Everton beat Sunderland 3-0 on Monday night, with Idrissa Gueye starring.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in action with Sunderland’s Adnan Januzaj
Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye starred against Sunderland on Monday night – and his performance has earned rave reviews.
The Toffees obliterated Sunderland with a superb second half display, as Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku got his season kickstarted with a superb hat-trick.
Lukaku will no doubt take many of the plaudits having destroyed the Sunderland defence, but midfielder Idrissa Gueye was arguably the best player on the park at the Stadium of Light.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye and Seamus Coleman in action with Sunderland’s Lynden Gooch
The Senegalese ace, 26, joined Everton from relegated Aston Villa last month, and whilst he suffered the drop to the Championship with Villa, he was largely seen as one of their better players last season.
His energy and ability to tackle and intercept had seen him earn comparisons to N’Golo Kante, but he showed what he can do going forward against Sunderland as he whipped in an inch-perfect cross for Lukaku to score the opener.
Gueye – signed for just £7.1m last month (The Guardian) – amassed a remarkable 120 touches of the ball against Sunderland as well as 101 passes, with those two stats summing up just how impressive Gueye was against the Black Cats.
Phil Neville
After the game, pundit and former Everton ace Phil Neville told Sky Sports that he thinks Everton have found a really special player, even calling him ‘sensational’ at a bargain price too.
“I look at the price tag and you think someone at £7m is coming in to thicken up your squad and sit on the bench, but this boy is sensational,” said Neville. “I have been surprised, like Carra, because you think of him like a destroyer that sits in midfield, similar to N’Golo Kante at Leicester last season.”
“But he’s not because he has more to his game. I think they have found someone really special,” he added.
Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore in action with Everton’s Idrissa Gueye
Neville wasn’t the only one to rave about Gueye’s display, as former Arsenal star Ray Parlour, ex-Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher all took to Twitter to praise Gueye, whilst Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Jordan Graham simply couldn’t believe he was the same player that featured for Aston Villa last season.
What did you think of Gueye’s performance against Sunderland?
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