Everton blow as Yannick Bolasie ruled out for season with knee injury

Everton will be without Yannick Bolasie for the rest of the season after the winger ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Manchester United in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. He was an integral part of Ronald Koeman's side since joining the Toffees last summer and has started in every league game for the Merseyside club thus far.

The news comes during a distressing period for Everton, especially with a host of difficult games coming up against the likes of Watford, Arsenal and Liverpool before Christmas. Seamus Coleman had to be substituted after a tangle with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and is a doubt for the weekend game coming up. Gerard Deulofeu is expected to take over from Bolasie in his absence but Koeman may be looking for reinforcements in January, with United outcast Memphis Depay an option worth pursuing.

The Dutchman has been out of favour at United thus far, making only two appearances this season and looks unlikely to be back playing under Jose Mourinho anytime soon. Everton have been in very poor shape in the last few games, taking only seven points from the previous nine games, having taken 13 from the available 15 in the first five.

However, Koeman is bolstered by their performance against the Red Devils, where they fought back to draw the game after going behind in the first half owing to a mistake by Maarten Stekelenburg. Marouane Fellaini conceded a penalty in the dying minutes which was slotted in seamlessly by Leighton Baines to hand Everton an unlikely point.

"We can fight back - we showed that today," Koeman told Everton's official website. "It was disappointing to go 1-0 down before half-time. We played out with good defensive organisation from the start and made it difficult for Manchester United to create.

"It was much better than last week. We played very compact which made it difficult for the opponents to create chances. You saw maybe a lack of confidence on the ball but we will get it back if we show that fighting spirit we had until the end. We showed commitment and quality."