Leicester moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory at Everton thanks to a spectacular goal by midfielder Youri Tielemans.
And while James Maddison improved his chances of making Gareth Southgate’s World Cup team at Goodison Park, Dominic Calvert-Lewin may have had his season cut short by injury.
As one of two number 10s alongside the similarly excellent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Maddison played a key role throughout. Despite the fact that he was given credit for an assist, the goal was entirely Tielemans’ genius.
The Belgian international, who will be out of contract in the summer, is assured of traveling to Qatar barring any unforeseen circumstances.
He set up the third victory in four games, which was secured by Harvey Barnes’ late goal after another James Maddison assist, by flicking the ball up with his first touch and shooting a dipping 20-yard volley narrowly under the crossbar with his second. This was his second goal in three games.
With four losses in their last six games, Everton is still struggling to maintain consistency and has fallen behind the Foxes on goal differential, moving them up to within two points of the relegation zone.
Brendan Rodgers, the manager of Leicester, abandoned the back five against Manchester City last weekend, giving Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall greater freedom, which was fruitful.
What happened in the game?
After just 18 seconds, Patson Daka, who had replaced Jamie Vardy, came inches away from poking home the opening goal from Maddison’s lay-off.
Jordan Pickford then stopped the striker’s feeble attempt after Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall once more worked together to give Daka another opportunity.
Idrissa Gana Gueye had just robbed Boubakary Soumare on the edge of his own penalty area when Alex Iwobi reacted with a shot across Danny Ward and just wide of the far post. Calvert-Lewin would have had a chance to score had it not been for a heavy touch on Iwobi’s through ball.
James Tarkowski’s header was deflected behind by Foxes goalkeeper Ward, but Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall continued to exert the most pressure and were both stopped by defensive blocks at the same time.
After forcing Tarkowski to make a pointless lunge, Maddison cut in from the right but Gueye diverted his shot wide, and the game descended into a scrappy phase in which neither team could maintain possession for long enough to build anything of significance.
Conor Coady, an Everton defender, stopped play a minute before halftime to pick up a spent firework that had fallen to the field, but there was still one more rocket to launch before the break.
After Coady only partially cleared the ball after Daka’s shot was stopped and Maddison touched it back to Tielemans, who demonstrated world-class touch, vision, and execution to break the tie, Daka’s shot was blocked.
Iwobi’s pass to Calvert-Lewin early in the second half should have tied the game for his team, but he was unable to beat Ward, who extended his right foot to block.
On the hour before Calvert-Lewin left immediately down the tunnel with what appeared to be a hamstring issue, Maddison scored.
If that were to be confirmed, it would almost probably put a stop to his prospects of participating in the World Cup, which begins in 15 days. This is especially true considering that he has only played 339 minutes this season and has only finished 90 minutes once due to a knee injury.
In the 87th minute, Barnes scored from 15 yards after Maddison’s cut-back, adding insult to Everton’s injury.
