Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Analysing Enner Valencia’s impact substitution in Everton’s 3-0 victory over Southampton
The only chance that most people have heard Enner Valencia’s name in the news over the last twelve months woulဣd have been after the bizarre incident which saw him being carried off in an inter♊national for Ecuador whilst being chased by local police.
This just goes to sho𒆙w how little an impact the Ecuadorian has had at Goodison Park since his summer move from Premier League rivals West Ham, with Valencia not finding the net once in his opening ten appearances and only creating three chances.
It seems like Valencia has finally announced his arrival at Everton though, after his game-changing performance in🌳 the 3-0 victory over Claude Puel’s Southampton🐼 on Monday.
In a game that looked destined for a dreary stalemate with both sides showing signs of t♕iredness after the festive period – Southampton in particular after their third game in five days – Valencia added a spark thﷺat Everton have been looking for ever since his arrival.
Valencia took full advantage of tiring legs in the Southampton side,🌃 and used his pace to full effect in stretching their defensive line.
“It wasn’t just his goal, it was his whole performance. We needed that pace in the second half” – Ronald Koeman
His goal that opened the scoring on Monday was instinctive, gambling 🗹on Fraser Forster spilling Romelu Lukaku’s headed effort, and opening his Everton account did the 27-year-old’s confidence the world of good for the remaining 18 minutes.
Valencia was causing Southampton’s back-line problems again with his pace when he found himself in the penalty area and cleverly turned Maya Yoshida, who committed with a rash challenge and brought down the Ev♋erton striker.
The Ecuadorian’s impact extended further than his goa🐷l and assist though, as he enabled Romelu Lukaku to have some freedom that he hasn💦’t had so far this season.
Valencia also cleverly made runs off of the ball into the space in the Southampton defence, giving Lukaku a forward option when the Belgian was in possession; this is something that Everton haven’t seen much since September, with Lukaku generally isolated up front and 🐟given the task of holding the ball up before spinning off to get into the box himself.
With ༒Valencia alongside🌜 him, Lukaku had a whole new option to link up with – the duo, with their pace and power, complimented each other superbly as Everton eased past the Saints.
Everton will hope that Valenci✤a’s performance was more than just a one off, and that he can c🏅arry on this form into the second-half of the season when results become more critical.
With Koeman openly suggesting that he’s looking to spend money in the transfer market on attackers, Valencia is sending out the r🔜ight message at the right time that he’s prepared to fight for his spot in the Dutchman’s side and lead the line alongside Lukaku.
Featured Image: All rights reserved by