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Tag: Gylfi Sigurdsson

  • Matic: I was Man United’s biggest problem in heavy defeat at Everton

    Nemanja Matic has admitted he was Manchester United’s biggest problem during their 4-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

    Midfielder Matic was at fault for Everton’s second goal when he allowed Gylfi Sigurdsson the space to score from 20 yards, and the Serbia international admitted he could have done better.

    “Many things didn’t work for us today,” he told TV2.  “First of all, our approach.

    “I think that the most experienced guys, in this case me, didn’t play well today. So I don’t think we need to blame the young guys today. I was the biggest problem.

    “In these kinds of games, you have to win the battle in the middle, then the team can play better football. We didn’t do that.”

    United remain in the hunt for a place in the top four after Tottenham and Arsenal lost over the weekend.

    Read Also: Breaking: Everton thrash Man Utd 4-0

    They face Manchester City at Old Trafford on Wednesday, and Matic said the players had talked about how to put things right.

    “We had one small meeting,” Matic said. “We will try to do better in the next few days. We have a big game against Manchester City, so we will see if we’re ready.

    “We’ll keep it behind the doors, but I think it was a good meeting.”

    United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer questioned his players’ desire and commitment after the match, while pundit Gary Neville said some of them had been “embarrassing.”

    Ashley Young, who came on as a half-time substitute, urged his teammates to hit back against City.

    “We know how important that’s going to be,” Young told MUTV. “If you can’t get yourselves up for the Manchester derby, there’s something wrong.

    “I’ve got confidence that we’re going to be ready for Wednesday. We’ve got to dust ourselves down fairly quickly and go again this week.”

    ESPN

  • EPL: Vardy strike gives Leicester win at Everton

    Jamie Vardy’s 58th minute strike gave Leicester City a 1-0 win at Everton on Tuesday and condemned the Merseysiders to their fourth defeat in five English Premier League games.

    Leicester boss Claude Puel made four changes from the team which lost to Cardiff City on Saturday, including leaving midfielder James Maddison on the bench.

    Also, Marco Silva recalled Brazilian Richarlison to his starting line-up.

    After a poor first half, the decisive goal came when Everton defender Michael Keane mis-controlled the ball to Ricardo Pereira, who sent Vardy through.

    The striker made no mistake with a low drive past Jordan Pickford, before celebrating with a cartwheel in front of the travelling Foxes’ fans.

    Gylfi Sigurdsson blasted over from a promising position for Everton, but Leicester should have doubled their lead when Harry Maguire somehow missed the target from point-blank range.

    Everton, with just one win from their last eight games, have now failed to win in their last four home matches.

    The win moves Leicester up into seventh place, on 31 points, four behind Manchester United.

    Everton manager Silva was frank in his assessment of his team’s performance.

    “A disappointing result, poor performance to be honest. In this moment we have to be honest and look clear at the game.

    Read Also: Vardy earns Leicester narrow win at Chelsea

    “Poor performance since the first minute. We knew what they came here to do, playing a 4-5-1 and waiting for our mistake,” said the Portuguese who accepted his players looked nervous.

    “When you play so anxious you make easy mistakes like the one we conceded. There is no reason they are under the normal pressure we’ll find the reason for that,” Silva added.

    Puel was delighted with the way his team carried out his gameplan.

    “The organisation of the team was perfect and I am happy for the players because we lost our last game at home to Cardiff and it was not a fair result,” the Frenchman said.

    “We said after that game we wanted to take three points away. It was a difficult challenge of course, but the team showed character.

    “We know all the players are tired like us, but the most important thing was to show our strength in this moment. We needed to have a different adaptation for this game.

    “In this situation it is not just the quality, but the physical makes a difference. We needed to find the right situation to move.”

  • 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’s midfielder Sigurdsson out for up to eight weeks

    Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson is expected to return to action from a knee injury in six to eight weeks, the English Premier League club said on Wednesday.

    The club’s statement therefore goes on to allay concerns that he could miss out on the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Russia.

    Sigurdsson was injured against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, raising doubts about his fitness for the finals in Russia starting in June.

    But following a consultation with a specialist the prognosis is not as bad as first feared.

    The 28-year-old, who has four league goals and three assists for Everton this season, is Iceland’s main creative force and his absence from the tournament would have been a major blow.

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

    “We’ll continue to assess Gylfi’s progress on a week-to-week basis,” Everton manager Sam Allardyce said on the club website.

    “The medical team will work very closely with him… to get him back playing as quickly as possible,” he said.

    Iceland is in the same group with the Super Eagles at Russia 2018 along with Argentina and Croatia.

    Sigurdsson, a key player for the Icelanders, is expected to lead the country at the tournament.

    NAN

     

  • Walcott grabs brace as Everton beat Leicester

    Walcott grabs brace as Everton beat Leicester

    Theo Walcott scored twice in his second appearance for Everton as they beat Leicester City 2-1 at home on Wednesday to move further clear of English Premier League relegation danger.

    Walcott, who joined Everton from Arsenal for about 20 million pounds in the current transfer window, converted Gylfi Sigurdsson’s low cross from close range after 26 minutes.

    He then volleyed home before half-time to double the lead.

    Jamie Vardy reduced the arrears from the penalty kick spot deep into the second half.

    Read Also: Walcott   left Arsenal with his things in bin bags

    This was after the referee spotted a Wayne Rooney foul on Wilfred Ndidi, to set up a nervy finale for the hosts in which Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho twice hit the woodwork.

    Everton, who flirted with relegation danger earlier in the season, are ninth in the table while Leicester are three points above Sam Allardyce’s side in seventh.

    NAN

  • World Cup: Iceland banking on team work-Sigurðsson

    World Cup: Iceland banking on team work-Sigurðsson

     

    Strong indications abound that Iceland may adopt mass defense and mass attack when they face Nigeria at the world Cup in Russia.  Everton attacking midfielder and Iceland international Gylfi Sigurðsson who gave the hint, further identified team work as the major selling point of the Heimir Hallgrímsson led team.

    The 29 year old former Swansea city ace described as infectious the fighting spirit among the players, a virtue he notes will come handy in Russia where they have been group to face Nigeria, Argentina and Croatia.

    ”It has a lot to do with the team spirit that we have. How we are as a group is unique,”Gylfi Sigurðsson was quoted as saying by fifa.com.

    The country’s modest population, and the small pool of players to pick from, ensures that the players play regularly and as such are like very close friends.  The closeness some analysts believe is a huge plus because of the level of blend among the players.

    Sigurðsson started every single game for Iceland in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and was on target against Kosovo and Ukraine.

    Nigeria will face Iceland at Volgograd Arena, Volgograd on June 22 in their second match in Group D of the 2018 World Cup.

    Meanwhile Croatia Head coach Zlatko Dalic believes quality friendly against African countries ahead of the world cup will be an added advantage for his team especially before they face Nigeria in the opening match.

    There are indications that Croatia may approach Indomitable Lions of Cameroon for a friendly match before the world Cup in Russia.

    Recall that Croatia crashed out in the first round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  The team conceded 10 goals scoring one.  The first match saw them lose 3-1 to hosts Brazil in São Paulo .

    The second match was against Cameroon who ran away with a 4-0 victory while the last match ended 3-1 in favour of Mexico.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Everton must prepare to win ugly, Sigurdsson says

    Everton must prepare to win ugly, Sigurdsson says

    Everton Football Club must be prepared to win anyway possible to lift their spirits and turn their English Premier League season around, Iceland international Gylfi Sigurdsson has said.

    Everton needed a late penalty kick from Wayne Rooney to salvage a 1-1 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday and are 16th on the table with eight points.

    Sigurdsson said they were not far away from getting better results with this.

    “Obviously the next game is an important one but, for us at the moment, we just need to win, pretty or ugly,” the midfielder told the club’s website (www.evertonfc.com) ahead of their Europa League game against France’s Lyon on Thursday.

    “We just need to get results and once we do that, the confidence will come back into the team and things will come a little bit easier for us.

    “And I think if we get a couple of results back-to-back, then we’ll hopefully get going. I don’t think we’re too far away.”

    Everton are bottom of Group E after a 3-0 loss to Italian group leaders Atalanta and a 2-2 draw with Cypriot side Apollon Limassol.

    Lyon are a spot above Everton after two draws.

    “It’s a strange group. I think everyone can beat anyone,” Sigurdsson said.

    “There are some good teams in there. You may need at least 10 points to go through and it will be nice to start (building towards) that on Thursday against a tough team.

    “The boys and the staff are determined to work hard to turn this around because we’ve got good players. Personally and with all of the players collectively, we’re just off our best.

    “But they are small margins in football and I don’t think we’re a mile off getting results, and a couple of scruffy wins, 1-0 away or whatever it is, that pumps a little bit of confidence into the team and that’s sometimes what you need.”

    NAN

  • Sigurdsson equaliser damages Manchester united top four hope

    Sigurdsson equaliser damages Manchester united top four hope

    Manchester United suffered a big blow to their top-four hopes as Swansea City held them to yet another draw at Old Trafford.

    Gylfi Sigurdsson free kick cancelled out Wayne Rooney penalty to secure a 1-1 draw for Swansea City at Old Trafford that damages Manchester United’s top-four ambitions.

    Rooney swept home from the spot moments before half-time after Marcus Rashford had gone to ground which was a little bit controversial with the replay showing that there was  no contact from Lukasz Fabianski, but Swansea’s set-piece maestro stole a point that could wreck the hosts’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League through domestic competition.

    Swansea, who are now just two points adrift of safety in 18th place, looked the brighter of the teams for much of the first half but chances were limited before the penalty incident towards the end of the half time.