A goal of the season contender by Gylfi Sigurdsson sealed Marco Silva’s first away win as manager of Everton.
In a moment of sheer brilliance, the Icelandic midfielder produced a Cruyff turn, changing direction creating space 30 yards from goal. With still an awful lot to do, Sigurdsson dispatched a ferocious shot that nestled in the top corner, leaving Kasper Schmeichel without a chance- his forth goal in as many games.
Prior to this, Everton were the better side in a competitive matchup. Making his first Premier League start, Bernard had the most measurable impact on the game- orchestrating Everton’s first goal of the game by fooling the Leicester defence not once, but twice just seven minutes in. Imitating the motion to cross in from the left, the nifty winger sold both Ricardo Pereira and Daniel Amartey the wrong way before dinking the ball into the path of fellow Brazilian Richarlison, who netted his forth of the season.
The Toffees bounced back well from midweek elimination in the League Cup- particularly the front four of Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Bernard and Theo Walcott. Playing in a fluid style creating chances with ease conjuring eight shots on goal in the first 45 minutes (18 shots overall) on a miserable day at the King Power Stadium.
A lack of pace in the visitors defence was exploited several times however, with Ben Chilwell, Jamie Vardy and Pereira often beating their man by several yards. The latter scoring the equaliser in the game, initially from an Everton corner- turning Jonjoe Kenny inside out in a great solo goal on his 25th birthday.
After the break, Leicester pressed to create more goal scoring opportunities, which they often did. This led to Everton demonstrating good potential on the counter- Wes Morgan saw red with two fouls on the in-form Richarlison who proved too hot to handle for the Foxes captain.
The man advantage benefitted Everton as Leicester began to provide more open spaces for Everton to exploit- Sigurdsson duly obliging with a remarkable, yet trademark finish from distance 13 minutes from time.
Asked if he knew it was his 50th PL goal Sigurdsson smiled “Yep, it’s definitely up there [with his best]. It come at a really important time as well. It was a really, really good goal that I’m happy with.”
(@Max_Carlyle)
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