View: 2 assists, 8 key passes – Everton magic man Rodriguez turns in dazzling FA Cup display
It might have only been a fourth-round FA Cup tie against a struggling Championship side but Everton star James Rodriguez produced a performance oozing in class on Sunday evening.
The pressure was on the Blues to learn their lessons from the nervy extra-time win over Rotherham United in the previous round and avoid an upset against Sheffield Wednesday at Goodison Park.
Carlo Ancelotti named a very strong side on Sunday evening as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison returned to the starting XI and were joined by first-team mainstays including Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucoure.
It was the Colombian that turned in the most impressive display as he showed the gulf in class between Premier League European hopefuls and Championship basement boys.
Rodriguez registered two assists in a comfortable 3-0 win on Merseyside with two sumptuous deliveries from corners.
Richarlison and Yerry Mina were the grateful recipients of Everton’s chief creator as he tormented the Wednesday defence throughout.
According to WhoScored data there were 18 key passes in Sunday’s encounter with 15 of them attributed to Everton.
Remarkably, over half (eight) of these were made by a single player – Rodriguez.
That is a stunning statistic that shows how much Rodriguez dictates play for the Blues and is always looking to create openings.
At Goodison News we have picked out two of our favourite passes from Rodriguez in Sunday’s triumphant FA Cup victory (images taken from BT Sport).
In the first image below you can see Rodriguez open his body out to the left as if to play the ball to Gylfi Sigurdsson before closing his foot on the ball and delivering an inch-perfect ball that Richarlison runs on to and sticks in the back of the net.
Unfortunately this was ruled offside with the Brazilian just making his run too early but it was an early (12th minute) indicator of what was to come from Rodriguez with his defence-splitting passes.
The next two stills show the start and end of his pass that sees Calvert-Lewin nearly score.
In the first image Rodriguez can be seen occupying a lot of free space in a central position just outside the Wednesday box, another example of his savvy understanding of the game and ability to ghost away from defenders.
The ball to Rodriguez is a fierce one and the ball bobbles up but he does not let that disturb him as he adapts to send a lobbed ball over the top of the Wednesday defence for the onrushing Calvert-Lewin.
Calvert-Lewin has already started his movement towards goal as soon as Rodriguez picked the ball up because he knows he has the expert vision to feed him.
The England international latches onto the end of the pass and lifts it over the goalkeeper only for a Wednesday defender to clear it off the line.
These two opportunities did not result in a goal for Everton but they highlight just how brilliant Rodriguez was at Goodison Park.
Calvert-Lewin was on a six-match barren run before netting on Sunday and it is no coincidence that his creator-in-chief was absent for all-but one of those.
Expect Rodriguez to sprinkle some more stardust for the Blues when they entertain Leicester City on Wednesday in a crucial clash between two European hopefuls.
In other Everton news, Calvert-Lewin goal sparks delight from many Blues fans.