CLINICAL CALVERT-LEWIN IS AT THE FORE OF RAFA’S REVOLUTION
SEVEN points to start the season, a striker scoring for fun and bargain buys flourishing — it’s fair to say the Rafa revolution is gaining significant pace at Everton.
Benitez’s men comfortably did away with Brighton with a 2-0 win on the south coast and look in fine form, with goals from Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Gray, a £1.7million buy from Bayer Leverkusen, netted for the second week running — and put in another dazzling performance — to make him an early front-runner for signing of the summer, noting his price-tag.
Calvert-Lewin, on the other hand, is seeing his price-tag rise week by week, after starting the campaign with three in three — just as he did last season.
Indeed, he’s the first Everton player to score a goal in each of their opening three league games since club legend Dixie Dean in the 1930s.
The Everton breakthrough came in simple fashion. Gray picked up possession just inside the Brighton half and set off goalwards. Every time he would have expected to be challenged, no intervention came.
The former Leicester man just put his head down and powered on, and when he breached the box, he simply swept the ball past the helpless Robert Sanchez on 41 minutes.
Joel Veltman then felled Seamus Coleman to gift Everton a penalty after 58 minutes. Richarlison shaped to take the spot-kick but was overruled, leaving the Brazil forward enraged and tangling with team-mates.
Calvert-Lewin ignored the sideshow and slotted home to seal a comfortable win over Graham Potter’s men.