AdminDavid Moyes admitted he kept Jake O’Brien on the pitch despite the defender struggling with an injury because Everton needed his presence to cope with Sunderland’s threat from set pieces.
The Republic of Ireland international had been carrying a knock after a heavy challenge in the first half and was clearly uncomfortable after the interval.
Nathan Patterson and Seamus Coleman were both seen preparing on the touchline as Everton considered a change, but O’Brien remained on the field.
That decision would later prove costly. The 23-year-old misjudged an attempted pass while trying to bring down a dropping ball, gifting Sunderland possession before Brian Brobbey fired beyond Jordan Pickford to bring the visitors level.
O’Brien had earlier appeared in serious discomfort after tumbling off the pitch near the Sunderland corner flag while Everton searched for a decisive second goal.
Explaining the decision, Moyes said: “He got [the injury] in the first half from a challenge. He went down just before half time, so we knew he had taken quite a big knock.
We thought he was injured when he went off the pitch at the bottom and then we got told that he was able to get through it. At that period they were having a series of three or four corner kicks, and I needed big Jake’s height.”
Brobbey’s equaliser shifted momentum before Enzo Le Fee struck with 10 minutes remaining to put Sunderland ahead. O’Brien almost redeemed himself late on when his back-post header bounced off Robin Roefs and over the crossbar.
Coleman eventually replaced him in the closing stages before Wilson Isidor wrapped up a damaging 3-1 defeat.
Everton’s collapse left Moyes furious after a first half that had suggested his side were moving closer to European qualification.
He said: “I’m disappointed with the outcome and lots of parts of the game. The result frustrated me most, because I didn’t think it was quite that. I didn’t think that it was a true reflection on the game, but that’s what it ended up.”
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