BBC Sport pundit blown away by ‘ridiculous’ Seamus Coleman as Everton beat Leeds United
Leon Osman was stunned by the “ridiculous quality” of Seamus Coleman’s goal for Everton in the hugely-significant win over Leeds United.
The Toffees captain fired straight in from out wide on the right in the 64th minute at Goodison Park, taking advantage of the fact that Illan Meslier had left a gaping hole between himself and his near post, as the home side won 1-0 and climbed out of the relegation zone.
While the keeper’s positioning was highly questionable few would have expected the Everton right-back to find the net from there, and whether he was lucky or not it was the perfect effort that secured the points, and BBC Sport pundit Osman was amazed by it.
Speaking on the world feed match commentary (18 February, 4.27pm) the pundit said: “[He’s] run from deep, [Alex] Iwobi playing right-back gets it into that area, and he just takes a gamble.
“Whether he had a look and saw the goalkeeper was out of position only he could really tell you, but from there he showed ridiculous quality in the strike to find the goal.”
Memorable
If Coleman meant to shoot then he got it absolutely spot on and was duly rewarded with a crucial win in the relegation battle.
Having secured the points there won’t be many Evertonians looking to take any credit away from the skipper, and Leeds supporters will be disbelieving that a man who has scored only twice in the past two seasons has done so both times in wins against their side.
The defeat at Anfield on Monday (13 February) had taken a lot of the shine off the start of the Sean Dyche era, but battling to a scrappy win in a meeting with a rival at the bottom of the table has reignited things once more.
With the visitors disjointed it looked like it might prove to be a frustrating afternoon where a lack of quality in front of goal, and not enough luck, would see the home side’s dominance go begging and the points shared.
Meslier had kept out James Tarkowski in a far better moment for the Frenchman, but had been bailed out by two goal-line clearances in the first half from efforts by the Everton defender and Neal Maupay.
So when the quality and the luck arrived with Coleman’s strike it was a major relief, and even more so that the Toffees were able to hold out for the win.
Goodison Park looks like it once again could be the difference with two wins from two at home under the new manager, and the fans will be very much hoping that continues for the rest of the season.