Everton vs Leicester City. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,206.
Report and free match highlights as Youri Tielemans scored a stunning strike at the end of the first half; Harvey Barnes wrapped up the points with his own thunderous effort late on; James Maddison assisted both goals but Dominic Calvert-Lewin was taken off injured
Sunday 6 November 2022 07:11, UK
Superb strikes from Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes in either half gave Leicester a 2-0 victory against Everton on Saturday Night Football.
It was another special goal from the Belgian midfielder, who followed up a sensational effort against Wolves with a similarly sensational effort at Goodison Park.
On the stroke of half-time, James Maddison - who once again impressed for the Foxes - found Tielemans on the edge of the area. He controlled with his thigh before thundering the ball into the top left corner.
Everton were sloppy throughout and were punished late on as a Leicester counter ended with a second. Maddison drove down the left flank, flashing a cross into the 18-yard box that Barnes smashed past Jordan Pickford. The 24-year-old has now scored in all four of Leicester's Premier League wins this season.
With England's World Cup squad announcement later this month, Maddison is being heavily tipped for a spot in Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad.
When asked if the thought was on his mind, the Leicester forward told Sky Sports: "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't in my mind because the World Cup's nearly here and that's the pinnacle, that's the dream.
"I always say the same answer and it becomes a bit cliché but if I focus on what I do for Leicester and my performances here hopefully that catches the eye of the England manager and hopefully I can force my way into his plans.
"It's out of my control and I can just do what I did then for 90 minutes."
Alex Iwobi and Dominic Calvert-Lewin - taken off injured in the second half in another worry for Southgate - both went close for Everton, but they were unable to find a way past a Leicester defence who have conceded just three goals in six Premier League games.
Discussing Calvert-Lewin's potential injury, Everton manager Frank Lampard said: "It was a sensation in the hamstring. We will scan it. We don't feel like it is a bad injury but we have to wait for the scan."
Leicester move above Everton into 13th place, now winning three of their last four league matches as Brendan Rodgers registered his first win at Goodison Park. Everton drop into 15th, with both sides level on 14 points.
It was an enthralling opening 15 minutes at Goodison Park. Inside three minutes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall twice found Patson Daka, but the Leicester forward could not convert - his second effort was well-saved by Pickford.
At the other end, Alex Iwobi was found brilliantly by Calvert-Lewin, but the midfielder dragged his shot wide of the far post. Maddison then fired just wide as both teams survived the respective onslaughts.
The game soon found a more settled rhythm, but Leicester began to assert themselves with Everton continuing to make errors.
Danny Ward kept out a James Tarkowski header, while Dewsbury-Hall drew a save from Pickford. Maddison also saw two further efforts - carbon copies of his first - fire wide.
After a brief stoppage following firework debris being found on the Goodison Park pitch, Tielemans came up with a late first-half stunner as Leicester went into the break deservedly in front.
Everton were much improved after the break and could have equalised within four minutes. Iwobi slotted Calvert-Lewin through one-on-one with Ward, but the goalkeeper stuck his feet out to make the save. On the hour, Maddison's curling effort hit the bottom of the post.
The game looked to largely be meandering until Barnes popped up with Leicester's second goal, which sealed a deserved victory. They could even have added a third in added time, as Maddison found Barnes once again, but Pickford denied the Foxes midfielder.
Another superb performance from Maddison, who is hitting form at just the right time. He was top in the match for assists (2), shots (8) and touches in the opposition box (15).
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher said of his performance: "He's had a role in both goals but right through the game he's looked a class apart. I've been really impressed. He's been outstanding."
Maddison added to Sky Sports after the game: "The result is what we're after but if you look at the performance across the whole XI we were brilliant.
"We stifled them and were brilliant, especially in the first half. We saw the game out and everything was there you'd want in an away performance. I think that puts to bed the form and people like you media lot talk about being in the bottom three. Hopefully we can keep on pushing on."
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers on Sky Sports:
Opinion on Maddison being in World Cup squad: "For me it's not a debate, that's the reality. I respect there's so many top players, it's great to see so many attacking players doing really well, but if you can't find a player of that quality that has produced consistently over the last 18 months, then it's obviously sad from a football perspective.
"His ability on the ball, his awareness, cleverness, you want to be creating and scoring goals and he's one of the best at that. He's a player that has risk in his game but he has risk at the right moments. An absolutely brilliant player who's ready for a World Cup with his maturity, 25 years of age and he's performing like that week in, week out in the Premier League. He can do no more. He's an outstanding talent."
Thoughts on the game: "I thought we were very good tonight. It's a really difficult place to come with the crowd and the last score here they won 3-0 against Crystal Palace. We knew we had to come and play well, defend well and I thought we did both really well.
"You always have to defend well to win games and we've got a rhythm now in that. From a defensive perspective we were coordinated in our pressure and our composure with the ball was excellent.
"With a little bit more composure in the first half we could have found more opportunities to score. We didn't give much away and we looked like we could score. Overall, it was a good balance.
"I said before it was a matter of time. We missed players early in the season which totally changed the balance of our team and because of the summer we had, it was very difficult. People who were never inside the club wouldn't understand what difficulties there were. We regrouped, continued to work.
"I'm a development coach, it's about developing the players and their confidence. You can see it returning and coming back and then we played to the level we did tonight. Fantastic performance by the players, great concentration in the game and some outstanding football.
"It was an incredible strike [from Tielemans] and he has that quality. He's an amazing football player. It was a wonderful goal. I think he's going to win the club goal of the season with those two [vs Wolves and Everton]."
The standout England prospect was again Maddison on Saturday evening. As detailed above, he was top in most attacking categories and has spearheaded Leicester's recent return to form.
Barnes - who has one England cap - also impressed with a fine strike, although is unlikely to work his way into Southgate's World Cup plans.
However, Everton's England contingent did not fare as well. Combining with Iwobi, Calvert-Lewin looked like the Toffees' biggest attacking threat, but was taken off injured in the 61st minute.
Jordan Pickford also had some nervous moments, making some questionable decisions and clearances. Conor Coady and James Tarkowski also featured in a defence that conceded twice.
The deadline for Gareth Southgate to name his squad is October 19. The World Cup begins on November 20, with England's first game against Iran on November 21.
Everton manager Frank Lampard to Sky Sports:
"It was a tough game, Leicester are a very good team. Their position in the table is relatively false because they're a strong team.
"We went toe-to-toe in big parts of the game and big quality moments from them won the game for them. They had some fair chances but so did we. We had opportunities to take those and give ourselves a feeling early in the game with the Alex [Iwobi] chance and Dom [Calvert-Lewin] chance at 1-0.
"Possession was pretty even in the first half then they scored a goal out of the world. You have to respect the way they play and they deserved the win on that.
"It was difficult for the lads because I thought we were doing well. Then they score and you try and get the lads up at half-time, they came out well and we got that big chance but then we started to get some injuries. That maybe broke our momentum to keep pushing to the end.
"I am not disappointed with commitment and effort. They took their moments well and we didn't take ours. It is a game we have to put away now and move on."
Everton now face back-to-back clashes at Bournemouth. The pair meet at the Vitality Stadium in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday at 7.45pm and then play there again four days later in the Premier League with kick-off at 3pm.
Leicester host League Two side Newport County in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday at 7.45pm before ending this pre-World Cup stint of the Premier League with a trip to West Ham on Saturday, November 12. Kick-off is 3pm.
