Sky Sports pundit wowed by ‘brilliant’ Vitalii Mykolenko as Everton ace benefits Abdoulaye Doucoure in win at Crystal Palace
Vitalii Mykolenko’s “brilliant” long-range strike against the post wowed Sue Smith as Everton took the lead through Abdoulaye Doucouré at Crystal Palace.
The Sky Sports pundit reacted live on Soccer Saturday on 11 November as the Ukranian’s 49th minute effort from the edge of the box rebounded to his unmarked teammate to score the Toffees’ second in the 3-2 win.
Mykolenko had already opened the scoring with a first-minute bullet header, having also netted in the 1-1 draw with Brighton in the previous Premier League outing, and was inches away from registering yet again in the second half against the Eagles.
Smith said (4.11pm): “It’s [a goal] to Everton. I thought he was offside, it’s Doucouré with the goal from a corner. Idrissa Gueye has come on at half time, he sort of lobs the ball over, like a looping pass to Mykolenko.
“Mykolenko, brilliant strike. Idrissa Gueye tries to get the ball in, I don’t know if he means this but it’s Mykolenko on the edge of the area and he hits the post.
“It falls to Doucouré, comes straight to him, he can’t miss from where he is. Off the post and in the back of the net…
“I think Jefferson Lerma is just playing him onside, but it’s a brilliant strike from the edge of the box, left-footed, hits the post, and Doucouré’s the first one to react.”
Development
Sean Dyche has often seemed unconvinced by both of his young full-backs, having preferred converted centre-backs Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate often last season, and 38-year-old veteran Ashley Young this term.
But the Everton boss is likely to consider Mykolenko one of the first names in the XI currently as the 24-year-old’s attacking output has exploded lately along with improved defensive play.
Nathan Patterson is still struggling to get into the team but the former Dynamo Kyiv man is going from strength to strength at the moment.
The same could be said of various Everton players currently amid a run of sustained positive form that has seen Dyche’s men beaten just twice across their previous nine games in all competitions, with six wins in that time.
Doucouré’s significance continues to be unavoidable with the Malian now the Toffees joint-top scorer along with Dominic Calvert-Lewin with four.
Heading into the international break on the back of a good win that saw the side respond to being pegged back twice to take the points can’t be underestimated, and although a number of players are looking very useful at present Mykolenko is catching the eye.
In other Everton news, Mike Dean branded one Toffees star “lazy” as he made a major error in the Palace win.