Andre Gomes sped up his recovery with just over 60 minutes of festivity as Everton’s under-21s beat Southampton’s under-21s 5-0 at Finch Farm on Monday night.
Francis Okoronkwo netted a hat-trick to steal the show while fine efforts from Lewis Dobbin and Sean McAllister on either side of half-time completed an impressive night’s work for Paul Tait’s side.
After a slow 15-minute opening, Lewis Dobbin got the score in iconic fashion.
Jenson Metcalfe discovered the striker with a great pass before Dobbin manoeuvred from behind and with his favourite right foot, from there he fired an accurate shot into the back corner of Southampton’s net.
Roman Dixon, who provided unpreemptive power down the right flank throughout the night, was on hand to prevent Southampton’s equaliser with a late challenge soon after.
Then Kyle John had a golden opportunity to extend Everton’s lead even further. His leap to the far post gave the impression of being connected to the goal, but his header went straight at the goalkeeper.
As the game approached the 25th minute, John ran to the penalty and hit the ground with a backward push. The referee awarded a penalty, giving Les Bleus a golden opportunity to double their merit on the spot.
Okoronkwo stepped up and made no mistake, expertly placing the ball into the top-right corner while sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Senior stars Gomes and Dobbin looked sharp and combined well to hand the Blues another chance to extend their lead soon after, however, the Portuguese midfielder’s eventual cross into the penalty area evaded teammates lurking in the middle.
Southampton thought they had got one through Princewill Ehibhatiomhan, but his effort ruled offside.
Okoronkwo came close to adding a moment just before half-time after passes from Dobbin. However, his shot on goal deflected a defender for a corner.
Immediately after the restart, Okoronkwo, who had been a nuisance to Southampton all night, thwarted a remarkable save from Josh Jeffries.
McAllister and Dixon swiftly exchanged passes, setting up the Everton full-back to deliver an accurate cross to the Blues’ striker but the Saints’ No.1 at full stretch managed to claw the effort away.
Yet, just five minutes later that same link-up handed Okoronkwo his deserved reward. Dixon’s ball from the right found Okoronkwo inside the penalty area and the forward converted excellently to double his tally for the evening.
Everton began to run riot as McAllister, heavily involved in the third goal, bagged one of his own. Seizing a short back-pass, he displayed remarkable composure by outmanoeuvring the goalkeeper before calmly slotting home.
Gomes replaced shortly after the hour mark through Halid Djankpata and with 20 minutes left in general time, Okoronkwo scored his third.
Substitute Djankpata was fouled inside the penalty area and up stepped Okoronkwo, this time firing the ball the opposite way but still producing the same result, putting the Blues five goals to the good.
Djankpata squandered a golden opportunity to score a late sixth goal in the match following a clever move by Okoronkwo, who won the ball in form after a wonderful night of painting through the young Blues.
Speaking to evertonfc. com after the win, Under-21 coach Tait praised both the functionality and attitude of Gomes’ return: “André is perfect. His calmness on the ball is perfect and you can see he’s the first. “-Player. Player class.
“He was able to play for 60 minutes and when he came out I told him to come in and take a shower, but he didn’t because he wanted to stay with the guys and watch the rest of the game. He’s shown a wonderful ability and attitude and I thank him for that.
Speaking about the win, Tait added: “I’m very happy with it, it’s a remarkable victory. The speed of the paints and the effort was perfect and the boys were in the lead from the first minute. The game, the tactical paints, the The commitment and preference for a terrible night in terms of weather was there.