Everton’s Romelu Lukaku.
AFP/London
Everton manager Roberto Martinez hailed his “unplayable” side after Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley inspired a convincing 3-0 Premier League away win at Southampton.
Belgian striker Lukaku scored twice in the first half—a header followed by a smooth finish—before England midfielder Barkley added a third late on as the Merseysiders produced a stylish counter-attacking display.
“The performance from the first second, we were outstanding in every department,” said Martinez after Saturday’s encounter at St Mary’s.
“You look at the scoreline and think it doesn’t show the real truth. But that scoreline was the real truth. Our work as a team was very pleasing and we were unplayable on the counter-attack.
“I know that now we are in a frantic media time saying we need to win games, but as a group of players we are bringing continuity.
“Today (Saturday) we looked pretty strong in every department with young players like Barkley, Lukaku and John Stones. Our performance had incredible maturity. The talent has clearly been here for a long time.
“We saw that sort of performance from ‘Rom’ against Young Boys and Wolfsburg (in last season’s Europa League). What’s important is that he finds a consistent level.
“He couldn’t go wrong today. We looked like a team and that allows the talent to shine. There are not many like Ross, and ‘Rom’ was a pleasure to watch. But it is difficult to highlight an individual.”
Lukaku proved to be a real handful for the Southampton defence, but Barkley’s performance in attacking midfield had Martinez equally pleased—especially in light of the 21-year-old’s difficulties last season.
“Ross can play different roles. His role is to come up with a goal-scoring threat,” said the Spaniard. “His performance was about being very clever with his positioning.
“He showed the top mentality that he had. It’s not that we need more goals from Ross, but we need him to enjoy it and work hard and that will get him into the positions to score.”
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman conceded that he needs to add another defender to his squad as the games come thick and fast, with Denmark’s FC Midtjylland next to visit St Mary’s in the Europa League on Thursday.
“Everyone knows we are working at one more defender and then we (will) have a very good squad,” said the Dutchman, who led Southampton to a seventh-place finish in his maiden campaign.