In the much awaited Premier League International Cup game for Paul Tait’s Everton Under-21s against German outfit RB Leipzig on Tuesday evening at Goodison Park, there was one welcome surprise selection in Roman Dixon. The jet-heeled right back may well have got some first team action this season in Everton’s time of need, had he not been out injured for nine months. The full line up was as below:
The welcome sight of Roman Dixon in full flight (below).
On a night when older Evertonians would have been mourning the loss of a jet-heeled legend right back called Tommy Wright, we were reminded of the astonishing pace of Roman Dixon after just 2 minutes when he put on the turbo boost to leave opposition players in his wake.
A minute after that exhibition we were treated to the first goal of the evening when young Malik Olayiwola accurately side-footed home after some unselfish play by Omari Benjamin, 1-0 (see below)
There was plenty of loose defending by both sides but in the 12th minute it was Everton who took advantage, a run by Brendan Graham from the halfway line and a left footed finish at the near post which maybe the visiting goalkeeper could have done better with, 2-0 (see below)
A really sloppy piece of play by Reece Welch and George Pickford saw an attacker bypass Welch way too easily and then see his low cross slip under Pickford. All that was required was a tap-in for a disappointing goal to concede, 2-1.
We then saw something really unusual where Blues’ ‘keeper Pickford was penalised, in my view correctly, for bringing down a Leipzig attacker. He did make contact with the ball but definitely with the player. A penalty but …. overturned 10 seconds later as the referee changed her mind … corner kick. No VAR but harsh on the German side.
On 33 minutes Everton got a 3rd as some clever wing-play by KIngsford Boakye saw good awareness by Brendan Graham as he positioned himself well in anticipation of a clearing header and he bagged his brace, 3-1 (see below)
Eli Campbell and Olayiwola narrowly missed chances to increase the led but the half finished 3-1 to the Toffees.
Everton missed a good chance in the 62nd minute as Benjamin planted his header over the bar from 6 yards before the Blues were extremely fortunate not to concede two stonewall penalties, one following a tackle by Campbell and then, separately, a minute later by Welch. There was also a great Pickford save after 79 minutes as the Leipzig side tried to make the score-line more respectable.
In the 87th minute Graham, increasingly desperate to claim the match ball with a hat-trick, took a direct free kick which fell kindly for Welch to guide a looping header into the net for the Blues’ 4th.
The rout was complete in the 90+1 minute when substitute Shea Pita dug out a neat cross for fellow substitute Ceiran Loney. He made a difficult chance look easy as he neatly spun to lash home, 5-1.
In summary, a good match to watch, plenty of skill, plenty of errors, some debatable refereeing decisions all thankfully in the Blues’ favour and most importantly, 45 minutes under the belt of Roman Dixon, he played well and served a reminder of what he is capable of in the right back berth!
