6 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE RETURN OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE
Didn’t need 11 men to bite Wolves
again, but not up close or from a great angle. To me, in real time, it looked a good tackle.
“The ball gets away from Jags a little bit and I thought he recovered and made a great tackle. Sometimes you get the ball, and then the momentum takes you through, and you get the man.”
When Neves rattled in that sublime free-kick to equalise, all bets were suddenly on the Premier League new boys
Richarlison found the net with his first two shots in the Premier League for Everton – his second goal here – having failed to score with any of his last 53 shots as a Watford player
running out winners. But Richarlison scored his second with a beautiful curling effort, before Raul Jimenez grabbed a point with a header 10 minutes from time.
Having played a man short for 49 minutes, boss Marco Silva was impressed with his side’s effort and reward.
He said: “I’m very proud of my players. To play nearly 50 minutes with 10 men and show the level of performance that we did against a good side is very pleasing.
“After we went 1-0 up, perhaps we could have done more, but the display in the second half was very good and the team did well.
“We could have won, but I think we can be pleased with how we played, and go on from here for the rest of the season.”
And Silva reserved special praise for Richarlison, the Brazilian he first brought to England last summer as Watford manager, before reuniting with the 21-year-old when he made him his first signing at Everton.
“It was a very good performance from a player I know can play like this,” added Silva.
“He works hard, makes runs, and I’m pleased to see him score two goals. But the most pleasing thing is the team performance.”
LIKE it or not, VAR is likely to be in English football sooner rather than later.
Sadio Mane appeared two yards offside when he scored Liverpool’s second against West Ham (above).
That is likely to mean renewed calls for video technology especially if similar mistakes are made by officials that could be avoided with the use of monitors.
THE best piece of transfer business could well have been done at Crystal Palace. Not only has Roy Hodgson signed a contract extension, but the non-transfer of Wilfried Zaha (bottom) could be crucial to the Eagles’ chances.
Zaha was a class act again as Palace saw off Fulham 2-0 and his value could rise even further from the £70million he was rated at over the summer with many more displays like that.
CARDIFF look far from good enough to survive in the top flight.
Neil Warnock (inset top) is famed for his progress in the transfer market but he has had a poor window. Bobby Reid is the only new capture who started in the 2-0 loss at Bournemouth.
While fellow new boys Wolves and Fulham have made some inspired transfer business, Cardiff have by and large stood still over the summer. They look far from Premier League standard.
EVERTON’S Premier League rivals will be kicking themselves at overlooking Richarlison.
The Brazilian more than lived up to his
£40m fee with two sublime goals at Wolves.
Surely he would fit well into a Tottenham side that failed to make a single summer signing?
HARRY KANE never scores in August. And never looks like scoring in August.
Surely it would be better to give the Tottenham striker (left) the whole month off to completely recharge his batteries?
TALKING of goals - or lack of - don’t watch Southampton in August. They have now drawn 0-0 on their last two opening days of the season.