Shambolic defending and a toothless attack saw Leicester City fall to a woeful defeat at relegation rivals Everton that leaves them teetering above the bottom three.

Abdoulaye Doucoure netted Goodison Park’s fastest-ever goal in the ground’s farewell season just 10 seconds in, and it never improved for City. Everton scored with alarming ease, with long, simple passes setting up Beto to score twice before half-time, Iliman Ndiaye adding the cherry late on.

City never threatened a comeback and the good work from Tottenham feels like it’s been undone already. However, with Ipswich losing to Southampton, they remain out of the drop zone for now.

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Ruud van Nistelrooy made just one change to his side after victory at Tottenham last weekend. After eight games out with a groin issue, Mads Hermansen was fit to return, and took the gloves back from Jakub Stolarczyk.

Ten seconds into his comeback, Hermansen had conceded. From kick-off, Everton played the ball back to Jordan Pickford, he lumped it forward, Boubakary Soumare let the ball bounce and Jannik Vestergaard let Doucoure surge past him to score his first goal of the season.

It was one of the most straightforward goals likely to be seen at Premier League level. And yet City didn’t learn. Twice more they were undone by simple passes before the break.

The Everton second came five minutes after the first, James Tarkowski able to bend a pass around City’s defence as if they weren’t there. Beto, peeling off Wout Faes, finished into the bottom corner.

Adding to the frustration was that this is not a good Everton side. They gave the ball away regularly too, allowing City to control possession for large periods. But van Nistelrooy’s side moved it with such little urgency that they barely threatened. Their one first-half chance was after some pinball at a corner, when Victor Kristiansen lashed over.

The away fans, having chanted for Jon Rudkin’s sacking again, had to make their own fun, signing songs of players gone by, with none of those on the pitch worthy of their backing. But they could not sustain even those songs.

In the final five minutes of the half, James Garner hit the post with a miscued cross, Doucoure sliced a golden chance over the bar, and then Everton had their third. Garner played the straightest of passes through the heart of the City defence, Beto leaving Faes and Vestergaard in his wake to slot in the third.

While it improved defensively in the second period, there was never any hope of a comeback. At no point did City pose the sort of threat required to get a result, and a rare shot on target from substitute Patson Daka sparked ironic celebrations in the away end.

Instead, Everton were still the more dangerous side and while Hermansen denied Jesper Lindstrom, he could not stop Iliman Ndiaye from adding a fourth after he robbed substitute Caleb Okoli. It was, and far from the first time under van Nistelrooy, a dismal afternoon. Here’s how we scored the players.

Mads Hermansen: Rusty. Not that he would have been expected to save any of Everton’s first-half goals, but he didn’t get close to saving them either, although he did do well to deny Lindstrom with his feet in the second half. One dodgy kick nearly saw City concede a penalty too. 4

James Justin: Everton were finding it so easy to go through the middle that they didn’t need to exploit City’s usual weaknesses on their right. He mostly kept Ndiaye quiet but was pulled out of position a few times. On the ball he was poor. 3

Wout Faes: He let Beto run off him for the second and third goals, the Belgian nowhere near alert enough to the danger. But he did at least position himself well a few times in the second half to prevent more goals being conceded. 3

Jannik Vestergaard: Doucoure’s run for the first and Tarkowski’s pass for the second bypassed him so easily it was as if he wasn’t playing. He was embarrassed a few times by the ease with which Beto beat him to passes in behind, and his withdrawal on the hour was cheered. 2

Victor Kristiansen: He defended one-on-ones reasonably well, and always with commitment, and so was probably the best of City’s defenders. But on the ball there were too many aimless lumps up the pitch, while one terrible pass set up a big Everton chance in the first half. 4

Harry Winks: It felt like he was too busy complaining that trying to get back into position at times in the first half, and he wasn’t strong enough in 50-50s. Pulled around the pitch to leave City wide open through the middle. 3

Boubakary Soumare: He let the ball bounce over his head for the first Everton goal and gave up possession for the fourth. There was at least an element of endeavour about his play between those moments, but he still let midfielders run off him far too easily. 3

Jordan Ayew: His close control was good at times, but he would only dribble back towards his own goal. He didn’t offer any quality in the final third and didn’t offer enough support to his right-back either. It was a surprise he stayed on. 3

Bilal El Khannouss: He didn’t press at all effectively for the second, letting Tarkowski skip around him, and very little came off for him on the ball. But he did carry it with confidence at times and was trying to make something happen. 4

Bobby De Cordova-Reid: After such a promising showing at Spurs, it’s hard to think of anything at all he did positively here. He wasn’t in the game at all, making no impact on it. 2

Jamie Vardy: He spent too much of his time dropping deep to connect play in the first half and then did not sprint to get back into the box, and so never threatening a goal. Brought off on the hour. 3

Caleb Okoli: He at least kept up with Beto, but looked a little like Bambi on ice at other times. Robbed of the ball for the fourth goal in a calamitous moment. 3

Patson Daka: He made runs to at least force Tarkowski and Branthwaite to defend, but never managed to get in behind. There was a nice flick here and there. 5

Woyo Coulibaly: He was totally isolated when he got on the ball and that forced him backwards. Fans will still want to see more of him though. 4

Stephy Mavididi: It felt like he got on the ball more often than De Cordova-Reid, but he didn’t add anything in terms of threat. But by then, City had basically given up. 4

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