On a disappointing afternoon at Goodison Park Adrian was, not for the first time West Ham United’s standout performer against Everton.
The man whose unforgettable penalty scored a shootout win over the Toffees in January 2014 was again to the fore.
Without the Spaniard’s heroics, West Ham’s goal would unquestionably have been breached on more than two occasions.
Adrian was heavily involved on Merseyside, touching the ball 49 times – three more occasions than midfielder Manuel Lanzini and ten more times than right wing-back Edimilson Fernandes.
Of those touches, four were saves.
The first was undoubtedly the best. It came on 26 minutes when Ross Barkley collected a Bryan Oviedo cut-back before lashing a shot goalwards, only for Adrian to thrust his right hand into the air and push the ball to safety.
The stop illustrated Adrian’s goalkeeping skills perfectly, with the Spaniard showing good positioning, fine agility and the strong wrist required to keep fiercely-struck footballs out of his net.
The No13 was back in action eight minutes before half-time, tipping over a cross-shot from Kevin Mirallas that may have been sneaking under his crossbar.
Into the second half and Adrian was hugely unfortunate to concede five minutes after the break. Seamus Coleman collected Winston Reid’s clearance 30 yards from goal, cut onto his left foot and fired an accurate low shot towards the bottom right-hand corner.
Adrian dived low and pushed the ball aside, only for Yannick Bolasie to react quickly, get the better of a challenge with Reid, and the ball to loop over the goalkeeper for Romelu Lukaku to head in.
The 29-year-old could do nothing about Everton’s second goal. The lively Lukaku raced in behind a tiring West Ham defence, collected the ball and clipped a cross to the unmarked Barkley, who swept home from ten yards into the bottom corner.
There was still time for Adrian to impress on a fourth occasion, as he parried Lukaku’s volley after another superb piece of play from the Belgian.
In between, Adrian showed superb handling, catching four Everton corners high above his head with the minimum of fuss and coming out to smother when Lukaku was threatening early on, while his distribution was more than satisfactory throughout.
In an ideal world, the goalkeeper would have nothing to do, but having been called upon, the former Betis man was not found wanting.