1 February 2025
Everton 4 Leicester City 0
David Moyes had managed to get back-to-back wins since his return to The Toffees and was hoping to build on that as they welcomed Leicester City to Goodison Park. The Foxes themselves were arriving on the back of an impressive win in North London as they turned over Spurs. It looked to be a match where both sides would be looking for a win on Merseyside.
Pickford sent a long kick downfield, which Doucoure ran onto. He chested it into his own path, with no one reacting in the Leicester defence. The midfielder then drilled it past Stolarczyk to open the scoring after only eleven seconds. Things were starting to brighten up for Everton and that was not solely down to February sunshine.
It was the worst possible start for the visitors. Not that they had any complaints, they were absolutely static. It was like there was some sixty foot Japanese girl in the corner of the ground had just said ‘red light’ as the ball dropped on the edge of their box. Something they will need to address if they have any hope of staying up this season.
The early goal certainly knocked the wind out the visitors. They were offering nothing as an attacking threat as a result. Things were going to go from bad to worse as Tarkowski threaded a pass forward into the path of Beto. He ran onto it and slotted it past The Foxes’ keeper to double the lead and Goodison Park erupted as it hit the back of the net.
This was what The Toffees’ fans were hoping to see from the change of manager. They were fed up with the negative tactics employed by Dyche this season. They would much prefer to lose games showing attacking intent than looking like a Roman army trying to constantly defend themselves with a wall of shields like the majority of this campaign.
Leicester finally put some pressure on the hosts’ goal after half an hour. The Foxes forced a corner and an attempted shot was well blocked at the near post. It deflected out towards Kristiansen on the edge of the box but his first time shot fizzed narrowly over the crossbar. It was a huge chance for the visitors, as a goal at this point would have completely changed the game.
Everton started to knock on the door once again. It was all a result of Leicester trying to play out from the back. All too often a misplaced pass would gift possession to The Toffees in dangerous areas. As Garner got to the byline, he tried to catch out Stolarczyk at the near post but his effort crashed against the outside of the post.
Deep into added time, Garner picked the lock of the Leicester defence with a superb pass into the path of Beto. The striker did not even need to take a touch and passed the ball out of the reach of The Foxes’ keeper to make it three-nil to the hosts. This had no doubt been the best forty-five minutes of football fans had seen at Goodison Park this season.
After the interval, the visitors tried to find a way back into the game. It was worked to Daka in the box but his shot was straight at Pickford who made the save. It had taken this long for van Nistelrooy’s side to register their very first shot on target. That is never going to end well with the way this side have been defending all season.
Moyes’ side should have extended their lead when Doucoure chased down a hopeful pass into the box. He laid it on a plate for Lindstrom but the midfielder struck his shot straight at The Foxes’ keeper, who saved with his legs. It was a huge let off for the visitors. The Dane lay on the floor with his head in his hands as he rued his poor life choices.
Ndiaye was the next player to cause Leicester some problems at the back. He cut inside from out wide and looked to bend an effort into the far corner. It looped up and narrowly dropped wide of the post, with The Toffees’ player demanding it took a deflection on the way through and should be a corner. Sadly for him, the officials did not agree.
Towards the end of the game, Leicester ramped up their calamities at the back. Three players stood together with the ball at their feet as Ndiaye just took it off them. He ran into the box and slotted it past Stolarczyk to put the icing on the cake for Davd Moyes’ side. It was an embarrassing error from the visitors’ defence, certainly not one for the end of season DVD.
Everton took a deserved three points and put some real distance between themselves and the bottom three. They are now nine points clear of trouble. This was also The Toffees third consecutive win under their new manager. The future looks a little bleaker for The Foxes who are two points from safety in the bottom three.
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