Mason Holgate seals Everton’s precious win over lacklustre Leicester

Leicester 1 Everton 2

Everton recorded a precious victory in their fight for Premier League survival and a first away from Goodison Park since August to rise to 16th, a point above the relegation zone. They also have the ammunition of a game in hand on those below them after brushing aside a lacklustre Leicester, who seemed hungover from their European exit in midweek.

A thunderbolt from Vitalii Mykolenko put them on their way before a calamitous mixup between Yerry Mina and Seamus Coleman allowed Patson Daka to level, but Everton restored their lead through Mason Holgate as Leicester’s vulnerabilities at set pieces surfaced once more, four days from Tammy Abraham’s headed winner in Rome. Brendan Rodgers’s side have conceded 23 times from set plays this season, including 18 goals from corners.

For Everton, who again had Jordan Pickford to thank for a catalogue of fine saves, successive victories for the first time since September breathes life into their hopes of staying up. Frank Lampard’s side took the lead in style through Mykolenko, the Ukraine full-back lashing a sweet left-foot volley into the top corner after meeting Alex Iwobi’s cross on the edge of Leicester’s 18-yard box. The joy proved short-lived as Leicester hit back in comical fashion five minutes later, seconds after Abdoulaye Doucoure almost doubled Everton’s advantage.

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Doucoure started the move, striding forward on halfway and freeing the former Leicester winger Demarai Gray, before bursting into the box. He latched on to Gray’s teasing cross and Kasper Schmeichel just about kept his effort out of the Leicester net, requiring a helping hand from a post, before launching the ball downfield to Iheanacho, whose pass ballooned into the sky.

At that point a slapstick moment unfolded. Mina and Coleman collided as they went for the same bouncing ball and the pair ended up allowing Daka to race clean through and finish.But on the half hour Everton regained the lead, feasting on more slack set-piece defending by Leicester. Richarlison crashed a free header towards goal from Gray’s outswinging corner and Schmeichel was unable to palm the ball to safety, with Holgate on hand in the six-yard box to head in. Rodgers threw his right fist to the ground and shook his head in disbelief.

As Anthony Gordon received treatment approaching the interval, the Everton supporters packed into the corner of this ground made their voices heard. Leicester, meanwhile, were booed off at half-time.

Leicester looked lost and seemed to run out of ideas. Youri Tielemans’ aimless pass upfield midway through the second half, which was gobbled up by Pickford, offered a microcosm of a painstaking performance.

It is now seven games without victory for Brendan Rodgers, whose side were laboured and a pale imitation of the one that upset PSV in Eindhoven last month. The hosts turned to Jamie Vardy for inspiration, the striker arriving off the bench on 66 minutes, but it was the half-time substitute, Harvey Barnes, who went close a couple of minutes later.

Daka kept Kelechi Iheanacho’s cross alive at the back post and Barnes prodded the ball goalwards but Pickford flew low down to his left to make a save. Barnes tried his luck from outside the box but the result was the same and late on sent a header narrowly wide from a Timothy Castagne cross. The pained, impassioned expression on Pickford’s face said it all. – Guardian