BBC pundit reacts live on air to incident in Everton win v Crystal Palace, ‘big trouble’
Vitaliy Mykolenko was “powerful and aggressive” when he opened the scoring for Everton against Crystal Palace on Saturday (11 November), according to Sam Parkin.
Speaking on co-commentary for BBC Radio London on Saturday (03:01pm), the pundit said the Eagles were in “big trouble” from the moment Dominic Calvert-Lewin received the ball and defender Marc Guehi didn’t get enough on his header to clear it away from danger.
He added that it was an “absolutely delicious” ball in from Jack Harrison to find Mykolenko before he headed it home for the Toffees’ opening goal in their 3-2 victory at Selhurst Park.
“They are big trouble the moment that the ball is played into Calvert-Lewin and Guehi didn’t get enough on his header,” said Parkin.
“Calvert-Lewin was actually able to recycle possession for his team. He sets it back and, as you said, Mykolenko had the first attempt, then the ball broke wide to the right-hand side and, because the full-back was in such an advanced position to get the strike away, nobody had picked him up.
“Nobody recovered, he pulled on the back of Anderson and the standup – in terms of delivery – was absolutely delicious from the foot of Harrison on the right-hand side. Just tempting Mykolenko to continue his run and because he’s up early, is powerful and aggressive, it’s an easy header in the end.”
Attacking with purpose
There is no doubt that there is much more purpose in the way Everton are attacking this season and that was clear to see when Mykolenko scored after less than a minute against Palace.
The Ukrainian has been excellent going forward for the Toffees in recent weeks after he has now registered goals in back-to-back games for the club.
There had previously been question marks around the 24-year-old left-back’s output for the Blues from an attacking perspective, but he seems to now have more freedom to get forward and be more involved.
It was another excellent result for Sean Dyche’s side and he will be delighted with the progress that they have made recently following a difficult start to the season.
The Merseysiders have managed to open up an eight-point gap between themselves and the sides in the relegation zone, meaning they can now start looking up the Premier League table rather than over their shoulders at the teams below them.
In other Everton news, a BBC pundit has shared an “intriguing” admission amid Dyche’s style of play.