Everton continue to slide as five-star Atalanta serve up Europa League hammering

Everton’s season – like their search for a manager – continues to drift apparently rudderless after an insipid display in the 5-1 defeat against Atalanta.

There was nothing riding on the Europa League game for the already-eliminated Toffees but the visitors found it all too easy as they secured qualification, even discounting a missed penalty from captain Alejandro Gomez, with two goals from Bryan Cristante early in each half.

Sandro Ramirez’s first strike for the club he joined in the summer gave the hosts something to fight for late on but goals from substitutes Andreas Cornelius (two) and Robin Gosens in the last four minutes plus added time typified Everton’s haplessness.

What they said

Tweet of the match

Star man – Cristante

An eventful outing for the Atalanta midfielder, who as well as scoring twice won the penalty and had a header cleared off the line.

End of Unsworth’s hopes?

This was Everton’s sixth game since David Unsworth took caretaker charge following Ronald Koeman’s sacking a month ago and one that can only have done major damage to his chances of landing the job on a full-time basis. What had been a poor performance descended into an entirely embarrassing one in the closing stages.

In with the crowd

The fact Everton went into this fixture already eliminated from the competition was reflected in the stands, with the match attendance only 17,431 – the second-lowest at Goodison Park in the club’s European history. The packed-out away section, from which virtually all the noise was generated during the contest, stood out considerably.

Player ratings

Who’s up next?

Southampton v Everton (Premier League, November 26)

Atalanta v Benevento (Serie A, November 27)