Match Review - Leicester 0 Everton 2 - Comfortable Victory as Blues go 5th

What a difference a win makes. The build up to the Chelsea game was filled with nothing but trepidation for me (and I'm sure most) - 90 minutes later and I'd convinced myself we were back and that there was no way we'd come away from Leicester with anything less than 3 points.

Then when you consider the last time Leicester played a Premier League game on a Wednesday night they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Everton, plus the fact that Carlo Ancelotti has won all 3 of his meetings against Brendan Rodgers, you'd be forgiven for thinking the stars were aligning in our favour before a ball had been kicked tonight.

The manager sprung a surprise on us in the team selection with the inclusion of Robin Olsen in place of Jordan Pickford, admitting that there was no injury to Pickford and that the decision was just part of a natural rotation. I have to say I was pleased to see Olsen given another chance in the team. He put in another solid display, as he did at Newcastle earlier in the season. He has done nothing wrong so far in his short Everton career and I would have no objection whatsoever to him keeping his place.

The game began as expected, with Leicester having lots of possession and Everton adopting similar tactics to those that served them so well against Chelsea - sitting deep and allowing very little space in behind, whilst trying to carry a threat on the counter attack.

I thought our first half performance was superb tonight. We were organised, disciplined and resolute. Whilst we did sit deep, it was never a "park the bus" situation, and we were clever about when, where and how we went about pressing the ball.

More often than not the pressing was led by the tenacious Allan, who was majestic again prior to picking up his injury just before half time. I felt he controlled the game while he was on the pitch, dictating the play with and without the ball. He has been some signing for us and will be a huge part of any success we go on to achieve this season.

As it happened, the first goal from Richarlison came at a time when we were in the ascendency as a result of the pressing intensity of the team, instigated by Allan but reinforced by the rest of the players. It was a goal that Richarlison has richly deserved in my view for his performances of late.

He has got himself into so many goal scoring positions in recent games but his shooting boots have unfortunately let him down, culminating in his frustration at not being allowed to take the penalty in the last game. His goal was always going to come and tonight it finally did.

I think Kasper Schmeichel will be disappointed he didn't do a better job of keeping the ball out the net and had Jordan Pickford made the same mistake he likely would have been hammered from all angles by the media. But of course, none of that matters to Richarlison or to Everton.

I have to say, once we went 1-0 up, I genuinely never felt like we were in any danger of losing. Save for a point blank header from Jamie Vardy which went straight at Robin Olsen, and a penalty VAR let off after Andre Gomes - on for the injured Allan - looked to have brought down Ayoze Perez in the box, only for it to be overturned on review of the monitor, we were very rarely threatened by the Leicester attack.

This was the second game in a row in which Carlo Ancelotti has absolutely nailed his tactical approach. It is why we have to count our blessings that Farhad Moshiri was somehow able to sell him the Everton dream this time last year.

Having kept 1 clean sheet in the first 11 league games Everton have now had 2 in a row against 2 teams above them in the table - with the same back 4 playing in each game. Don't forget, this was Leicester team who had won the most games in the league. We kept them to an xG of 0.93 and in truth they never really looked like scoring.

Could this be the back line that the manager sticks with going forward? I suspect not when the squad is fully fit. It does however give us the option to adopt a tactical switch from our more attacking full backs should it ever be required.

The points were wrapped up in the 72nd minute of the game when Mason Holgate got himself a rare goal, bundling in a rebounded effort from a corner after Schmeichel had saved initially from Michael Keane and then again from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Another fantastic win for the blues, who at the time of writing sit 5th place in the table - above many people's title challengers Chelsea. The momentum is building again for Everton now - we are winning games, players are finding their form - and long may that continue.

Positive - Abdoulaye Doucoure Has Arrived

I have seen lots of mixed reaction to the start Abdoulaye Doucoure has made to his Everton career. I do agree that at times he can be sloppy in possession. My overall opinion is that he tends to go about his business quietly and impacts the game subtly rather than constantly being involved. Some have been much less impressed.

Today though he was outstanding. He started the game well in tandem with Allan and came to the fore when required after Allan went off. He made 2 goal-preventing challenges in our own penalty area - 1 in the first half and 1 in the second - which he had to get inch perfect or risk giving away a penalty.

His stats and heat map for the game show just how involved he was throughout:

Touches - 60

Successful passes - 43

Successful forward passes - 19

Successful attacking third passes - 8

Pass accuracy - 88%

Recoveries - 13

Tackles - 2

Interceptions - 2

Here's hoping Doucoure can replicate this performance in the weeks and months ahead. If he can, I have no doubt he will become a fan's favourite in no time.

Negative - Allan Injury

A huge blow that cannot be overstated. One of our most consistent performers this year and now looks likely to be out until the New Year at least with a hamstring injury. With the games we have coming up over the next couple of weeks this was one injury we could have really done with out.

Player Ratings

Olsen - 7 - did everything he needed to do with ease

Godfrey 7 - solid again, we'll make a left back of him yet!

Holgate 7 - playing his way back to full fitness/sharpness, good defensively and got himself a goal

Keane - 7 - consistent as ever this season, hasn't put a foot wrong

Mina - 7 - another good performance, gave Vardy nothing

Allan - 8 - was on his way to another MOTM performance before the injury

Doucoure - 9 - MOTM

Sigurdsson - 7 - Felt he picked up where he left off against Chelsea, decent showing

Iwobi - 8 - Looks a completely different player and full of confidence

Richarlison - 8 - Thought he was brilliant, in spite of the commentators' opinions

Calvert-Lewin - 7 - Quiet night for Dom, but worked his socks off as always