Roberto Martinez was full of praise for his team after an all-action display against a lacklustre Queens Park Rangers team. The toffees were scintillating as they ripped apart Rangers time and time again with Ross Barkley pulling strings in midfield, but it was Nikica Jelavic and John Stones who drew particular praise.
Croatian Jelavic is subject to interest from a number of clubs, but scored 2 goals and should have had a hat-trick but missed a penalty.
Martinez told evertontv: “It was a pleasing performance from our point of view. We got stronger and I thought the players enjoyed playing at Goodison. They enjoyed the atmosphere and that’s really pleasing for me.
“Jela has been working really well and has suffered due to the good form of Romelu Lukaku. He got the opportunity today and scored two goals.
“He’ll be disappointed he has missed the penalty because he should have scored a hat-trick, but his overall play was outstanding.
“His movement in the box is as sharp as I have seen from him. At times he made some great runs that we didn’t spot but that’s being ultra-critical.
“But I thought he was very professional and he got two deserved goals.”
“The highlights will show the attacking play but what was pleasing was how well we worked off the ball and how quickly we stopped Queens Park Rangers from getting any sort of momentum.
Martinez was full of praise for his defenders, who without the injured Leighton Baines were in full control with John Stones being the standout performer.
“You are looking at Joel Robles in goal and Seamus who is becoming a real specialist in that position. John Stones was terrific, Antolin is showing what he can do after a long spell out through injury and Bryan Oviedo is maintaining his level of performance.”
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