Match Report

There are games — most of them, truth be told — that demonstrate just how difficult a league the Premier League can be. This wasn’t one of them. Everton were a goal to the good and in control of the destiny of their first points of the season but they allowed the match to slip away, along with victory against a team that, on this evidence, look set for a struggle to retain their top-flight status this season,.

Part of it was due to the conditions which bordered on monsoonal at times and helped disrupt the Blues’ first-half rhythm, but a lot of it was, once again, down to the substitutions and game management of Sean Dyche, who withdrew his two most effective attacking outlets in the second half.

Iliman Ndiaye scored a wonderful 12th-minute opener and had, admittedly, faded from the contest by its closing stages but his manager opted for preserving a point over trying to win by taking the Senegal international off and moving Abdoulaye Doucouré forward.

It was his earlier change that contributed to Everton giving up the lead, though, as the team increasingly sat off following his withdrawal and invited pressure. Jesper Lindstrøm, a player who surely would have been warming the bench had Jack Harrison not left training early feeling unwell on Thursday, had been causing Leicester problems all afternoon, with only the end product missing on an otherwise hugely encouraging first Premier League start.

But the Dane’s withdrawal after an hour, arguably 10 to 15 minutes too soon, felt awfully predictable, particularly from the moment Dyche bawled the Dane out when he put the ball into touch in front of him early in the second half and was ordered over to the right side. Lindstrøm was duly withdrawn in favour of Harrison in the 61st minute and Everton seemed to lose all their momentum after that. 13 minutes later, they lost their lead thanks to yet more dreadful defending at an opposition corner.

With mounting pressure on his shoulders following four straight defeats and a miserable Carabao Cup exit on Tuesday, Dyche bemoaned the challenges he has faced in his time as Everton boss. Those include selection headaches like the one he faced today, with seven players out, the most important being at full-back where Vitalii Mykolenko was again missing through illness and Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson remain sidelined.

Despite the youngster’s promising displays when used this season, Dyche plumped for James Garner over Roman Dixon and, just like at Villa Park a week ago, it proved to be a dubious decision. Despite having played at right-back for England U21s, Garner is not cut out for the role and he struggled again this afternoon on that side of defence.

Pleasingly, though, Orel Mangala, who looked questionable on his full debut against Southampton in the cup, had an impressive first hour or so alongside Doucouré, who was also first class in that time, before both melted away in the later stages of the game along with Everton’s composure and resilience.

Mangala was enjoying the freedom of the King Power Stadium in the first half, pulling strings and progressing the Blues forward as they made a strong start. Lindstrøm really should have opened his account in the fourth minute when the often electric Ndiaye whipped an inviting ball across the box but, perhaps partially unsighted by Dominic Calvert-Lewin in front of him, he could only steer a volley wide of goal.

The visitors didn’t have to wait long for their goal, however, and it came from a glorious, slide-rule pass from Ashley Young which Ndiaye collected just inside the penalty area before jinking to his right and screwing a lot shot in off the upright.

Lindstrøm tested Mads Hermansen with a powerful shot at one end while Jordan Pickford almost embarrassed himself in the worsening conditions by flapping Stephy Mavididi’s cross onto his own post, just managing to keep it out but, in the main, the visitors had the upper hand.

Calvert-Lewin should have been awarded a free-kick by the shockingly poor referee, Darren England, when he was bundled over by Victor Kristiansen before Lindstrøm sliced wide of the target after being played in neatly by Mangala and Dwight McNeil dragged a promising chance horribly wide.

With the hosts having created next to nothing and only having a weak Wilfried Ndidi shot to show for their efforts in the first period, it should have been a case of Everton simply continuing to do what they had been doing and pushing for the cushion of a second goal.

The continuing deluge from the skies that delayed the resumption of the game after the interval seemed to affect them more than Leicester, though. Ndiaye’s superb dribbling took him past the last man again but he smashed his shot high and wide while Lindstrøm, having knocked the ball around Wout Faes, almost served the former Marseille man a second goal on a plate but his attempted square ball took a crucial deflection off a recovering defender.

In between, the Foxes had started to come into the contest more and more. Jordan Ayew hooked a bouncing ball over his shoulder and over the bar and Harry Winks had failed to test Pickford with an attempted curler but the McNeil-DCL combination almost paid dividends at the other end. The former put the striker in by splitting the defence but, while he hit his shot well across the keeper, Hermansen was equal to it and pushed it aside.

With 23 minutes of the 90 to go, Caleb Okoli sounded the warning bell when he popped up unmarked in front of goal from a corner but couldn’t keep his header under the bar. Six minutes later, it was 1-1 when Facundo Buonanotte swung in another corner from the same side, Michael Keane and James Tarkowski jumped into each other, the ball came off Ndidi and to Mavididi who fired it into the ground and high into the net.

With Dyche’s side having lost their way and become increasingly ragged and panicky in possession, especially after Ndiaye had been withdrawn with 10 minutes to go, rather than measures taken to get the former back into a contest he had largely disappeared from, it was Steve Cooper’s men who almost snatched all three points late on.

Ndidi belted a shot wide when he really should have worked Pickford at least and Buonanotte had Evertonian hearts in mouths when his goal-bound shot struck Keane on its way to goal and the ball was eventually cleared to safety.

Quite apart from two more points tossed away — that’s eight and counting so far in the last three games — the most disappointing part of the afternoon was that Everton played some really nice stuff at times and should have put a desperately poor Leicester to the sword.

Whether Dyche sees it that way — put your money on Harrison, who was pretty dreadful off the bench today, starting against Crystal Palace next weekend! — Lindstrøm made a strong case for his inclusion in the starting XI going forward. The on-loan winger still looks a little rusty and needs to get to grips with the physicality of the Premier League but his neat touches, awareness, pace and threat on the break are valuable attributes in a team lacking many of those qualities.

Ndiaye, of course, is the man the team can turn to for a bit of magic and a rapier-like finish, while Mangala showed for most of the match that he can provide much-needed competition in the middle along with Doucouré, and Young was a man-of-the-match contender on the left side of defence. Key missing pieces like Jarrad Branthwaite and a natural right-back in Nathan Patterson or Seamus Coleman can’t return soon enough, however.

In the meantime, it is imperative that Everton build on their first point of the campaign and the positive aspects of a performance that looked as though it was going to earn so much more.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Updates

Everton travel to the King Power Stadium this weekend for what is an important fixture despite how early it is in the season but Sean Dyche’s squad continues to be stretched.

Roman Dixon is overlooked again with Garner at right-back as Ashley Young starts at left-back. No starting place for O’Brien, Iroegbunam or Armstrong but Sean Dyche does start three newer players in Mangala, Lindstrom and  Ndiaye — a complete change in midfield from the Aston Villa defeat. 

Only eight subs named by Sean Dyche as a statement of continuing staffing issues, with two goalkeepers, and no new names from the Under-21s risked, despite Branthwaite and Patterson scheduled to play for them tomorrow. 

Other players still out injured are Mykolenko, Chermitti, Coleman, Broja and Keane while Idrissa Gana Gueye is away on bereavement leave. 

Everton got things going in all-too-familiar fashion with a Pickford punt that saw the Foxes take possession. Everton mounted an attack that saw Young with an angled cross that was headed back.

Then, good work down the left, McNeil to Ndiaye who crossed it on a plate for Lindstrom to volley home... only he couldn't hit the target. Next was Doucoure having a go from distance, also wayward.

From a decent midfield position, Young and others played the ball back until they lost it. They tried to build down the right but McNeil was dispossessed and Ayew drove forward to win a corner Ndidi headed over. 

Mangala couldn't work the ball forward again and it went back to Pickford before he launched it forward and some decent forward play saw Ndiaye earn a free-kick in range for Lindstrom… against the wall. But Ndiaye picked a great ball up off Young and skipped into space before slotting in off the post. A very fine goal!

Everton had to defend and Mavididi could only scoop his shot well over the Everton goal. Everton were going forward well and Docucoure won a corner off  a throw-in, McNeil delivering a bit too deep, Calvert-Lewin could only head it softy back to Hermansen. 

It was end to end with Leicester winning another corner, well headed clear by Calvert-Lewin at the near post. But the visitors remained under pressure after Ndiaye lost the ball, Ndidi shooting low at Pickford. At the other end, Lindstrom smacked a fierce shot at Hermansen. 

Everton resisted another attack, Ndidi putting the ball behind. McNeil tried to get behind Justin. They worked the ball around again, but mostly backward. Ndiaye couldn't beat Justin either but won a throw-in off him, the play again going back to Pickford. 

It was pretty scrappy stuff as the rain poured down, with many turnovers, the ball again being worked back to Pickford. But when the ball went forward, Calvert-Lewin was found to be inexcusably offside.  

Some decent possession went nowhere and Vardy landed awkwardly on a nothing brush with Keane, but Vardy was in trouble, and Darren England stopped the game. But Vardy recovered and seemed ideally positioned to score as they built a good move that got behind Everton.

Then a bizarre moment as Pickford parried a chipped ball at the near post, it bouncing down one goalline before Pickford gathered it and Vardy tried to push him across the goalline. 

There was more nervy stuff, as the lightning was not enough to see a delay and the rain just intensified. Everton tried to build an attack, Ndiaye almost getting a good cross in. Calvert-Lewin was gifted a bouncing ball but seemed to be fouled by Kristiansen, not given. 

Everton continued to work the ball well, Lindstrom guilty again of profligacy when in a very good position but failing to keep his shot down. Some tremendous persistence by Ndiaye saw him feed McNeil but his shot was dreadful. Justin went down too easily and won a soft free-kick off Ndiaye. And Darren England was taken in by another soft fall from a Leicester player. 

A spell of desperate defending kept the ball effectively away from Pickford first Calvert-Lewin then Doucouure couldn't fashion anything in the torrential rain. Leicester had another go against the Everton defence but they held firm and Everton went in at the break with their lead intact. 

The thunder and lightning along with continued torrential rain was now deemed to be a threat to life and limb, sufficient to delay the restart for an additional 10 minutes. 

Keane was awarded a yellow card quickly, for a foul wide left that was cleared away. Calvert-Lewin did well in a physical battle with Faes. Everton worked it around to a cross that went over everyone. 

Some great play from the entire team got the ball around to Calvert-Lewin but he was stalled and had to give it to Ndiaye who was driven wide and shot over. But more good Everton attacking tested the Leicester defence but they then had their turn, Ayew shooting just over.

Ayew barged Young from behind, Then Ndiaye and Ayew tangled their feet, and Ayew won the next contest for a free-kick that Everton did well to clear.  Winks then had a shot that curled over the angle. 

Lindstrom did brilliantly to create space from a throw-in but he chose to cross rather than shoot and a defender got a vital touch: Lindstrom's final involvement with an hour gone. 

Leicester worked the ball around and through the Everton defence but no-one was on the same wavelength as Ndidi, thankfully. An Everton free-kick taken by Keane was easily cleared. Mavididi looked again for an opening but an interception sent the Evverton team on the counter, Calvert-Lewin at the end of a great fast move but not really shooting with that much conviction, although the keeper had to make the save. 

A Leicester free-kick needed defending and the next one won a corner for the Foxes as they threatened, Mavididi crossing cleverly but headed over. The game had opened up considerably and Everton mounted an attack without creating a killer chance. 

The home side were getting desperate now and kept piling on the pressure, a mi-up in the Everton defence giving The Foxes another corner. And from this one, they scored the equalizer, bundled in from close range by Mavididi. Some keepers might have fought their way out to punch such a cross, but not Jordan Pickford.   

Everton won a deep free-kick by the corner flag but it broke down for offside. Buonaotte was harshly shown a yellow card for a tackle that won the ball but McNei delivered the ball straight to Hermansen.

It was now end to end, Calvert-Lewin. too tired to really fight for the ball to create the counter and easily caught offside. Ndidi firing well wide.  Ndiaye was replaced by Iroegbunam. A good fast forward move saw Doccoure cross for Calvert-Lewin but he was criminally the wrong side of Faes, and showed no desire to get the right side of him. 

Everton were looking really tired and continually making mistakes with 10 minutes left to hold on to a point. Leicester broke forward and looked to score but got themselves offside.  Everton could not get clear, Keane with a vital block on a fierce shot from Mavididi. They tried playing out from the back, a crowded area, losing the ball and putting themselves under pressure again. 

It was increasingly frenetic stuff as The Foxes could smell the fear in every Everton touch. as 4 minutes of added time were signalled.  From a Foxes free-kick, Tarkowski gave away a corner when he should have cleared. Pickfrd punched it clear but Everton could not make it into a counter and were under pressure again, until the ball was chipped harmlessly through to Pickford. 

Everton finally got forward and a bouncing ball dropped to Calvert-Lewin but he could not hit it properly. The Foxes had one last push but when Pickford collected the ball, the final whistle went and Everton finally had a point.

Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen, Winks, Ndidi, El Khannouss (56' Buonanotte [Y:77']), Ayew, Mavididi (90' Fatawu), Vardy (83' Edouard).

Subs: Ward, Ricardo, Coady, Choudhury, Skipp, De Cordova-Reid.

Michael Kenrick

Wardrobe Malfunction

Gaz rolled up at around 8 am and on we routed up the M56, M6, A500 and then M1, reaching Leicester at around 10:15 am. We had what we thought was the bright idea of spinning the car around and parking on Narborough Road, about a 20-minute walk from the stadium, so we could get away quickly after the game.

I had a real clothing attire dilemma. I knew the weather was likely to be very warm in the day, but was also conscious that some heavy rain was due at some point around 3pm. I also had to factor in that in the evening I was heading straight to a friend’s 40^th birthday party, and so required some sort of reasonably smart wear. So I went for the jeans, shirt and hoodie, thinking that would suffice to keep me not too uncomfortably warm in the beautiful daytime sun, and offering me some sort of protection for any showers later. But when getting out of the car it felt so warm, I decided to gamble on leaving my hoodie in the car.

I got it all wrong. Walking around Leicester city centre in the daytime, I was too uncomfortably warm in my jeans, and then as we got pounded with rain walking out of the King Power stadium I was well too soggy and wet in my jeans, and didn’t have my hoodie to stay dry. And as it turned out, nobody had really bothered dressing up much at the evening bash anyway, so I could have easily rocked up in shorts and tee-shirt.

Anyway, having parked up we took a fairly pleasant walk into the city centre, and met Chris, Mike and Stewart at a pub called The Globe for food and drink refreshments, before moving on to a cool craft ale bar called Tonne, and then to the Rutland & Derby Arms which was well-populated with match-going fans.

We moved onto the stadium and were at our seats well in time for kick off. It’s a pretty decent stadium the King Power in my opinion. Now 22 years old, it serves them very well and has retained decent facilities.

Everton attacked towards the far end of the stadium in the first half, and, well backed as ever by our loyal followers, the players did a good job of taking the game to Leicester City, while keeping a good shape and remaining solid and difficult for Leicester City to break throw us. Particularly as it felt a bit thrown together due to player unavailability, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Orel Mangala did a good job of disrupting the hosts and moving us forward.

And it wasn’t long before we were ahead. The free kick, put in by I think Dwight McNeil, was cleared, though retained by Orel. He played the ball into Iliman Ndiaye, who worked it very well with Ashley Young. It was a great pass back to him by Ashley, and Iliman took on the panicked defenders and finished brilliantly into the corner. It was a great goal, and sparked some brilliant celebrations in the away end.

We remained on top throughout the half. Leicester City couldn’t quite get to grips with us with the shape remaining very good, and Michael Keane particularly strong defensively. It was probably about 30 minutes into the game when the heavens really opened, every flash lightning and subsequent thunder drawing a gasp from the crowd, and both sets of players did well to keep the game quality up in the tough conditions. We got to the break relatively hassle free, and had to be satisfied with our first half efforts. And should we have had an opportunity at the end of the half? Leicester City’s free kick into the penalty area was cleared upfield, and from what I could tell, Dwight was through on goal. Especially as Abdoulaye Doucoure had been down injured for about a minute of the allotted time, I thought there was no reason for Darren England to blow for half time at that point.

The second half seemed to take an eternity to start and it didn’t occur to us that it was delayed due to the adverse weather. When they finally got back out there, it was a much improved Leicester City who took the game to us. We had opportunities on the counter attack, mainly when Dominic Calvert-Lewin drove at goal having been put in by Dwight McNeil following great work by Iliman. Dominic’s effort was well saved by Mads Hermansen. And not long before he was substituted, Jesper Lindstrom had an opportunity though elected to square it rather than shoot, and the ball was cleared.

Pressure continued to grow and we stayed on the backfoot for some time. It became a bit unbearable to watch really. Changes were definitely needed and I felt swapping out Jesper Lindstrom for Jack Harrison was a good change as the Dane was flagging. The conditions made it heavy for the players and fresher legs were required.

It was a shame we gave up such a soft goal. Leicester City deserved the draw given the pressure they applied, but giving up the goal in that manner was a real shame. I don’t quite know what James Tarkowski was doing, and how that ball popped up the way it did. And Leicester City then got lucky with the bounce between Stephy Mavididi and Michael Keane, and even then, Dwight McNeil probably should have cleared it off the goal line.

This gave Leicester City added momentum, and though not ideal, I was grateful enough to see out the draw. It gets us off the mark, and somehow actually off the bottom. There’s a lot of strugglers down there, and a couple of wins can make a big difference, and more returning bodies will help that. That last 10 minutes were nerve-wracking to the extreme, so it’s a positive we showed good resilience to hold on.

We hoped most of the bad weather had passed, but that wasn’t the case as we got caught in quite the downpour walking back to the car. Gaz drove back incredibly well in awful driving conditions, and I was in relatively good time for the 40^th birthday party.

Keep the faith, Toffees.

Player ratings:

Jordan Pickford: Really didn’t have a huge amount to do, though I don’t think he’s quite on form. That moment in the first half was almost disastrous, and could he have commanded his box better for Leicester City’s goal? Anyway, we know he has great ability so not a huge concern, but I feel there’s a bit of room for improvement there. 6

Ashley Young: I thought Ashley did very well slotting in at left back and played a lovely pass to assist the goal. Not a popular opinion, but I think he may prove quite a valuable player this season. 7

Michael Keane: He had a really good game. A shame about the goal, though I felt James Tarkowski was far more culpable there. People can’t wait to get the knives out for Keane, so its only fair to give him credit when he’s done well. 7

James Tarkowski: I hope he can shake off this injury because it feels as though it is hampering him quite significantly. He did OK most of the game, but was really poor for Leicester City’s goal. 6

James Garner: He coped pretty well there at right back and it wouldn’t surprise me if he now gets a run of games there with the unavailability of Nathan Patterson and Seamus Coleman, plus the emergence of Orel Mangala in midfield. 6

Orel Mangala: I was really impressed with Orel. A few errors and he tired a bit towards the end but he is quite bright in that midfield and uses the ball well. I think he’d pair well with Idrissa Gueye. A good performance. 7

Abdoulaye Doucoure: Fair pay to Abdoulaye, he did well in there, certainly for an hour or so at which point he perhaps needed more help. Good to see he still has something to give in central midfield, given he has operated further forward in the last 18 months or so. 7

Iliman Ndiaye: He had a very good game and was a constant threat. As he tired towards the end he ran down a few blind alleys and lost possession a few times, and I felt his race was run and taking him off wasn’t a bad call. He’s our difference maker this season, no doubt about that. 8

Jesper Lindstrom: He’s looking a good player and is getting up to speed. Yet to score, but is looking a goal threat and you have to assume the goals will come. Had a good hour but needed to come off at the point I thought as it got tough in them conditions. 7

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: He worked very hard and lead the line very well. He won countless strong headers up against his centre back and brought others into play very well. A bit unlucky not to score, maybe he might have done better with that second half chance, but a colossal effort overall. My man of the match. 8

Substitutes:

Jack Harrison: You certainly can’t fault his effort, he worked hard for the team, but a lot of the things he did frustrated. 5

Tim Iroegbunam: He looked quite lost out there frankly. 5

Paul Traill

Match Preview

Everton's quest for their first points of the season takes them to Leicester this weekend for a fixture that has already taken in outsize significance following the Blues' dreadful start to the season.

With four straight Premier League defeats to start the campaign and the worst record of any team in Europe's top five leagues being compounded by the hugely disappointing exit in the Carabao Cup on penalties to Southampton, Sean Dyche's tenure is arguably at its lowest ebb since he took charge of the Club at the end of January 2023.

And the manager's attempts to steady the ship and find that elusive first win that would massively improve the mood are not helped by the fact that his aleady small squad continues to be stretched, although he looks likely to be able to welcome at least three players back from those that missed Tuesday's cup tie.

James Tarkowski came through training today without a reaction to the minor injury that meant he was left out of the Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton and both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Vitalii Mykolenko appear to over their illnesses.

However, Dyche explained in his pre-match press conference that James Garner was still absent from training with the same bug and Jack Harrison left the session early after feeling unwell which makes him a doubt for the weekend.

Meanwhile, Idrissa Gueye will miss the game as well following the death of his father. That will leave the Blues short in central midfield where Orel Mangala has just one game under his belt since joining from Lyon.

Elsewhere in defence, Michael Keane has undergone a scan on an unspecified injury after the Southampton match and Seamus Coleman is now set for an extended spell on the sidelines as he continues to be treated for an ankle problem that was more serious than initially hoped.

If the former is ruled out, it would mean a Premier League debut for Jake O'Brien, with Ashley Young the obvious choice to play righrt-back despite another encouraging display from Roman Dixon on Tuesday evening.

There is light at the end of the tunnel where Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson are concerned, however, with both set to feature for the Under-21s this weekend as they take their final steps in their rehabilitation following surgery.

This will be the first meeting between Everton and Leicester since the 2-2 draw between the two clubs in May last year, a result that proved decisive in terms of the relegation battle that year. Jordan Pickford's penalty save that night that prevented James Maddison from putting the Foxes into a 3-1 lead and paved the way for Alex Iwobi to equalise.

Though the likes of Maddison have moved on, Leicester have a number of familiar faces in their ranks, not least Jamie Vardy who, despite being 37, is still scoring break-away goals like the one he scored at Crystal Palace last weekend in a 2-2 draw.

They still have a number of players from their last season in the top flight, Wilfried Ndidi, Wout Faes, James Justin and Patson Daka among them together with ex-Tottenham midfelders Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp and ex-Everton defender Conor Coady.

Steve Cooper's side held Spurs to a draw on the opening day and ran Aston Villa close despite losing 2-1 in their last home game so they won't be the pushovers Evertonians would hope they might be as a newly-promoted outfit.

Key for Dyche will be trying to find some semblance of defensive solidity in a team that has had none so far this season while also fashioning a line-up from those available capable of scoring goals and winning the game.

Kick-off: 3pm, Saturday 21 September, 2024
Referee: Darren England
VAR: Michael Salisbury

Predicted line-up: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, O'Brien, Mykolenko, Mangala, Doucoure, Lindstrom, McNeil, Ndiaye, Calvert-Lewin

Lyndon Lloyd

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