BBC pundit delighted by Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko in tough situation vs Leicester
Pat Nevin was delighted by Vitalii Mykolenko’s composure under pressure for Everton during the defeat to Leicester on Saturday evening.
On a night where there wasn’t a huge deal to shout about for the Toffees faithful, the Ukrainian full-back did excellently in a difficult situation mid-way through the second half when sprinting back towards his own goal to cover.
He had Foxes forward Patson Daka in pursuit and his keeper Jordan Pickford had rushed from his area to try to intercept, meaning any misunderstanding between the two would almost certainly lead to a goal, but the 23-year-old took control and cleared the danger without much fuss.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, as per the BBC Sport live blog of the game Nevin said: “Brilliant from Mykolenko given the pressure he was under.
“He understands he wasn’t going to catch Daka for pace and Pickford was rushing out of his goal but Mykolenko dealt with it really well.”
Bright spot
It was a poor performance overall from Everton, with a key early opportunity missed by Alex Iwobi, and the visitors largely on top thereafter.
While the home side rode their luck, they couldn’t make it to half time before Youri Tielemans’ stunning opener.
Had Frank Lampard got the opportunity to lift his players with the game still goalless it might have been different after the break, but with that hammer blow right before half time it was much the same when they reemerged.
The Toffees boss will be very disappointed with what he saw from his side, who were uncharacteristically slack defensively and lost possession far too often.
Of more concern will be a second straight outing where the attack produced so little, especially with Dominic Calvert-Lewin withdrawn in the second half with what looked like a new injury.
Mykolenko was one of the better performers on the night, although nobody covered themselves in glory, and his snuffing out of the danger was rightly praised by Nevin.
Having won so convincingly in the previous home game against Crystal Palace (22 October) it was a major let down to be outplayed by James Maddison and the resurgent Leicester side, and the manager has work to do to secure another result before the World Cup.