Everton won 4-0 as Beto struck twice, with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Iliman Ndiaye also on the scoresheet.
Van Nistelrooy said, “My first reaction is that after 10 seconds and after five minutes you’re 2-0 down at Goodison against a team that has among the most clean sheets. That sums it up. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and didn’t really come back from that.
“If you have a start like that then it’s difficult. Then you have to open up early. Everton did well in being as effective as they were, attacking our back-line with deep runs. But then again, if you go into half-time at 2-0, it’s a different game. Conceding a fairly easy goal in minute 47, that summed up our first half. It’s a disappointing afternoon, but credit to Everton.
“If you have a start like that then it’s difficult. Then you have to open up early. Everton did well in being as effective as they were, attacking our back-line with deep runs. But then again, if you go into half-time at 2-0, it’s a different game. Conceding a fairly easy goal in minute 47, that summed up our first half. It’s a disappointing afternoon, but credit to Everton.
"We are used to coming back from setbacks. When you are a promoted side and you are fighting for every point to stay in, and that’s the reality at Leicester City in this moment, you have to be robust and be able to deal with disappointment and loss, and get back and train and prepare for the next one. That’s it. Today we weren’t ourselves. We lost the game in five minutes. We’re better than that. It’s about us to react to that.”