A selection of Everton supporters have hailed Bernard as a game-changer after his cameo appearance from the bench in the Toffees’ 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Marco Silva dropped Bernard to the bench for Wolves’ trip to Goodison Park at the weekend as the Portuguese favoured former Arsenal man Alex Iwobi as his starting option on the left-flank, in what was the first Premier League start for the Nigerian (WhoScored) since his potential £34million (BBC) move to Merseyside in the summer.
Bernard had started each of the Blues’ opening top-flight games before Sunday’s encounter with the Molineux natives, but had to wait until the 76th minute for his introduction to proceedings with the score locked at two-all after Raul Jimenez pulled the visitors level.
Once on the field, though, no player for either side attempted more passes than the Brazilian, with WhoScored noting that Bernard, Andre Gomes and Wolves’ Ryan Bennett all played eleven balls to teammates in the closing stages.
Bernard was only able to find a teammate in Royal Blue with seven of his efforts, but fans have hailed the 26-year-old as a game-changer as he offered an instant lift to the Toffees offence and now gives manager Silva a serious option to turn to when chasing a result.
Here are a few of the messages shared by the Goodison Park faithful…
Bernard is a quality substitute for a team to have. When he came on we looked even more dangerous
— Adam (@adxmEFC) September 1, 2019
Top notch performance from the blues today. Thought Iwobi looked class, Delph & Gomes ran the show in the middle & Bernard looked good coming on. Promising stuff. #UTFT #EFC
— Liam Jones (@liamjones_8) September 1, 2019
Love Bernard how it changed when he came on xxx
— jenny purcell (@jenefcforever) September 1, 2019
Front third looked much more fluid and Bernard is electric off the bench. If Kean starts firing we look deadly. #COYB #EFC
— Oliver (@HibbosRightFoot) September 1, 2019
Bernard made a huge difference in creativity when he came on today but Iwobi was boss. What a problem to have. #EFC
— Paul Gallagher (@GallyWag8) September 1, 2019
No enough people are saying how good Bernard was when he came on yesterday. We have serious attacking options.
— Everton Are Magic (@Efc_are_magic) September 2, 2019
Digne and Bernard always work together so well
— Toffee_Addict (@KD_EFC) September 1, 2019
