Everton: £7 million man was stellar against Manchester United
By Yusha Sharif
When the transfer window officially closed on the 31st of August, many Everton fans were sceptical about the transfer business done by the club. The Toffees acquired the services of Asmir Begovic a back-up goalkeeper to Jordan Pickford on a free from Bournemouth, Salomón Rondón from the Chinese Super League side Dalian Professional on a free to provide some much needed cover for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Demarai Gray for around £1.7 million from Bayer Leverkusen and Andros Townsend from Crystal Palace for a free after his contract with the Eagles expired this summer.
No one would have thought that Townsend would be flourishing in his new side come October. With 5 goals and 3 assists in 9 appearances for the Merseyside club, he has cemented his position in the starting line-up, playing on the right flank under the newly appointed coach, Rafael Benítez, the coach he previously worked with during his stint at Newcastle United.
The game against Manchester United wasn’t going to be an easy one for the Toffees away from home, and that was evident when Anthony Martial broke the deadlock to give Manchester United a 1-0 lead before half-time.
However, after the hour mark, Abdoulaye Doucouré set up Townsend for his 3rd goal of the season and in the process adding a 4th assist to his name. The celebration took everyone by surprise when Townsend replicated the famous “Siu” celebration of the Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo, and did the trademark jump with his arms outstretched in front of the fans.
Everton winger Andros Townsend reveals goal celebration reason
After the game, Townsend revealed that he didn’t mean any kind of disrespect by doing the celebration and that Ronaldo is his idol.
"I grew up watching Cristiano Ronaldo and I spent hours on the training pitch trying to execute his techniques. Maybe I should have spent a bit longer on the celebration because it wasn’t great but it was out of respect for Cristiano and it is an honour to be on the same field as him. (via club’s official YouTube channel)"
Later on, Yerry Mina’s late strike had been ruled out by VAR for offside. The game finished with the score tied at 1-1 at Old Trafford. Everton currently sit in 5th place level on points with Manchester United, winning four games, drawing two now and losing a solitary game against Aston Villa.
Everton host West Ham United after the international break is over on the 17th of October as the Merseyside club look to show the other teams what they are capable of achieving this season.
Next. Everton target to renew his efforts to leave English giants in January. dark
Can Andros Townsend continue to put in stellar performances throughout the season?