Everton threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1 at Newcastle United on Tuesday night – and Chris Sutton levelled major criticism at new signing Dele Alli.
The Toffees went into a fortuitous lead as Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles put through his own goal.
Newcastle drew level as Mason Holgate returned the favour before Ryan Fraser scrambled in from close range to put the Magpies ahead.
Everton were put to bed when Kieran Trippier whipped a superb free-kick past Jordan Pickford, wrapping up their 3-1 win.
This was not the start Frank Lampard wanted in the Premier League with Everton, having beaten Brentford in the FA Cup days earlier.
Lampard chose not to start with his two deadline day signings as Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek started on the bench.
Alli was brought on early though, replacing the injured Demarai Gray on 25 minutes.
It’s early days for Alli at Everton, but he certainly looked like a player who hasn’t been featuring regularly with Tottenham.
Alli’s worst moment came in the build-up to Fraser’s goal, losing the ball in his own half and ambling back as Newcastle scored.
That moment drew huge criticism from pundit Chris Sutton, who was covering the game on BT Sport 2.
Sutton, speaking just after Fraser found the net, suggested that Alli was ‘sloppy’ and his run to get back wasn’t good enough.
“How sloppy was Dele Alli?” said Sutton. “He gave the ball away. You look at his recovery run, not good enough,” he added.
On 85 minutes, Sutton added; “As a new signing, he had to hit the ground running. But Dele Alli has been miles off it.”
This is just one game and Alli isn’t exactly match sharp, but he has to bounce back pretty quickly after a disappointing Everton debut.
There were at least some bright points; Alli recorded three successful dribbles, three aerial duels, two key passes, two clearances, one shot on target and one interception.
Those are encouraging numbers to work with, and Everton will hope to see more of that going forward.
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