Roberto well pleased with Blues display

, 4 January, 0comments  |  Jump to most recent

John Stones turned in a Man of the Match display in only his second start
Roberto Martinez was delighted with what he described as the "complete performance" by his side as Everton dominated QPR and coasted through to the Fourth Round.

The Blues routed the Championship side, who looked like they other priorities on their mind as they mustered just three shots all game, none of which troubled Joel Robles' goal, despite a number of a changes to the team that played against Stoke last Wednesday.

“It was a pleasing performance from our point of view," Martinez told evertontv after the game. "We got stronger and I thought the players enjoyed playing at Goodison.

"They enjoyed the atmosphere and that's really pleasing for me.

He was also encouraged by Nikica Jelavic who scored twice and would have bagged a hat-trick had he not chipped an ambitious penalty attempt onto the crossbar in the second half.

“Jela has been working really well and has suffered due to the good form of Romelu Lukaku," Martinez continued. "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 manager also reserved praise on Everton's defence which shut down any attempt by Harry Redknapp's side to get into the game. Antolin Alcaraz and John Stones partnered each other for the second game running and the latter was awarded the Man of the Match award for another outstanding display that defied his tender years.

Not only that, but both fullbacks had stellar afternoons, Seamus Coleman scoring his sixth goal of the season with another beautiful strike and Bryan Oviedo laying on two assists before winning the penalty that should have made it 4-0 before Coleman did a few minutes later.

“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" said Martinez.

“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.”

Quotes or other material sourced from EvertonFC.com





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