U23s finish with a draw at Old Trafford

Friday, 20 April, 2018 8comments | Jump to most recent

Everton Under-23s rounded off their Premier League 2 campaign on Friday with an entertaining 2-2 draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United.

The young Blues opened the scoring through Matty Foulds's close-range effort, before the home side equalised. Luke Garbutt's brilliant strike put the Blues in front again at the start of the second half but the Red Devils hit back to snatch a point.

Everton U23s: Hilton, Ouzounidis, Gibson, Bramall, Garbutt (62' Hornby), Bowler, Markelo, Foulds, Denny, Sambou (82' Mathis), Broadhead (76' Tarashaj).
Subs not Used: Hewelt.

Reader Comments (8)

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Peter Anthony
1 Posted 21/04/2018 at 08:23:55

Thank you and well done, Rhino.

If all the first team showed your absolute commitment and passion, our great Club may have a great team too.

Dave Abrahams
2 Posted 21/04/2018 at 09:22:30

IT looks like Lewis Gibson is ahead of schedule with his performances, only 17 but he has been captain for the last few games and getting excellent reports.

It looks like we will finish up paying ٤M for this lad as he reaches all the goals that are set in order for us to pay that amount, and we will be more than happy to fork out this amount.

John Dean
3 Posted 21/04/2018 at 10:10:10

I think you are calling it right, Dave. There was a 20-man flare-up near the end of the game when a United player felt hard done by after Matty Foulds tackled him. As Matty carried the ball down the left wing at full speed, the United player jump tackled him from behind and Matty was furious. Gibson was one of the first on the scene, exerting his authority with both sets of players and subsequently with the match officials and I think he was influential in the referee taking no action.

He exerts authority, constantly reminding his co-defenders of their positions and decisive in the tackle. A young player to admire.

Bowler had a good game. He runs well with the ball at his feet and is always looking to beat his man to get into the box and, once again, had more efforts on goal than anyone else.

Shani Tarashaj came off the bench (we only named 4 substitutes) and looked like he was wearing a sumo suit under his kit. I remember him being a bit of a pocket battleship but he has some way to go before he can play for 90 minutes. Then again, I don't think he's ever played many 90-minute games.

Dave Williams
4 Posted 21/04/2018 at 11:50:04

How did Sambou and Broadhead play, chaps? Any sign of a first-team striker coming through?

John Dean
5 Posted 21/04/2018 at 12:59:42

Sambou gives it his all and the defenders know they've been in a game but he finds it hard to stay on his feet and consequently his fielding and retaining of passes when closely marked is poor; the first two touches he had, he was on the floor in seconds and neither incident was adjudged a foul by the ref. But I've seen him score good goals and miss many more. I can't see him making a Premier League appearance.

Broadhead has lots of class but I didn't think he had an effective game yesterday (although I was distracted by a talkative Manc who then bummed a beer off me at half-time and caused me to miss Garbutt's goal).

Fraser Hornby looks the young striker closest to making the first team squad.

It will be interesting to see how Danny Bramhall fares as right-wing back. His pace running past their fullback led to the two corners which brought our first goal. If he can tackle, he'd be a valuable prospect.

Phill Thompson
6 Posted 21/04/2018 at 13:43:12

Dave (#2), I was thinking about the price we could pay for Lewis Gibson (and Josh Bowler) yesterday as it was revealed that Chelsea will pay ٟ.3 mill and then up to ٠.5 mill for their 17-year-old centre back Ethan Ampadu. They got him from Exeter and it looks like the tribunal has come up with a low-ball figure that Exeter are unhappy about.

We seem to negotiate fairly with clubs and offer a good deal rather than try to cheat with tribunals, like Chelsea and Liverpool do. It costs us more but is fairer though.

Ampadu, by the way, will play for Wales and Chelsea in coming seasons. We missed a trick there; although younger, he played in the same Wales U19s team as Nathan Broadhead.

Alex Bennett
7 Posted 22/04/2018 at 02:06:29

Will Garbutt ever play for the first team again? Almost an enigma now...

Peter Gorman
8 Posted 22/04/2018 at 12:54:49

I agree on Ampadu, Phil. I was impressed with the David Luiz-a-like when the U23s played Chelsea last season (and beat them, goes to show how 'rubbish' our lads are, eh?).

But, more importantly, I couldn't agree more with all those speaking highly of Gibson. I'm still not sure where he will settle: left-back or centre-half, but he comes across as assured and commanding on the pitch as he is affable and engaging off it. Very good prospect.

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