Everton endured one of its worst road performances Thursday in the first Europa League group stage matchday.
The Toffees were thrashed, 3-0 at Atalanta, with Wayne Rooney and Co. failing to score for the third-straight game in all competitions. Everton fell to Chelsea, 2-0 before losing 3-0 to Tottenham last weekend at home.
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Andrea Masiello opened the scoring in the 27th minute, finishing from close range off a corner kick to the delight of the home support, which had traveled nearly two hours to watch the game. Alejandro Gomez added to Everton’s misery with Atalanta’s second goal in the 41st minute and the Italian club scored against three minutes later through Bryan Cristante.
Come for the brilliant curler, stay for the dance.
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 14, 2017
Papu Gómez scores the 2nd of Atalanta's 3 first-half goals. #UEL https://t.co/Q3m9NC6VsY
Astonishing stuff from a club competing in Europe for first time in 26 yrs, 120 miles from home, without half the players who got them there
— Nicky Bandini (@NickyBandini) September 14, 2017
Everton failed to strike back in the second half, leaving manager Ronald Koeman fuming.
“A lot went wrong,” Koeman said following the game, via The Guardian. “Except maybe after a difficult start maybe 10 minutes, that we had the ball a bit better. But OK, ball possession was poor, but the most painful was in the first half. They showed more aggression, they showed more passion. And that’s really painful, because in my opinion it starts with that and they you need qualities on the ball. I asked myself what I’m doing wrong, about the second half against Tottenham and the first half here. It’s not the way I like to see my team. The commitment, the passion, what they showed in the first half was much bigger than we showed.”
