Is it safe to say that Roberto Martinez has finally turned the ship in the right direction? I think so. Everton have now won three games in three and have almost hit the important 40-point mark. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds however, facing Southampton who are aiming for a Champions League place and they certainly put us to the test. It took us 16 minutes to take the lead and yes, we did actually score from a corner. Phil Jagielka finished from close range to make it 1-0. Southampton had chances later on, forcing some brilliant saves from Tim Howard before the final whistle. What did Everton do right? Did Southampton do enough to win the game?
Line-Ups and Formations
The hosts made just 2 changes from the win against Queens Park Rangers, replacing Darron Gibson and Romelu Lukaku with Gareth Barry and Ross Barkley. Everton lined-up in a 4-2-3-1 with Tim Howard in goal and Phil Jagielka and John Stones in the center-back positions. Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman started in the full-back spots with James McCarthy and Gareth Barry playing just in front of the defence. Ross Barkley started in attacking midfield, with Aaron Lennon and Leon Osman as the two wingers. Arouna Kone was the man starting up front.
The visitors made 4 changes from their win against Burnley before the international break. Victor Wanyama, James Ward-Prowse, Eljero Elia and Kelvin Davis all coming in, replacing Fraser Forster, Steven Davis, Sadio Mane and Dusan Tadic. Southampton lined-up in a 4-2-3-1 with Kelvin Davis in goal with Jose Fonte and Toby Alderweireld in the center-back spots. Nathaniel Clyne and Ryan Bertrand started in the full-back spots with Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin in front of the defence. James Ward-Prowse started in attacking midfield with Elijero Elia and Shane Long started on the wings. Graziano Pelle started up front.
Did a structured defence lead Everton to victory?
Everton’s heat map from yesterday’s match
Southampton are a team with a lot of physical strength and a pacey attack, with one of the tallest strikers in the league (Graziano Pelle) and many creative players on the wings; so it was clear that crosses from the wings would be the main source of the creativity from the visitors. Everton have conceded countless amount of goals due to crosses this season, so why not attack them that way? For Everton to win we needed to win as many aerial duels as we could and also stop the supply of crosses coming in and finding Pelle.
We did exactly that, Southampton winning just two aerial battles in our box (neither being any danger) and the visitors completing just 6 crosses out of 31 attempted. This still lead to some chances and both needing saves from Tim Howard (both being incredible).
Throughout the match, Everton were making clearances and blocking shots, making 47 clearances and 17 blocks from first to last minute. Although Tim Howard hardly had anything to do for most of the game, we were still making many defensive actions. Southampton couldn’t handle our depth and they failed to create any clear chances in the second-half.
Lack of creativity cost Southampton
Although they did create more chances than the hosts, Southampton didn’t do enough I thought to win the game. Although they had the players, they didn’t make enough to get a goal, Tim Howard not making a single save in the second half.
Key passes Southampton made yesterday
Not one player created more than two chances yesterday for Southampton, just one chance being created from the 35th minute to the moment they bought on Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane (61st minute).
I’m not sure if Dusan Tadic had injury problem prior to the match but if he didn’t then why didn’t he start? No player has made more key passes than Dusan Tadic in the Southampton team this season (67) and the moment he came on he was creating chances for the visitors.
Man of the Match: Phil Jagielka
Was certainly a key player in defence, blocking and clearing almost anything that came near him. Phil won 50% of his aerial duels (4 out of 8) and scored the winning goal, which was his fifth of the season (he has now scored more than Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert combined). Don’t think we would have won without him being a rock in defence. Tim Howard and Aaron Lennon also played very well.
Conclusion
Source: evertonfc.com
I think it’s safe to say that we are going to be staying in the Premier League and I hope we make a late drive into the top half of the table. We need to push over the 40-point mark however and looking at our fixtures we can do that easily. I hope that we are starting to put some youngsters into the squad, such as Ryan Ledson or Brendan Galloway to add some energy into the side. As for Southampton, Champions League spots are over however there is still much to look forward too and Europa League places are almost guaranteed for the Saints.
Stats via Squawka
Up the Toffees
Joel Parker
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