Michael Owen raves about Dominic Calvert-Lewin despite Everton loss v Newcastle United, ‘he’s done all he can’
Michael Owen raved about Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin live on air after his well-taken goal against Newcastle on Thursday [27 April] was controversially ruled out for offside.
In what was a crucial contest in the Toffees’ quest to secure their Premier League status for next season, Sean Dyche’s men fell to yet another damaging loss and performance on home turf.
Goals from Callum Wilson (2), Joelinton and Murphy meant the Toffees stayed rooted to the bottom three in the Premier League two points from safety but Owen could not hold back in his praise for the England international for the way he took his goalscoring chance.
Speaking live at the game to BT Sport 2 [27 April], he said: “I thought it was a great diagonal run and I don’t think he did much wrong, Calvert-Lewin. And equally, I don’t think he does much wrong here as well. Of course, he’s just offside but it’s a beautiful finish. Look at that, he’s back-pedalling and then he’s making almost a diagonal run.
“He’s done all he can to stay onside, he takes a big touch then to suck the goalkeeper in before he dinks it. But as we see there, he’s only just offside.”
Looking good
Much has been made of Calvert-Lewin’s dreadful injury form for Everton in the not-so-distant past but ever since his return to fitness over the past couple of games, he’s certainly looked like his former self again.
Despite the defeat to Newcastle United, Calvert-Lewin was very impressive. Sharp with his off-the-ball work, his hold-up play which we know he is amongst the best at in the Premier League but also the way in which he took his offside goal which could well be pleasing to Sean Dyche.
It was a brilliant finish when he certainly looked to be onside in the build-up. Despite the strike being ruled out, the England international can certainly take some confidence going forward. He also forced Nick Pope into a cracking save from Alex Iwobi when shooting from a tight angle in the second half.
Relegation fears may well be increasing for Everton after Thursday’s result but any chance of Dyche and his men pulling off a miracle in the coming weeks will derive from their star man returning to back to his top form.