MATCH REPORT : LEICESTER CITY 2-1 EVERTON

Marco Silva arrived at the King Power Stadium knowing that his tenure at Everton may not last too much longer following Everton’s disappointing start to the season. Their latest result a home defeat against bottom side Norwich City has left the natives very restless with some supporters demanding a change in the Goodison hot seat.

Silva went to a back three in this one against a team lying in 2nd place in the Premier League and on a fantastic run. Silva will have been pleased the way his side set about their task right from the kick off and they clearly carried a threat on the counterattack. The back three that he had employed meant that Lucas Digne and Djibril Sidibe played as wing backs and in the eighth minute they combined to dangerous effect, with Digne crossing from the left for Sidibé, whose shot from the edge of the box fizzed just over the bar.

Leicester were on the back foot from the start in this one and it wasn’t until Ayoze Pérez registered their first shot on target in the 10th minute that they came to life. Pérez also had Leicester’s only other decent moment in the first half not long after when he went by Michael Keane and Yerry Mina before firing just past the far post.

In general though, Everton absorbed the hosts’ pressure well. Then they took the lead with a fine attack.

Richarlison started and finished off a move which began with him receiving the ball on the left, he popped the ball off to a teammate and and continued his forward run. When Alex Iwobi slid it out to Sidibé on the right hand side, the Frenchman delivered a splendid cross and Richarlison got across Ricardo Pereira and directed a brilliant header beyond Kasper Schmeichel from 10 yards.

Leicester thought they had the perfect opportunity to draw level when the referee pointed to the spot after Ben Chilwell went down following a challenge by Mason Holgate. The defender missed the ball and forced Chilwell to take evasive action. However, on seeing the VAR replays Holgate didn’t touch the ball or more importantly Chilwell who was lucky to escape without a booking. Everton were instead awarded a goal kick after VAR correctly overturned the penalty decision.

Everton started the 2nd half on the front foot and almost got a second with Keane going close from a corner by Gylfi Sigurdsson. Leicester came flying back and after Wilfred Ndidi won the ball in midfield he played in Pereira who drilled a low shot goalwards and forced  Jordan Pickford to tip it wide.

Rodgers replaced Pérez with Iheanacho on the hour, instructing the newcomer to play closer to Vardy. Within six minutes the change paid off, as Iheanacho collected a pass from Ndidi and crossed low for Vardy to tap in from close range.

With Leicester pressing for the win, the Everton substitute Moise Kean came close to scoring on the counterattack, his chip from 20 yards narrowly missing the target. Most of the action was at the other end, however, with Leicester attacking in waves. Their relentlessness was rewarded in stoppage time, when Pereira stormed forward and fed Iheanacho, who finished smartly.

The goal was originally disallowed for offside but this time VAR intervened in Leicester’s favour, ruling that Iheanacho was onside thanks to the position of Mina’s knee. Sometimes a match, a title race and a manager’s future can come down to fine margins. Marco Silva cut a distraught figure on the sideline with many left wondering whether VAR had just ended the Portuguese manager’s reign at Goodison Park.

How they lined up : 

Barry Cass