Everton u23 4-1 Leicester - Mon 12/12/2016

David Unsworth hailed Everton Under-23s’ win over Leicester City as the ‘best we’ve played all season’ as they swept aside the Foxes at Southport.

Goals from Callum Connolly, Oumar Niasse, Harry Charsley and substitute Courtney Duffus put their Premier League 2 opponents to the sword on Monday night.

After going into the break at 1-1, the young Blues struck twice inside five minutes early in the second period to secure the win.

“When you score a couple of goals inside a couple of minutes it really sets you up,” Unsworth told evertontv. “From then on we bossed the game and controlled things. Up until 60-70 minutes it was a proper game and full credit must go to Leicester. They competed really well but our boys were outstanding. That was probably the best we have played all season.

“We competed but changed it a little bit to help us in the middle of the pitch and that worked in our favour. Some of our play in the second period was outstanding.

“The way they had to battle to win the game was something we are most proud of."

Unsworth was also quick to praise the completeness of the performance. Four different names may have been on the scoresheet but the Toffees coach highlighted the strong defensive base on which the attacking players could build.

“We had a lot of chances, with some great creativity,” he added. “That was down to the platform provided by the back four then a three when we changed it. We got hold of the ball in good areas and then gave the strikers and wide players the ammunition to produce the goals for us.

“It is very difficult, in a performance like that, to pick out individuals. It was all about the team performance, that saw us be really difficult to beat and fight for each other. So it would be wrong to pick out individuals – everyone was outstanding.”