Everton 3-1 Coventry City: Player Ratings As Thierno Barry Strikes Again

Two goals and an assist from Thierno Barry helped Everton secure a 3-1 victory over Coventry City in the Premier League on Friday night. 

The win takes Everton into fifth place in the Premier League table, even if only temporarily, with the Toffees playing earlier than everyone else this weekend. The three points send Everton into the international break in strong form, having won three games on the bounce in all competitions.

It took a while for Everton to kick into gear against Coventry, with Yann Gboho opening the scoring for them after 52 minutes. Everton showed a strong reaction, however, with Barry equalising just four minutes later.

Barry then found himself on the score sheet once again, five minutes after that, scoring his fourth goal in three games for Everton. The French striker then turned provider as he slotted a through ball for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to run onto, and the English midfielder fired home at the near post to make it 3-1. 

Onto the player ratings.

Pickford made some important saves to keep Everton in the game. His distribution was a bit disappointing in the opening 45 minutes, but overall, it was a solid performance from the goalkeeper. 

It was a strong performance from Merlin Rohl at right-back, winning a lot of his duels and even getting forward to create chances. It's certainly an improvement on some of the displays we've seen from him at right-back this season. 

I've not seen too many mentions of James Tarkowski after last night, but I thought he was solid as usual. He didn't have to engage in too many duels, but was comfortable with the ball at his feet and a calming presence at the back. 

A really top display from Jarrad Branthwaite when it comes to winning his battles. He won nine out of 10 aerial duels and made 11 defensive contributions overall. The way he can turn defence into attack through his line-breaking passes is exceptional, and he dealt with the threat of Taiwo Awoniyi really well. 

He's been given a lot of credit this season, and rightly so, but I thought this was one of Mykolenko’s poorest games this campaign. His score is slightly boosted due to his assist, but I never felt comfortable with him in possession, as he struggled to deal with Coventry's press. 

A solid enough performance from James Garner in the middle of the park. Was heavily involved from deep for Everton and put himself about. Do think he could have helped to give us a bit more control, though.

Like Mykolenko, I do think this is one of Armstrong's poorest games for us. That being said, even when he's not at his best, he's still contributing significantly from a physical perspective, covering a lot of ground to try and win the ball back. You can never ever fault his work rate.

Dibling was quiet at points but came to life a bit more in the second half. Dibling was quiet and uninvolved when Everton had little control and were struggling, so it's hard to blame him too much for this one. 

A bit of a game of two halves for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Came alive in the second half, just like Everton did, and produced a fantastic finish to seal all three points for Everton. 

Similar to Mykolenko again, George's score is boosted by his assist. He had a poor first half, really poor, actually, but did improve in the second half. Both he and Dibling came alive towards the end, when Everton finally showed a bit more control and looked to get the ball forward quickly. 

Where would we be without you, Thierno? Two goals and an assist for the French striker. The man cannot stop scoring, making it 13 goal contributions in 13 games. 

His hold-up play was good. Battled well, won lots of duels, and helped out defensively from set pieces. A near-perfect performance for Everton's striker.