Everton 0 Sunderland 1: Roberto Martínez looks for positives

Roberto Martínez feels that Everton’s shock defeat by bottom-of-the-table Sunderland will teach his side some valuable lessons.

The Toffees suffered their first home loss of 2013 as Ki Sung-Yeung’s 25th-minute penalty sealed the points at Goodison Park, after the South Korean had been fouled by Everton shot-stopper Tim Howard, who was sent off.

We worked extremely hard, and I thought tactically we coped with whatever was needed

Roberto Martínez

And despite the defeat, Martínez insisted that there were plenty of positives to take from the game, including his side’s display after the break as Everton remained in fifth place in the table.

“I thought the second-half performance was exactly what we needed,” Martínez told Sky Sports.

“The score-line doesn’t reflect what happened in the game, but today I’m happier probably than on other days when we won because we learned a lot from our squad and internally, and that’s going to help us for the future.”

He continued: “I couldn’t be prouder. We played with 10 men; in the second half, we were always a real threat, we worked extremely hard, and I thought tactically we coped with whatever was needed.

“The normal thing would have been to get something out of the game, but as it happens I’m extremely happy with the performance.”