The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Everton

  • Manchester City back on top as Jesus double sinks Everton

    Gabriel Jesus scored twice as Manchester City beat Everton 3-1 on Saturday to pile the pressure on English Premier League title rivals Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday.

    The win takes Pep Guardiola’s side, who lost for the first time in the league this season with a 2-0 loss at Chelsea last week, back to the top.

    They now have a two-point advantage over Liverpool.

    It was not a vintage performance but Manchester City avoided a second straight slip-up, silencing any suggestion that they may be about to stutter in their title defence.

    “The players responded in a marvellous way. Everton have top players and today (Saturday) was tricky, a dangerous, dangerous game,” Guardiola said at The Etihad Stadium.

    It is two years since Manchester City lost consecutive league games, and they have never gone successive league matches without scoring under the Spaniard.

    A midweek win over Hoffenheim in the UEFA Champions League should have dealt with any lingering hangover from the Stamford Bridge defeat but Manchester City started poorly on Saturday.

    Their passing was unusually imprecise, the movement a little disjointed and Everton, set up for a counter-attacking game, should have taken the lead in the 15th minute.

    That was when Lucas Digne skinned Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker and curled in a cross from the left, but Richarlison’s attempted volley was off target.

    Seven minutes later and Manchester City showed that even when they are off-rhythm they can still punish any sloppiness.

    A poor clearance from Yerry Mina, Everton’s Colombia defender, gifted Manchester City possession and Leroy Sane, chosen ahead of Raheem Sterling, slipped in Jesus who confidently slotted past Jordan Pickford.

    As so often at the Etihad the opening goal changed the match with Everton on the back foot from then on.

    “Until the moment they scored, the game was what we expected. We were blocking them and they didn’t create one chance,” said Everton manager Marco Silva.

    “The biggest chance was our chance with Richarlison. Against these teams we have to be effective when we create opportunities to score.

    “We made a mistake with the first goal. They scored and after that they were more comfortable,” he said.

    Sane was the creator again when Jesus doubled Manchester City’s lead five minutes after the break, with a header from a pinpoint cross by the Germany winger.

    Silva was clearly disappointed that, in spite of playing with three central defenders, Jesus was left unchallenged to convert a goal that put Manchester City in firm control.

    Everton showed some resilience though, fighting back with a fine header from Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the 65th minute.

    But the hosts restored a two-goal cushion when substitute Sterling was left unmarked to head in a Fernandinho cross with his first touch.

    Manchester City have won their last 10 home league matches scoring a total of 36 goals.

    Guardiola, while aware of his team’s slow start, was pleased with the reaction to the Chelsea defeat.

    “It was a tricky game with less than three days recovery after a UEFA Champions League game and it was in our minds we were going to suffer today and we did,” added Guardiola. “The game was not over until the end.

    “But we have fantastic players, human beings, and they made a fantastic effort to win the game,” he said.

  • Sigurdsson: in-form Everton are confident of good show

    Everton’s ability to grind out results has boosted their confidence ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby against Liverpool in the English Premier League, midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson said on Thursday.

    Iceland international Sigurdsson scored the winning goal as Everton overcame promoted Cardiff City 1-0 last Saturday.

    The victory helped them to extend their unbeaten league run to three games and climb to sixth in the table on 22 points.

    “I think all the boys have been looking forward to the derby since the start of the season and that feeling has grown with the performances we have been putting together over the past couple of months,” Sigurdsson told the club’s website.

    Read Also: Everton must prepare to win ugly, Sigurdsson says

    “The team is playing really well and getting results and we are grinding out wins when we’re not playing our best football.”

    Victory over Cardiff followed a determined display at Stamford Bridge, where Everton held title contenders Chelsea to a goalless draw earlier this month.

    “We can take confidence from the way we played at Chelsea. That was a good result,” Sigurdsson, who has scored six goals this season, added.

    Liverpool come into the 232nd meeting with their city rivals on the back of a 2-1 defeat by French side Paris St Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

    Juergen Klopp’s side are unbeaten in the league, however, and sit second on 33 points, two behind leaders Manchester City.

    They go into the match having not lost to Everton at Anfield since 1999.

    “Sunday is another big game for us, we want to make it a good one and we’ll be ready for the challenge,” Sigurdsson said.

  • Everton strikes late to punish Crystal Palace

    Everton has registered its third successive win in the Premier League courtesy of beating Crystal Palace by a 2-0 scoreline in Sunday’s clash at Goodison Park.

    Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic missed a penalty on the hour mark, and the Eagles were made to pay as substitutes Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun netted for Marco Silva’s team in the closing stages.

    The Toffees are now placed in eighth position in the top-flight standings, while Palace are 15th and sit just two points clear of the relegation zone.

    Both teams started well on Merseyside without producing an end product, with Seamus Coleman firing the one half-chance over the crossbar from 20 yards.

    Andre Gomes was struggling to get into the game on his Everton debut, but the home side went close just before the half-hour mark when Gylfi Sigurdsson was denied by Wayne Hennessey from 12 yards out.

    Palace improved as the first half progressed and James Tomkins should have done much better with a free header at the back post, while Milivojevic had a free kick tipped wide by Jordan Pickford.

    Cheikhou Kouyate came agonisingly close to putting Palace ahead from the resulting corner, with the midfielder’s header hitting the underside of the crossbar before being cleared by the Everton defence.

    Kouyate soon sent another headed effort off target, but Everton got back onto the front foot before the break as Sigurdsson curled a shot wide of the far post from outside of the area.

    The home side continued to build momentum after the restart but just before the hour mark, Palace were rightly awarded a penalty when Seamus Coleman hooked Wilfried Zaha’s foot in the area.

    However, the Eagles squandered their opportunity to move in front as Pickford stuck out a leg to prevent Milivojevic’s strike – aimed towards the centre of goal – from finding the back of the net.

    The home supporters recognised that their team had been given a let-off, but the Toffees soon missed out on taking the lead at the other end when Hennessey kept out Theo Walcott’s effort after the winger had been played through on goal.

    Andros Townsend saw a speculative attempt for Palace comfortably saved by Pickford, before Gomes curled the ball just wide from 20 yards at the other end.

    Marco Silva opted to introduce Ademola Lookman and Calvert-Lewin with eight minutes remaining, and the pair soon combined to put Everton in front with just four minutes remaining.

    Lookman received the ball on the left-hand side of the penalty area before managing to find Calvert-Lewin, who was able to power a header past Hennessey from eight yards out.

    A second goal arrived within seconds of Palace restarting the game, with a long clearance from Michael Keane releasing Tosun who managed to fire the ball through the legs of Hennessey.

    The two goals were harsh on Palace, but the work of Roy Hodgson’s men in the final third once again failed to deliver a reward and it is an area of their game which must improve if they are to avoid a relegation scrap.

  • Everton’s Moshiri increases ownership stake in club

    Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has increased his ownership stake in the club from 49.9 per cent to 68.6 percent, the Premier League side announced on Tuesday.

    Moshiri purchased the additional 18.7 pe rcent through his Blue Heaven Holdings Ltd. and the club said the British-Iranian businessman’s share should rise to 77.2 percent by July 2019.

    “Everton today announces that major shareholder Farhad Moshiri has further committed to and increased his shareholding in the club,” the club announced on it websites.

    Since taking over in February 2016, Moshiri has underlined his commitment to Everton by delivering on his promise of increased investment in the transfer market.

    Read Also: Everton part ways with Sam Allardyce

    Everton spent more than 150 million pounds before the start of last season but produced poor results.

    The club struggled in the opening stages of the league campaign before finishing eighth under their second manager of the season Sam Allardyce, who took over from Ronald Koeman.

    Everton continued their big spending this year with new coach Marco Silva, bringing in forward Richarlison from Watford for a reported 40 million pounds and defender Lucas Digne from Barcelona for 18 million pounds, among other players.

    The 63-year-old Moshiri has also stated plans to help the club move into a new ground at Liverpool docks.

    Everton have won the English title nine times and the FA Cup on five occasions, albeit not since 1995 when they last lifted a major trophy.

    The Merseyside club is seventh on the Premier League table with six points after four matches of the current campaign.

  • ‘Premier League coaches must show more faith in homegrown talents’

    England will be more dominant on the international stage if Premier League coaches put more faith in homegrown players, former captain Wayne Rooney has said.

    England did not win a major tournament during Rooney’s 13-year international career, but their first run to the World Cup semi-finals in 28 years represented real progress.

    The 32-year-old, who is the leading all-time leading goal scorer for both England and Manchester United, believes Gareth Southgate’s team can build on their success if young English players are given more chances to prove themselves.

    “I think there’s more homegrown players, well not more, but homegrown players get a chance and they stay in the team, particularly (in) Germany, Italy,” Rooney told ESPN.

    “In England they have a lot of foreign coaches who buy players in, players that they maybe know and play them all the time…

    “I think a little bit more faith in young English players will help the national team.”

    Read Also: England march into last 16 after thrashing Panama 6-1

    Rooney used the example of his former team mate Jesse Lingard, who impressed at United last season and played every game for England at the World Cup, to highlight his point.

    Wayne Rooney smiles while speaking at his introduction news conference at Newseum. Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

    The former Everton striker also warned England against resting on their laurels.

    “Success in football is to win titles,” he said. “It’s like, England in 1990 got to the semifinal, England 2018 got to the semifinal, but you’ll be remembered for the semifinal, not for winning the title.

    “You have to win titles. If you want to be remembered, you want to create history, you want to be known as a successful team, you have to win titles.”

    Rooney returned to boyhood club Everton last season and was their top scorer, but has since left the Merseyside outfit to join American Major League soccer side D.C. United last month.

    “For whatever reason, I still don’t know. I felt I was doing okay, I was top goal scorer (despite) playing most of the season from midfield, so…,” he added.

    “But that’s football. And that gave me a decision to make, and I made this decision.”

    NAN

  • Everton appoints Silva as manager

    Everton have appointed Portuguese Marco Silva as their manager on a three year-contract, the English Premier League club said on Thursday.

    The 40-year-old former Watford and Hull City manager replaced Sam Allardyce, who was sacked after six months in charge at Goodison Park.

    Everton finished eighth in the English Premier League under Allardyce, but the supporters were unhappy with the quality of football on display.

    Now Silva has a huge task to revive the fortunes of the nine-times English champions who last won the title in 1987.

    “I’m really proud to be the new Everton manager,” Silva told Everton’s club website www.evertonfc.com.

    “I know the huge history of Everton as a club and what the fans expect. I’m sure with everybody working together I will be ready for this challenge.

    “We have a lot of work to do in this next month and it is important to prepare everything in the right way. But there will be even more important work to do from the start of pre-season into the first Premier League match of next season.”

    Silva led Olympiakos to a record 43rd Greek league title in 2016, a year after winning the Portuguese Cup with Sporting.

    He was unable to secure top-flight survival at Hull.

    But six home wins in 18 matches under his guidance kept them alive in the relegation battle until the penultimate game of the 2016-17 season.

    Silva was dismissed by Watford in January, with the club blaming Everton for their “unwarranted approach” for him last November.

  • Rooney set for medical with DC United

     

    Wayne Rooney is bound for Washington for talks with MLS side DC United and is set for a medical on Thursday.

    A spokesman for Rooney confirmed that the former England captain is due to travel to the US with his agent, Paul Stretford, for what will be a first proper look at the MLS outfit.

    Rooney was photographed at an airport in Barbados, where he has been on holiday with his family, boarding a plane for the US.

    Personal terms have already been agreed, and while Rooney heads to Washington with the permission of Everton the terms of his settlement with the club – when he has a year to run on a £300,000 a week contract that is paid jointly by the Merseysiders and Manchester United – have not yet been finalised.

    Ultimately the decision still rests with Everton to let Rooney leave with senior figures at the club still divided on the issue.

    Bill Kenwright, the club chairman, is believed to be in favour of Rooney staying but his influence at a club now owned by Farhad Moshiri is not what it was.

    Indeed Rooney is aware that other members of the hierarchy see the benefit of losing the 32-year-old off their wage bill this, and that has been enough to persuade him to consider a move to the MLS when the Americans want him to commit to a £12.5m deal that runs until the end of the 2020 season.

    DC United are based in the American capital city, Washington, DC and were one of the founding members of Major League Soccer back in 1996.

    The club’s early years were highly successful and they won the MLS Cup – the league’s overall title determined by end-of-season play-offs – in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004.

    In 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2007, they also claimed the Supporters’ Shield, given to the side with the best record in the regular season. They have won the Eastern Conference five times in their history.

    They are three-time winners of the US Open Cup, a knockout competition, in 1996, 2008 and 2013. They also won the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 1998.

     

     

     

     

  • Everton part ways with Sam Allardyce

    Everton Football Club can confirm that Sam Allardyce has left his role as manager, the club said in a statement on its website “www.evertonfc.com” on Wednesday.

    Denise Barrett-Baxendale, deputy chief officer of the club said: “On behalf of the Chairman, Board of Directors and Moshiri, I would like to thank Sam for the job he has done at Everton over the last seven months.

    “Sam was brought in at a challenging time last season to provide us with some stability and we are grateful to him for doing that.

    Read Also: Wayne Rooney bids Everton goodbye set for MLS

    “However, we have made the decision that as part of our longer-term plan, we will be appointing a new manager this summer and will be commencing this process immediately.

    “Again, we would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Sam for his work with us over the last few months and wish him well for the future,” the statement said.

    Everton ended the season 8th on the Premier League log.

    NAN

  • Wayne Rooney bids Everton goodbye set for MLS

     

    Wayne Rooney has played his last game for Everton after saying his goodbyes on Saturday.

    Rooney arrived at Everton’s training ground, Finch Farm, on Saturday morning but did not take part in training which was scheduled for 10am.

    The club announced on Friday Rooney was receiving treatment for a slight knee injury which will keep him out of the game against West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.

    The 33-year-old left at 12:40pm after reportedly saying goodbye to a number of staff and players.

    Rooney’s move to DC United is not done yet, says the MLS side’s coach, Ben Olsen. (Video courtesy of TMZ)

    It is understood he has played his last game in the Premier League before he is due to sign for MLS side DC United.

    On Friday, Everton boss Sam Allardyce said Rooney has not asked to leave.

    Rooney is reported this week Rooney to have agreed a £12m move in principle to join DC United before the MLS club’s boss Ben Olson confirmed on Friday there is an interest but the deal is not yet sealed and delivered.

    The former England captain has agreed a deal with the Major League Soccer side that could see him move to the USA.

    It is thought Rooney, 32, is willing to leave his boyhood club Everton, one season after returning to the club.

    “The deal is not done but there is some interest from our end,” Olsen told American website TMZ.

    Rooney rejoined Everton in July 2017 and scored 11 goals before Christmas but has not been an automatic pick for Allardyce in recent weeks.

    The forward originally left the Toffees as an 18-year-old in 2004, spending 13 seasons at Manchester United where he became their record goalscorer, won five Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League.

    It is understood Rooney has been offered a contract until the end of the 2020 MLS season. The US transfer window does not open until July.

     

     

     

  • ‘Salah-less’ Liverpool fail to beat Everton

     

    Liverpool’s desire to continue the cruise control just after 3-0 defeat of Manchester City the Champions league tie hit the rocks Saturday as they failed to overcome Everton no thanks to the absence of Mohammed Salah. The Reds missed a chance of climbing to the second position on the log after a 0-0 draw at the Merseyside derby

    Salah, who has scored 38 goals in all competitions this season, was absent for Saturday’s clash at Goodison Park due to the groin injury he sustained in the 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, and Liverpool’s second string failed to deliver.

    Dominic Solanke, starting down the middle with Roberto Firmino on the bench, was the main culprit as he wasted the two clearest chances of a drab encounter in front of England manager Gareth Southgate, while Loris Karius only had one Everton effort to deal with across the entire 90 minutes.

    The Toffees approach played a large part in reducing the spectacle and their performance will do little to stop criticism of Sam Allardyce from Everton fans.

    The home supporters would have left happy had Cenk Tosun, Seamus Coleman or Dominic Calvert-Lewin made the most of openings inside the final three minutes, but they had to settle for holding Liverpool to a draw that damages their quest to finish above Manchester United.

    Should Jose Mourinho’s side by any chance win their derby and stop Manchester City claiming the title later on Saturday, they will open up a four-point gap to Jurgen Klopp’s side and retain a game in hand.

    Without the attacking threat of Salah, Liverpool struggled to pose much danger in the final third as Sadio Mane, Solanke and Danny Ings – starting his first game in 916 days – all struggled to find room.

    Patience was key for the visitors and had Solanke done better on the rare occasions the Everton defence was unlocked they would have gone into the break ahead.

    James Milner’s cross from the left was headed wide by the 20-year-old, and when he was gifted a chance six yards out he fired straight at Jordan Pickford.

    Everton finally broke out of their defensive formation midway through the half when Yannick Bolasie cut inside from the left, but his curling effort was superbly pushed around the post by Karius.