Everton of England playmaker, Alex Iwobi was again in top form as a right-wing-back for The Toffees, but his efforts were only good enough to help his pulled off a 1-1 draw, while Tosin Adarabioyo, Ola Aina and Ademola Lookman were all on for 90 minutes for Fulham, but they could not save their team from falling 2-0 away to Manchester City.
While Adarabioyo, Aina and Lookman failed to keep their team in winning ways after the previous weekend’s heroics, Iwobi delivered an impressive performance to help Everton avoid defeat at Turf Moor, where they played out a 1-1 draw away to Burnley in the English Premier League.
The 24-year-old Iwobi proved doubters and critics wrong again, as he made the best of his fourth start of the season and delivered a top-notch performance in Saturday’s encounter, with yet another outing in the new wing-back role handed him last month by Everton’s coach, Carlo Ancelotti.
While pairing Michael Keane, Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina in defence, Iwobi helped maintain lots of stability for The Toffees, as the visitors hit the ground running and the Super Eagles’ star came close to scoring as early as the second minute of the encounter.
Iwobi attempted to send in a dangerous cross but was blocked before Burnley capitalized on a defensive blunder from Allan to score the game’s first goal for the hosts, as Robert Brady beat Everton’s goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford after receiving a sumptuous assist from Ashley Westwood to put his side in front in the third minute, megasportsarena.com reports..
Everton, however, leveled shortly before the half-time break through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, after he was set up by Richarlison, while Iwobi got many reviews following his contributions to the resurgence of his squad from Goodison Park.
Statistics of the game showed Iwobi with 86 touches on the ball, 57 team distributions and two completed key passes during 90 minutes on the pitch, while he also achieved a neat dribble and made seven crosses to ensure The Toffees avoided a second consecutive defeat, with the former Arsenal of England lad making up for his lack of adequate crosses with energetic mobility that saw him end up as one of Everton’s most valuable attacking forces against The Clarets.
Iwobi has now made 11 appearances across all competition for Everton this season, with a goal and two assists to his name, while his team’s draw was enough to help them move one place up the table with 17 points from 11 games.
The Toffees’ coach would state delight with Iwobi’s performance in Saturday’s game, even as the gaffer admitted he was forced into making another tactical move by playing the Eagles’ star as a wing-back In the absence of injured Seamus Coleman.
That meant Iwobi was selected to play as a right wing-back for the third consecutive match and he again stole Ancelotti’s heart in 90 minutes of action, after which the Italian tactician admitted disclosed that he had been impressed with the Nigerian star’s performance.
“It is true we needed to adapt with Godfrey at left-back and Iwobi at right-back and, honestly, they did really well. Jordan is back. He played very well. He has a lot of quality and for him it is important to stay mentally in good condition and fit and motivated,” Ancelotti submitted.
