Everton stumbled ever closer to a dreaded relegation last night, as they were once again demolished at Goodison Park, with Newcastle United the latest perpetrators.

Given the fan rivalry that has appeared from seemingly nothing of late, the atmosphere on Merseyside was palpable as the hosts tried everything in their power to push their team over the line.

However, despite a bright start where the Magpies often seemed suffocated, it was Callum Wilson who broke the deadlock after 28 minutes.

With a narrow offside call going against them late in the first half, the atmosphere had severely flattened when the second half resumed. This allowed Eddie Howe’s men to assume control, as they cruised to score a further three. The match would finish 4-1, with the Toffees met by a chorus of boos at full-time.

It was a toothless display in which their lack of cutting edge was stark, however, Sean Dyche’s outfit was shambolic defensively.

The full-backs were both ran ragged throughout, with Vitaliy Mykolenko producing yet another woeful display. His consistently terrible outings continue to draw questions regarding the reasons behind his acquisition in the first place.

How did Vitaliy Mykolenko play vs Newcastle?

With an average Sofascore match rating of 6.78 this season – outside Everton's top ten performers – few may have been surprised to hear that the Ukrainian had yet again struggled. But with a 6.2 rating last night, he keeps finding ways to reach new lows.

It seems the left-back has some kind of mental block when it comes to crossing the halfway line with the ball at his feet, as his lack of attacking impetus often blunts promising moves down his flank.

Across his 52 touches in midweek, the 23-year-old would lose possession 14 times and find no one with his two attempted crosses, whilst maintaining a shocking 70% pass accuracy (via Sofascore).

However, arguably the most damning statistic is the fact that the former Dynamo Kyiv star did not compete in a single duel all game. For a full-back who was tasked with keeping Miguel Almiron and Kieran Trippier quiet, such anonymity is truly ridiculous. How the defender managed to do so little work is quite startling.

This may lead some to not expect big things from Mykolenko, who joined in January of 2022 for a now-questionable £20m fee, but at the very least, a degree of solidity would be appreciated.

But it seems the £58k-per-week flop continues to diminish his reputation with increasingly worse performances. The lack of competition in his role can’t be helping his mindset, either.

As the sole viable option at left-back, this continued underperformance in such a key position could be set to consign the Blues to the drop.