It was a comfortable win for Coventry City, as they surpassed Everton to boost their preparations for the upcoming EFL Championship season. Ellis Simms found the back of the net after 25 minutes, before Ephron Mason-Clark and Victor Torp added to the scoreline in the second period.
Everton remain winless in their pre-season, after an entertaining draw to Sligo Rovers and being on the wrong end of the result against Salford City. For Coventry, it’s their second win from four friendlies played. The Toffees face fixtures against Preston North End and AS Roma before their opening Premier League game against Brighton, while Mark Robins’ side will welcome the visit of Werder Bremen before also facing off against AS Roma.
As it happened
Very few would have predicted a win in quite the fashion Coventry beat Everton, with the Championship outfit proving themselves to be the better side from the very start of Tuesday’s clash. Coventry looked more up for it, shown by the football they were playing: smooth, fast and easy on the eye. Everton will see this as getting minutes in the tank for players, which is what pre-season is of course about, whereas for Coventry, they’ll be excited by what they’ve seen tonight and hope this is a sign of things to come going into the season.
Jack Harrison caused early problems on the right-hand-side for Everton, with a floated ball going just over the head of Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the back post. Everton set themselves up with the old-fashioned ‘two up top’, with the new signing of Iliman Ndiaye partnering Calvert-Lewin.
Down the other end, Ellis Simms found himself in a good position after weaving himself into the box. However, his eventual effort was blocked by his own player, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. There were early positive signs from both teams, looking dangerous on the counter-attack, but in particular from Robins’ side.
Coventry were looking sharp, with Ashley Young making a crucial intervention to deny the through ball to tee up Mason-Clark. The home side were making it difficult for the Toffees to keep the ball at times, with the Sky Blues looking the hungrier of the teams.
Simms dealt the first blow of the game, finding the back of the net after 25 minutes played against his former club. An inviting ball by Milan van Ewijk was headed back into the danger zone by Bobby Thomas, with the ball kindly bouncing to the centre-forward, who simply couldn’t miss from point-blank range. It was a deserved lead for the Sky Blues, although a poor goal to concede from an Everton point of view.
Embed from Getty ImagesYou would have to have taken second guesses at parts throughout the game as to which side was the Premier League one, with Coventry’s fluency and swiftness going forward getting the better of the visitors. Everton didn’t have much going for them in the first period, with only sniffs at goal from the centre-forwards, yet nothing too significant.
Everton’s best chance of the first period fell to the feet of Calvert-Lewin, after a poor back pass. The 27-year-old looked to pounce on the opportunity and draw his side level, but his effort was poor, being an easy claim for Oliver Dovin.
Just the one change was made from both teams at the break, with Abdoulaye Doucoure coming on to replace Ndiaye. Everton were beginning to string a few passes in the final third together in the second half, growing into the game, but Coventry were organised at the back and were able to deal with it easily enough.
Half of the stadium thought Coventry had grabbed their second of the evening when Sakamoto’s header at the back post rippling the side netting, and it wasn’t long before they did double their lead, after a delightful move from the Sky Blues. Sakamoto’s deep cross into the box saw Mason-Clark arrive at the back post to plant his header past João Virgínia. Mason-Clark did well to finish off the move to grab his first Coventry goal, but it was all about the inch-perfect cross from the Japanese star.
Sakamoto was lively and hungry to get on the scoresheet, curling just wide after a well-worked move by Coventry. A rare chance fell to substitute, Beto, with his first time strike flying just over the bar. Everton looked lethargic in their preparations for the Premier League season, creating very little in the game.
Embed from Getty ImagesThings went from bad to worse for Everton, with Coventry in full flow and enjoying their football. Torp found room in the box after a brilliant move, with the finish even better to find the far bottom corner and make it three. There seemed to be no stopping Coventry, with Everton unable to do anything about the relentless pressure from the home side.
The result will fill Coventry fans with hope, with the 17,000 fans able to go back home happy, whereas they may be a few concerns for Sean Dyche’s Everton fanbase. With the Premier League still three weeks away, those issues will likely be addressed and resolved.
The lineups
COV: Dovin; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Binks, Bidwell; Eccles, Allen, Rudoni; Sakamoto, Simms, Mason-Clark
EVE: Virgínia; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Young; Garner, Iroegbunam, Harrison; McNeil, Calvert-Lewin, Ndiaye
