Everton player ratings: Dewsbury-Hall stands out in Hull draw

Everton left the MKM Stadium with a 2-2 draw against Hull City, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was the clear outlier in the good sense. He scored Everton's equaliser on 55 minutes, set up Thierno Barry on 68 minutes, and finished as the highest-rated player on the night with a 9/10. Everton's unbeaten run in all competitions moved to eight matches, but this was still a game they had to keep rescuing.

Dewsbury-Hall's influence

The case for Dewsbury-Hall starts with the basics. He gave Everton their first route back into the game with his goal, then supplied the pass for Barry to put them in front again. Four key passes went with that, which fits the way he kept linking attacks whenever Everton needed a way through.

Chris Beesley of liverpoolecho.co.uk summed up the performance with a simple verdict: "Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 8." The rating piece also had Jordan Pickford, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and James Garner among Everton's better performers, but Dewsbury-Hall was the one who shaped both scoring moves.

Everton's run survives, but control kept slipping

The draw did extend Everton's unbeaten run this season to eight matches in all competitions, which is a decent stretch in any context. But the match itself was messy. Hull City went ahead through Joe Gelhardt on 48 minutes, Brennan Johnson had a first-half goal ruled out by VAR after a pitchside monitor review, and Mohamed Belloumi equalised for the hosts on 74 minutes.

That sequence left Everton chasing the game more than they would have liked, even after Dewsbury-Hall's contributions. The point keeps the run alive, and the 9/10 rating fits the view that he was their best player by some distance at Hull City vs Everton.