Oumar Niasse arrived to the sound of great expectation... but the striker only provided Everton fans with laughter on his first start


Roberto Martinez opted to give Oumar Niasse a start against Bournemouth
But Senegal striker produced a dismal performance before being subbed
NIasse had previously played 29 minutes in substitute cameo appearances
Everton recorded only their fifth Premier League home win of the season

It was 27 minutes in to a run of the mill contest when the ball finally arrived at the feet of the third most expensive footballer in Everton’s history.
Oumar Niasse, a £13.5million signing from Lokomotiv Moscow on transfer deadline day in February, had waited nearly three months to make his first start for Everton but now – with Roberto Martinez electing to rest Romelu Lukaku – his opportunity had come.
For much of the opening exchanges, as Everton and Bournemouth traded a goal each, events had bypassed Niasse and the closest he had come to getting involved was jumping for a long ball from Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.
But then, just before the half hour, Everton launched a counterattack and suddenly the ball made its way to the feet of Niasse: so he turned, looked up to see where his team-mates where and picked his pass. And gave it straight to Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter.
There has not been much laughter at Goodison Park in the second half of this dismal campaign – except for when Arouna Kone tried a bicycle kick against Southampton and missed completely – but there was laughing here.

Niasse – a Senegal international – arrived to the sound of great expectation and the promise that he would offer a different dimension to Lukaku, the club’s striking talisman. Since arriving, though, he has done nothing to suggest his transfer fee was money well spent.
Before Bournemouth arrived at Goodison, NIasse had played the grand total of 29 minutes in a handful of substitute cameo appearances. He never looked like scoring a goal in any of those games and his efforts during warm-ups raised eyebrows rather than suggested he would quicken the pulse.

Martinez, whose future has been the subject of such scrutiny, took a gamble by playing Niasse here and that snap shot in the 27th minute epitomised his afternoon.
Out of tune, off the pace and, bluntly, not very good.
There was nothing wrong with the effort NIasse – who was the player Jose Mourinho had considered taking to Chelsea before his sacking last December – and there were a couple of neat, measured balls to Ross Barkley just before the interval that showed he was not completely hopeless.
But when, in the 60th minute, the electronic substitute board flickered into life and showed that No 10 would be replacing No 14, there was no surprise.
A huge ovation swept around this old stadium as Niasse departed the action but it was more to recognise that Lukaku was entering the fray.
Be under no doubt that Niasse has a huge job on his hands to ensure those cheers turn into acclaim rather than a sign of relief.

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