee at Goodison Park since his surprise move to Chelsea last year, he was brilliant for Ghana at the African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, a performance that earned him the Player of the Tournament status.

The Everton winger was not the only one who impressed on the night; his national teammate, Jeffrey Schlupp, was Leicester's most dangerous player in the opening stages, firing a low drive at Howard. Schlupp burst into the box moments later and it needed the combined efforts of three Everton players to stop him.