Plenty of Everton fans heaped praise on defender Leighton Baines despite his side’s 3-2 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
Despite taking the lead after just 49 seconds, the Toffees were unable to take any points away from the Emirates. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison scored in the first period, but a brace from Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and a goal from Eddie Nketiah ensured that the Blues left north London empty-handed. In what was a frustrating afternoon for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, there were plenty of positives to take from the affair and Baines was one of them.
The veteran left-back stepped in for the injured Lucas Digne and held his own in a game that was dominated tactically by runs from wide positions. He managed to win seven out of his nine duels, three tackles, two interceptions and had a pass success rate of 85%, as per Sofascore. At the age of 35, supporters were impressed with his high level of performance and made their feelings clear on social media. They had many different superlatives for Baines, one fan described him as “God”, while others said that he was “unreal” and “top class”.
Check out some of the best Twitter responses down below…
Let’s just appreciate the fact that Leighton Baines who is 35 came in the side today up against one of the PL’s most expensive players in Pepe and didn’t look out of place at all.
The best LB the PL has seen. pic.twitter.com/npjxUn6Mv5
— 🇮🇹 Tom (@CarIoMagnifico) February 23, 2020
Baines is quality one of those players where you see Digne isn’t playing and don’t give it a second thought because we have Bainesey! Quality today and is every time we call on him. 👏
— Paul Houlihan (@PabsH77) February 23, 2020
If he had been more selfish about his career, he’d have left Everton when he had the opportunity and gone and won titles. Then he’d get the respect from the rest of the football world. Top class player.
— Sam Callister 🇬🇧 🏴 (@sam_callister9) February 23, 2020
Baines is god
— Caelen_efc (@ATrueToffee) February 24, 2020
Massively underrated ❤️ https://t.co/SGfq23nf11
— Harsh Jaykumar (@HJaykumar) February 24, 2020
unreal https://t.co/D3iEYAQerS
— Jude M (@judemc7_) February 23, 2020
Everton fans! What are your thoughts on Leighton Baines? Join the discussion by commenting below…
