𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The recriminations started almost as soon as Granit Xhaka’s deflected shot hit the back of the net.

A slender Everton lead had evaporated within a minute of the second half commencing. How it escalated quite so quickly was anyone’s guess — 10 Everton players, including goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, had been between Xhaka and goal. More than enough bodies, in theory, to guard against danger.

Yet Everton were so deep, at such an early juncture in the half, that the Swiss was able to capitalise on the space that had opened up. His shot appeared to be heading straight at Pickford but deviated off captain James Tarkowski’s outstretched boot and crashed in off the bar.

The hosts had restored parity and that was how it would stay.

Sometimes you make your own fortune. Or misfortune, in Everton’s case.

Jordan Pickford turns to see Granit Xhaka’s shot canon in off the bar (Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

In the moments that followed, Tarkowski remonstrated with midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, gesturing frantically in Xhaka’s direction. The exchange needed little interpretation, even from the media vantage point high in Sunderland’s West Stand.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher argued that Tarkowski should have been “two or three yards” higher and had “killed” Pickford with his movement towards goal. A similar mix-up occurred for Erling Haaland’s second goal in the 2-0 defeat at Manchester City last month.

Perhaps more than any other moment, it summed up a final hour in which Everton surrendered control and gave in to passivity.

Manager David Moyes bemoaned missed chances to extend their lead after Iliman Ndiaye’s sublime solo effort. The most notable saw Thierno Barry inexplicably fire over from a matter of yards, but Jack Grealish also struck the post from range and late counters were also wasted.

“I think the miss from Barry took the wind out of our sails,” Moyes said. “They just started to get a bit of strength from us missing the chance.

“(At half-time) we were worried they’d finished strongly. But Jimmy (Garner) went close and Grealish hit the post. So we had done enough to get ourselves a couple of goals in front.

“We played well enough in the first 20-30 minutes but we were so poor in the second half.”

Everton’s Thierno Barry is anguished after missing his clear-cut chance (Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)

At this stage, Everton’s profligacy is old news. Much like the issues at full-back, it is already baked in.

But perhaps now is a good time to talk about the midfield and the general lack of control and physicality that has also plagued their play at times this season.

Whatever the reason, Everton did not manage this game well. Between the 29th minute and full time, they managed just one shot worth 0.02 in expected goals (xG). In the same 67 minutes, Sunderland had 16 attempts and registered an xG of 1.1. Everton’s pass accuracy, meanwhile, slumped from 81 per cent in the first half to 74 per cent after the break.

Perhaps this was tactical, and Everton sought to absorb Sunderland pressure. Mental, even, given the way the two teams have started the season. Moyes usually views draws away from home as a decent result.

But there has also been this nagging sense at times this campaign that the balance is not quite right in Everton’s midfield. There were long spells of the second half, with the wind swirling, when they failed to make their mark.

Moyes wanted more stature in his engine room this summer, bringing in the towering Merlin Rohl, yet the starting trio of Idrissa Gueye, Garner and Dewsbury-Hall lack height and pace. Gueye is 36 and, as tidy as Dewsbury-Hall can be, he does not possess the mobility or defensive prowess of Abdoulaye Doucoure, the previous incumbent in the No 10 role. As Monday’s draw showed, Everton are more susceptible to losing arm-wrestles this season.

These are the games where Dewsbury-Hall and fellow summer signing Grealish would usually be expected to step up and show their quality. Both have had moments since arriving, but mistakes spread like a virus through the team and Everton lacked a pressure valve. Neither really helped stem the tide.

Granit Xhaka and a flailing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall go to ground (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Much like his predecessor Sean Dyche’s team, Moyes’ Everton struggle to alter the course of games that are ebbing away from them.

Beto replaced Barry before the hour mark. Dwight McNeil came on for the Ndiaye, who felt “tightness” and was taken off as a precaution, soon after. But Moyes waited until the 83rd minute before changing his midfield, bringing on Carlos Alcaraz and Tim Iroegbunam for Dewsbury-Hall and Jake O’Brien, and shifting Garner to right-back.

Everton fans pointedly chanted Alcaraz’s name before his introduction. He endured a difficult, wasteful cameo of his own, but does bring the kind of direct play and energy that the side needs. Yet even when Dewsbury-Hall is not on song, Moyes seems to prefer his cleaner, more predictable play to the Argentine’s frantic style.

It was surprising to see McNeil brought in from the cold ahead of £35million ($45.9m) signing Tyler Dibling to replace Ndiaye due, Moyes said, to positive performances in training.

Another of the abiding images from Monday’s draw was Barry, sat with his head in his hands, shortly after being substituted. The rotation up front with Beto seems to be doing neither player any favours and an obvious first choice is yet to emerge.

At some point, Dibling will also need proper minutes to show what he can do. Chopping and changing, or not playing them at all, will not help matters.

Charly Alcaraz finds himself surrounded by Sunderland players (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

There is an edginess and restlessness around Everton right now. Perhaps the nagging concern from some of the fanbase is that the club may be sucked back into another fight for survival after early-season promise.

This was not necessarily a bad point given Sunderland’s positive start to the season. But the nature of the performance in the last hour left Moyes with plenty of questions. He “struggled to pick out much positive” from the second half.

“I wanted much more and we’re capable of it,” he told Sky Sports. “I think we have a good team. We played quite well for periods, but not for long enough.”

The search for answers, and a complete Everton performance, goes on.