Mirallas penalty drama: Everton blow chance as Baines usurped

Everton 0 West Brom 0. A clash between two mid-table teams on a raw January Monday was never going to conjure a classic encounter but this bore draw at Goodison Park threw up what the Daily Mail describes as "one of the season's most controversial moments".

It certainly raised the hackles in the Sky Sports studio with Gary Neville labelling the incident "a scandal" and a "despicable breach of team orders" while Jamie Carragher called the actions of the man at the centre of the drama, Kevin Mirallas, "selfish" and "shocking" after he usurped Everton's regular penalty taker, Leighton Baines, when the Toffees won a spot kick, only to fluff the opportunity and miss.

It all kicked off on 43 minutes, just as the fans were looking forward to the real highlight of the night, the opportunity to appear in some crowd scenes in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky-based Hollywood movie, 'Creed', which was filming at the stadium during half time.

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But just before the break Seamus Coleman's lofted ball into the Baggies' penalty box was handled by Joleon Lescott. Referee Michael Oliver immediately pointed to the spot and the Everton faithful waited for Baines to step up and stroke the ball into the net. After all the defender's record from the spot is impressive – 15 from 16 – a rare success rate for an Englishman.

But on this occasion, says the Mail, "Mirallas was set on the glory" and seized the ball for himself. According to the paper Lukaku tried to retrieve the ball but to no avail and "Steven Naismith also stepped in, imploring Mirallas to 'give it to Bainesy'". But the Belgian ignored his teammates' entreaties, as he did the concerns of Baines who repeatedly asked him "whether he was sure he wanted to take it".

He was, so he did, and he missed, lashing the ball against the left-hand upright.

It was Mirallas' last act of the match. He failed to reappear after the break, replaced by Bryan Oviedo. Officially, the Belgian had a hamstring twinge, but who knows what unfolded in the dressing-room at half-time.

Not surprisingly at the end of such a dour game, which leaves Everton without a win in eight and perilously close to the drop zone, the post-match chat was all about Mirallas' actions. "At that moment he felt confident and he wanted to take it," said Everton boss Roberto Martinez, who showed admirable diplomacy in defending the Belgian. Yes, he admitted, "Leighton Baines is the No 1 penalty taker, but at that point I would have been happy to allow him and Kevin to discuss that".

As the questions came fast and furious, Martinez's composure began to fray. "We are making an issue about a penalty taker who misses the penalty," he muttered. "It makes it a big issue but if he hits the back of the net, nothing would happen. We are a team that is very much together... the disappointment is that we can't finish the penalty."