Everton faced Brighton at Goodison Park at the weekend and were able to continue their perfect start to the season. Carlo Ancelloti’s men are the only side along with Aston Villa to keep a 100% record this season and are on the top of the table as Villa have played a game less. The new signings at Everton have helped Ancelloti improve the side, and have been currently playing some real beautiful football. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Rodriguez have both shown brilliant form, and have so far been the best players in the league so far. On the other side, Brighton had also so far shown brilliant attacking football and were unlucky to lose against Manchester United the previous week.
Formations
Carlo Ancelloti set up his Everton side in a 4–3–3 formation. Even in the defensive phase, they had a defensive structure in the 4–3 shape at the back. With Andre Gomes injured, it was Tom Davies, Sigurdsson, and new signing Doucoure playing in midfield. They stuck to the same defensive shape while attacking, with Sigurdsson playing a much more central attacking role as compared to Gomes. They mostly tried to stay in their natural shape with Tom Davies was the only holding midfielder, while Digne and Coleman stayed in their defensive positions. James was often seen attacking inwards from the right side, trying to link up with Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Both his goals came from similar positions coming in from the right to meet crosses.
Brighton came into the game with the same formation that was successful against Manchester United, a 5–2–3 or 3–4–3 at different times. Bissouma replaced Lallana in the CDM role. Brighton generally play with quick passes in the center and use their width to build the final attack to get the ball in the box. This was not working though, as both the Everton full-backs were not going forward to attack. Graham Potter’s side was not looking good while on the ball, and their passing was being intercepted a lot of times. Neal Maupay, who now has 4 goals this season, was mostly left out alone upfront. The service was not good enough for him to make a difference.
First Half
Everton showed their quality early on in the game, with a lot of possession and some early chances coming quickly. They got the opening goal from their inform striker, Calvert-Lewin. The goal came from some quick thinking, a short corner, followed by a superb Sigurdsson cross which was met by Calvert-Lewin at the far post. The striker now has 6 league goals already, while has scored 9 goals already this season. DCL’s striker partner Richarlison, who was a doubt before the game then went off due to an injury and was replaced by Alex Iwobi on 25 minutes. Everton had a little change to their shape as Iwobi plays a little wider than Richarlison.
The equalizer that Everton came totally against the run of play and was a clear mistake from Jordan Pickford, who was under pressure from Maupay for a ball. He squandered the ball from a Tariq Lamptey cross and Maupay show the strength up front to hold the ball and then calmly finished to make it 1–1. Yerry Mina had a wonderful game in defense and was brilliant in cutting out most of the crosses that came from wide. He was also instrumental during set pieces and met the end of a James Rodriguez free-kick to head into the goal at the end of the first half to give the lead back to the toffees.
Second Half
In the second half, Everton were focused on keeping their shape compact, and defend well to see out the game. Tariq Lamptey, the youngster who has so far had a brilliant season was taken off by Potter, to put in Joey Veltman. Lamptey was not having a good game because of Digne being more focused on staying back and defending. This was a good tactic by Ancelloti because Lamptey had been the one who was making Brighton tick since the first game of the season.
Everton played some quick football in the center, and were showing impressive pressing on occasions. Due to their press, Trossard gifted the ball to Everton, who capitalized with Calvert-Lewin passing to Iwobi, whose cross was met by Rodriguez who had an easy finish. This was followed by Coleman being replaced by Fabia Delph, showing clear intentions that Ancelloti wanted to see out the game.
Lallana came on after the hour mark but really did not have any impact on the game. Everton won the ball in midfield and showed some swift passing almost carbon-copying their previous goal with Doucoure finding Rodriguez at the far post. Towards the end of the game, Everton looked much tired and were unable to clear the ball, giving Bissouma to score a brilliant goal which was no more than a consolation.
In conclusion, Ancelloti and his men have shown a display of brilliant football in the early stages of the season. The old pairing of Ancelloti and James is proving to be disastrous for oppositions, along with almost all other players of the side showing their quality as well. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is proving to be a prolific striker for them. Meanwhile, Brighton have at times shown great attacking football this season scoring 8 goals in their first 4 games, but the defensive issues might worry manager Graham Potter.
About the Author: Namit Sharma is a student of MBA(Sports Management) at Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, and a football enthusiast obsessed with an in-depth analysis of football. A big supporter of the flexibility of tactics and formations during a football match.
Namit is a creative writer at HeadKick.co
