James Tarkowski (£6.0m) rescued Everton with a stoppage-time equaliser at Bournemouth, cancelling out Alex Scott’s (£6.0m) opener in a 1-1 draw.

There were plenty of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points despite only two goals, including five defenders reaching the defensive contribution (DefCon) threshold.

Everton’s defensive numbers are also becoming a concern, while several attackers will wonder how they left the Vitality Stadium without a return.

Here are our Scout Notes.

• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 2 Scoreboard: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + DefCon points
• MATCH STATS: Bournemouth v Everton stats in our Match Centre

SCOTT SHINES AS BOURNEMOUTH TURN THE SCREW

Alex Scott was Bournemouth’s standout performer, scoring the opener and producing 0.53 expected goal involvement (xGI).

The midfielder also registered two shots, created two chances, and picked up Defcon points.

Scott’s goal came from an excellent Bournemouth transition. Rayan (£6.5m) started the move before Evanilson (£6.0m) drove down the right and picked out his teammate, who took a touch before finding the bottom corner.

“The goal was very nice. Alex Scott had a top performance today.” – Marco Rose

There were encouraging signs elsewhere in Bournemouth’s attack.

After scoring against Manchester City in Gameweek 1, Marcus Tavernier (£6.0m) again caught the eye. He created a big chance, supplied two key passes and registered two attempts.

Justin Kluivert (£6.0m) was lively too, recording four shots and two chances created on his way to 0.60 xGI.

Interestingly, much of Bournemouth’s threat arrived late.

The rolling xG shows that the Cherries had accumulated only a little over 0.5 xG after the hour mark. From there, they really turned the screw.

A flurry of late opportunities saw Bournemouth finish on 2.18 xG and six big chances, with Everton relying on Jordan Pickford (£5.5m) and some excellent last-ditch defending.

The hosts’ finishing ultimately let them down. Evanilson missed three big chances, while Rayan squandered another two.

“We had the chance to finish the game. We have to work for it to get maybe in a phase where we are more lucky than right now. But at the end, it’s not just about luck. We should finish the games.” – Marco Rose

BARRY WASTES 1.48 XG FOR EVERTON

Bournemouth weren’t alone in being wasteful.

At the other end, Everton’s Thierno Barry (£5.5m) somehow failed to score despite accumulating a whopping 1.48 xG and missing two big chances.

One arrived after Tyrique George’s (£5.5m) shot was spilled by Đorđe Petrović (£4.5m). The Bournemouth goalkeeper recovered superbly to deny Barry from close range.

Petrović thwarted the striker again shortly after half-time, this time after Harrison Armstrong (£5.0m) had played him through.

So, while Bournemouth dominated the late stages, Everton had opportunities to take control of the contest earlier.

There was encouragement for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.5m), too, despite another blank.

The midfielder created four chances and registered two shots. He also thought he had won a penalty following a coming together with James Hill (£5.5m), only for referee Christopher Kavanagh and VAR to decide otherwise.

PETROVIC RETAINS HIS PLACE

Petrović’s performance was also noteworthy after new signing Michele Di Gregorio (£4.5m) was named among the substitutes. The Serbian retained his starting spot and played the full 90 minutes.

Rose praised his goalkeeper afterwards, while welcoming the increased competition.

“He likes to have competition. That’s what he said, that’s what he mentioned in the talks. Even the first week now, it felt good with Micky. He had a really good first week as a goalkeeper.” – Marco Rose

FIVE DEFENDERS HIT DEFCON

No clean sheets survived but there were still plenty of defensive contribution points on offer.

For Bournemouth, António Silva (£5.0m) reached the DefCon threshold for the second successive Gameweek, while centre-back partner Hill joined him.

Everton produced three qualifying defenders of their own.

Goalscorer Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.5m) and Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.5m) all reached the threshold.

Silva nearly added an attacking return too, heading Scott’s second-half corner narrowly over.

Tarkowski did find the net at the other end. Hayden Hackney’s (£5.5m) stoppage-time corner wasn’t initially dealt with and the centre-back swept home from around eight yards.

Rose felt the concession owed more to misfortune than a structural set-piece problem.

“For me, it’s not even a set-piece goal because, you know, I didn’t see it again. But from my point of view, it was just slapstick.” – Marco Rose

NDIAYE DEFCONS + MOYES ON TRANSFER SPECULATION

As we saw, Iliman Ndiaye (£6.0m) also reached the midfielder DefCon threshold for the second successive Gameweek, giving him another route to points alongside his attacking threat.

He was lively here too, forcing Petrović into a good first-half save.

There is uncertainty over his Everton future, however, with Ndiaye linked with a move away.

The same applies to Armstrong, who impressed despite speculation surrounding his future. David Moyes confirmed after the game that an offer had been received for the midfielder.

Moyes was also asked about the possibility of losing Ndiaye and Armstrong before the transfer window closes. The Everton boss made it clear that he wants to keep his better players.

“I don’t think we can afford to lose any players because we need to stay as strong as we can. We certainly don’t want to lose our better ones. The club dictates a lot of that and we’ll see how the next few days go.” – David Moyes on Ndiaye and Armstrong

For FPL managers, Ndiaye’s situation is particularly worth monitoring.

If he remains at Everton, DefCon potential, penalty duty, and his threat from open-play could make him one of the best value assets in the game this season.

ARE EVERTON REALLY THAT SOLID?

Perhaps the biggest warning sign for Everton owners came from their underlying defensive numbers.

As mentioned, Moyes’ side allowed Bournemouth 2.18 xG and six big chances.

And this wasn’t an isolated defensive warning.

Everton conceded 1.96 xG against Crystal Palace in Gameweek 1, taking their total to 4.14 xG across their opening two league matches. We’re admittedly only mid-way through Gameweek 2, but Everton rank second worst overall for xGC:

Pickford made several important saves, while Everton also required some excellent last-ditch defending to remain in the contest.

Mykolenko produced a particularly important double block late on, denying Rayan and Scott as Bournemouth searched for a second.

The DefCon potential of Tarkowski, Branthwaite and Mykolenko can soften the blow when clean sheets disappear. However, managers expecting Everton to become a dependable source of shut-outs may want to temper expectations based on the opening two Gameweeks.

Moyes acknowledged afterwards just how close Bournemouth came to putting the match beyond them.

“We had some amazing blocking, a couple of great saves, where the game could have gone against us at that moment. But they kept at it, the boys, and showed great resilience.” – David Moyes