September 14, (THEWILL) – Everton went joint top of the English Premier League table after a 3-1 victory over Burnley on Monday night.
The win took the Toffees to 10 points from four matches, equal on points with Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool but with a poorer goal difference.
Benitez’s return to the EPL has been successful so far as he, so far, has utilised the squad at his disposal, making changes to suit the opponent of the day.
That was the case at Goodison Park where a sizzling burst of three goals in seven second-half minutes blew Everton past Burnley to make it three wins out of four matches so far played.
Although the visitors made a proper effort early in the match to be the better team, but their inability to convert their chances wasted cost them later in the game. Burnley missed two fine chances to take the lead when Dwight McNeil’s squaring to Chris Wood went begging and Josh Brownhill scuffing a shot too close to Jordan Pickford.
It remained a goalless game until Ben Mee opened the scoring eight minutes into the second half to stun the home side. Mee took to the air to direct a Johann Gudmundsson cross nicely into the net for a Burnley lead.
It took 10 minutes for parity to be restored with a sumptuous Andros Townsend cross which centre-back Michael Keane directed into the net with his head. Immediately after the equaliser, Benitez made a change to the system. He switched from the 3-4-3 to 4-3-3, freeing Abdoulaye Doucoure to bomb forward. This paid off immediately.
The visitors had no time to fully process this before they went behind, with Everton producing the goods five minutes after drawing level with a stunning goal. Doucoure fed a pass to Andros Townsend who was given the space to belt out a screamer that left Nick Pope no chance.
Doucoure again sent Demarai Gray in with a fine pass, and the finish was superb to complete the 3-1 win.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
