Having fought back from two-goals down to win 3-2 against Derby heading into the match at the Joie Stadium, we carried strong momentum into the meeting with Toffees. A crackle of thunder was heard at the Joie Stadium ahead of proceedings and it was the visitors who made a lightning quick start in our latest Premier League 2 assignment when Omari Benjamin forced Jacob Wright to bravely block the former’s stinging effort from the edge of the area. The Toffees were one of the division’s fast starters after collecting four points from their opening two games and the trickery of Benjamin and Isaac Heath, their top scorer, caused City problems during the early exchanges but our defence did well to nullify the threat.
After weathering an early storm, we grew into proceedings and almost broke the deadlock when Will Dickson’s relentless pressing regained possession, before he teed up Emilio Lawrence whose low drive cannoned off George Pickford’s feet. That seemed to spark Ben Wilkinson’s side into life and we were in ascendency when the clocked ticked past 20 minutes and Seb Naylor produced a fantastic recovery tackle in the centre of the pitch to prevent Heath from progressing before Farid Alfa-Ruprecht’s fizzed ball across the face of Everton’s goal was placed just wide by a stretching Lawrence.
But Everton still showed they packed quality aplenty soon after when Benjamin met a pinpoint cross, sending the ball just wide of the post from close range. The match continued to be played at a breathless pace and Dickson, who was starting his first PL2 match of the season, forced Pickford into a fine fingertip save down to his left when the former did well to direct a cut-back towards the corner of the net. Perhaps it was no surprise the first goal of the afternoon arrived shortly after when Farid Alfa-Ruprecht broke the deadlock for the hosts - collecting a wonderful Wright pass from deep to drive into the box and fire low into the net.
City's Dominant First Half
Buoyed by the opener, we then pushed for a second and found it on the cusp of half-time when an accurate corner was met by Max Alleyne at the near-post before his glanced header squeezed home at the far corner. The afternoon then worsened for Everton after Charlie Whitaker was sent off ahead of the interval when he received a second yellow card for perceived simulation inside the box by referee Zac Kennard-Kettle after going down under a challenge by Matty Henderson-Hall. With the Toffees at a numerical disadvantage heading into the second half, they opted to deploy five players in defence after the break to soak up City pressure and look to break on the counter-attack.
Second Half Dominance
However, it wasn’t long until we extended our advantage further thanks to Alfa-Ruprecht’s second of the afternoon when he met a ball that flashed across the face of goal to coolly poke into an empty net. After Justin Oboavwoduo was introduced at half-time through the middle, the skilful forward repaid Wilkinson’s faith with 25 minutes remaining when he received the ball inside the area before calmly sliding past Pickford to extend our lead. He then grabbed his brace with 13 minutes remaining when taking advantage of Everton miscommunication in defence to win the ball and pass into the net. That represented the last goal of the afternoon with Jayden Heskey’s effort being cleared off the line in the closing stages.
A Complete Performance
The success was undoubtedly our EDS’ most complete performance of the term so far as we extinguished the opening day defeat disappointment to Liverpool with our second straight PL2 win. The win over Everton means we have now collected six points from our opening three PL2 assignments and sit fifth in the league table. Ben Wilkinson’s side’s next assignment is a trip to city-rivals Manchester United in the Premier League 2. Kick-off for that one is set for 15:00 (UK) on Saturday 21 September.
CITY XI: Brits, Henderson-Hall (Gray 69’) Alleyne, Simpson-Pusey, Naylor, Wright (Okeke 69’), Alfa-Ruprecht, Heskey, Dickson (Oboavwoduo 46’), O’Reilly (C) (Willhoft-King 81’), Lawrence
Unused substitute: Wint.
Everton XI: Pickford, Dixon, Butler (Samuels-Smith 81’), Baptiste, Welch, Butterfield (Patterson 68’), Heath, Armstrong, Sheriff (Bates46’), Whitaker, Benjamin (Barker 81’).
Unused substitute: Barnsley.
