Ancelotti's Decision To Rest James Rodriguez Made Everton Lose Again

JAKARTA - Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti said the penalty shot by Newcastle United changed the flow of the match when his team lost 1-2 at St. Petersburg. James' Park, Sunday, November 1 evening.

The referee awarded a penalty kick to Callum Wilson after he was violated by Andre Gomes in the area in the 54th minute. Wilson scored a goal to give Newcastle the lead.

Wilson doubled Newcastle's lead in the 84th minute before Everton scored a consolation from Dominic Calvert-Lewin in injury time.

"Not a good performance. The game was evenly matched until they opened the scoring because we awarded a penalty and since then the game has changed," Ancelotti said in post-match comments reported by Antara from the official Everton website.

"We came back late when we were 0-2 down, a good reaction, but it was not enough," he said.

Ancelotti's decision to rest James Rodriguez, who became the main creator of Everton's attack since being bought from Real Madrid, has quite an impact on the appearance of The Toffees.

Moreover, Everton are still without Richarlison and Lucas Digne who are serving a red card, while captain Seamus Coleman is absent with a hamstring injury.

"Today we missed a few small things. We knew we didn't have the usual quality up front, but I told the players' focus on defense, don't give them free gifts because we can't lose," said Ancelotti.

The result made Everton fail to secure the top position of the Premier League standings which Liverpool had won the day before. Everton were unable to add to their 13-point collection, three points behind Liverpool.

Everton will next host Manchester United at Goodison Park in matchday eight on Saturday, November 7.