Sensational performance from Everton sees them pick up all three points at King Power

After Everton ended Chelsea’s 17 match unbeaten run at the weekend, they then went to the King Power and put on an equally impressive performance, beating Leicester City 2-0.

Many eyebrows would have been raised by manager Carlo Ancelotti’s team selection last night. Jordan Pickford, was dropped by the Italian for the second time this season and replaced with Robin Olsen.

But despite the England international’s relegation to the dugout the Toffees persevered. A Richarlison strike from 25 yards midway through the first half, as well as Mason Holgate’s first Everton goal gave the Merseysiders the points.

So what made this performance from Ancelotti’s men so remarkable? Well firstly you could argue it came down to how solid they were defensively.

They faced constant waves of Leicester attacks throughout the match with the Foxes most potent threats coming from the likes of James Justin, who was putting in numerous crosses into the box, Cengiz Under and Harvey Barnes.

But the way Everton set up helped them ease this pressure. With both Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman still sidelined through injury it once again saw recognised central defenders Holgate and Ben Godfrey cover them at full-back.

There were very few occasions, apart from set pieces, last night where the pair advanced forward. Holgate and Godfrey were more than happy to just sit back and keep a tight line with centre-backs Michael Keane and Yerry Mina, who had hardly put a foot wrong throughout the night.

On top of that the constant tracking back from the midfielders meant there was plenty of bodies to suppress the Foxes constant charges forward.

Abdoulaye Doucoure is a midfielder who deserves a special mention in terms of that. He made two well timed and excellent challenges in the penalty area which denied Leicester City two great chances.

The first was in first-half stoppage time, when he slid in to block James Maddison’s attempted through ball to Jamie Vardy. The second one blocked Barnes from getting to the byline in the 65th minute.

 

 

What made the back four’s job that little bit easier was the tactical changes made in the second half. Ünder was substituted on the hour mark and Alex Iwobi, who had started on the right-wing was moved onto the left to support Godfrey’s on going battle with Justin.

As well as organisation and discipline, even little things like tactical fouls which stopped Leicester breaks were important in their defensive performance. It frustrated Leicester City and eventually squeezed them out.

Everton were equally impressive going forward. They created very little in the opening quarter of an hour, but when you have a front line of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Iwobi and Gylfi Sigurdsson, you know they will be some sort of threat.

Richarlison has been a scourge of Leicester in recent times and once again he caused their defence problems. One man in particular Christian Fuchs.

Richarlison linked up with Iwobi on many occasions last night, most specifically for the first goal where Iwobi drove inside and played it to Brazilian who went on to score. It’s the third consecutive Premier League game he has scored against the Foxes.

Then when Fuchs slipped twice on the half hour mark, it allowed Richarlison to break and once again play in Iwobi, who crossed it into the path Calvert-Lewin and Sigurdsson who were unable to convert a second for Everton.

With Iwobi switching to left hand side, it allowed Richarlison to take on Fuchs a lot more. The Austrian Defender struggled against the winger, and brought him down on a few occasions. In particular the 69th minute, which led to the Toffees’ second of the night.

Iwobi was also instrumental, as already mentioned. As well as his constant tracking back he played some important balls, and when he switched to left-wing he continued to look dangerous and create great chances.

Having scored the winner against Chelsea on Saturday, Sigurdsson was also a key player especially from set pieces. His free-kicks and corners always posed a threat and played a part in Everton’s winner in the 72nd minute. First his free-kick was headed away by Wesley Fofana and then his corner that followed was tapped home by Holgate.

There were setbacks though for Everton, Allan was stretchered off six minutes from the interval and looks to have added to a growing injury list.

But nonetheless it’s been a great week for the Toffees who move up to fifth, just a point behind Leicester City. They have a huge seven days ahead of them now. They face an out of form Arsenal at Goodison on Saturday, which is followed by a Carabao Cup quarter-tie with Manchester United on Wednesday.

 

Follow us on Twitter  @ProstInt 

[columns][column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”660″ heading=”Leicester City” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column][column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”139″ heading=”Everton” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column][/columns]