Former Everton striker Kevin Mirallas caused huge controversy when he appeared to penalize first-choice Leighton Baines in 2015 before being dropped.
Mirallas convinced Baines after Everton’s penalty penalty in a goalless draw with West Brom at Goodison Park ) gave him the ball so he could test his luck against Ben Foster. Mirallas missed and then didn’t exit the second half under a cloud of controversy.
But when Gary Neville calls it “Despicable breach of team spirit” Speaking on Monday Night Football, Everton boss Roberto Martinez insisted it was “no big deal”. This replaced the Belgian at half-time, albeit just minutes after missing the penalty.
Everton legend Leighton Baines delighted with Mirallas penalty
“It’s just part of football but people don’t understand what’s going on.” Fourtwo. “I scored against West Ham a few days ago and my confidence was high.
“Before the game, I asked Leighton if he could penalize us if we got a penalty. I got hurt pretty quickly and some people thought I was thrown out for the penalty.”
Mirallas retained his place in Crystal Palace’s starting XI for Everton’s next game. He played 68 minutes in the 1-0 victory, leaving no suggestion of discord within the squad.
Discord did begin to spread at Goodison Park a year after Ronald Koeman arrived as manager in 2016, but at least for Mirallas.
Despite making 37 appearances in all competitions in 2016/17, the Dutchman signed a deal in May 2017 that would keep him at Everton until the age of 32. Koeman dumped Mirallas from the team instead. Until January 2018, he will be loaned to his former side Olympus.
“I signed a new three-year contract in 2017, thinking I might finish my career at Everton,” Miralas stressed. “But, at the beginning of the season, I asked Koeman why I wasn’t joining Europa League, he had no explanation.
“I was shocked. The chairman told me the club wanted to keep me but it was difficult to stay. I ended up leaving on loan because I wanted to play in the World Cup.”
