Everton manager Rafa Benitez hailed new signings Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray as they both scored in a 3-1 victory against Burnley on Monday to maintain his side’s impressive start to the new campaign.
The hosts, without the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, were struggling and trailing 1-0 to Ben Mee’s goal before three goals in six minutes turned the match on its head.
Winger Townsend, signed on as a free transfer from Crystal Palace, produced a pin-point cross to set up Michael Keane’s headed equalizer, and the former Crystal Palace winger then struck a sensational left-foot shot to put Everton ahead.
Photo: Reuters
Gray completed the turnaround when he slotted home after latching on to a pass by Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Everton have scored 10 goals in four games and are level on 10 points with leaders Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
“When we scored our goal, we had more confidence, played 4-3-3, created more chances and could have scored more goals,” Benitez said. “Really pleased with the connection between the team and the fans — we are looking to build a fortress here.”
Photo: Reuters
“Both Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend have quality and are good pros,” he said. “They are keen to learn, even Andros at his age. The main thing in this team, everyone said we needed wingers. Today, Richarlison did a great job also and the two wingers helped the striker do better.”
Former Leicester City winger Gray has scored in each of his past three appearances since joining from Bayer 04 Leverkusen and his price tag of ￡1.7 million (US$2.36 million) looks to be a bargain.
While it was a satisfying night in the end for Everton, Burnley’s poor start continues and they have only one point from their opening games, sitting in 18th place.
“A poor reaction to us scoring — we let them creep into the game and then a mad six minutes follow. You have to make things happen,” manager Sean Dyche said.
“I think it is a really good away performance until they score,” he said. “My big feeling is we are way wiser than those six minutes. That is something we have to learn from.”
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
RSS