Mykolenko outstanding as Everton improvement continues with Palace win

Everton managed to regain the lead three times yesterday and then finally hold on to secure an impressive 3-2 win at Crystal Palace.

It was an entertaining match to watch with five goals, the usual controversies and an unlikely couple of players scoring crucial goals.

One of those players was Vitalli Mykolenko. The Ukrainian left-back has certainly endured a difficult start to his Everton career.

After joining in January 2022, he struggled to find his feet in the Premier League while also dealing with the impact of Russia’s invasion of his country.

However, this season after a slow start he has improved strongly and once again yesterday his defending was solid and consistent.

The other aspect of his recent performances is of course the vast improvement in his attacking play.

While Mykolenko was always regarded as primarily a defensive full-back the attacking side of his game, although it wasn’t considered a strength, is still very important in the modern game.

And he has now scored twice in the last two games and is much more effective getting forward and making himself a real goalscoring threat.

One theme from the match at Selhurst Park was that the rest of the Everton defence was somewhat wobbly.

There were several individual errors made by the centre-backs, which is uncharacteristic of both James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite who have been excellent since they came together.

They have both been rock solid over the last weeks and months but had a few moments yesterday when their concentration appeared to go.

Tarkowksi’s lapse though let Eagles striker Osuone Edouard in to score the home side’s second equaliser and that looked to be it, until Sean Dyche brought on Idrissa Gueye.

The veteran Senegal international midfielder came on and then became a very unlikely player to score a winner, slotting home after a defence-splitting pass from Abdoulaye Doucoure who had got the Blues second.

So a fine win and Everton keep their unbeaten record going, which stretches back to the Merseyside derby defeat.