Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas reports from an important game for the Blues as an U21s side featuring Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson secured a thrilling win over Sunderland
His thumping header cleared the danger from a Sunderland corner and then he roared at his team0mates to push out of the box. All of a sudden, Jarrad Branthwaite was back on the pitch and back in control.
It was a sight that has been sorely missing from the first team this season. Trouble dealing with set-pieces targeting Everton’s box has been a characteristic of a miserable start in the Premier League.
It once again proved the Blues’ undoing on Saturday, a corner leading to Stephy Mavididi’s late equaliser salvaging a point for Leicester City and denying Everton a much-needed first league win.
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Branthwaite’s aerial dominance has been a significant loss to Sean Dyche’s weaponry in both boxes, while the absence of his pace has also undermined a defence that made clean sheets a specialism last year but is yet to keep one this season.
Under heavy rain in Southport on Sunday afternoon, it was the England international’s strength and composure that shone on his return to action as he played a vital role in the Blues Under-21s’ thrilling 4-3 win over Sunderland.
The 22-year-old moved cautiously at first, looking as though he was attempting to rediscover confidence in his body after a months-long rehabilitation programme. But he grew into this game, producing a number of key blocks and interceptions.
He drew applause in the first half when he took the ball in his own box, composed himself and spread play forward to send young winger Isaac Heath on the attack, stood firm when the tricky Abdoulah Ba ran at him with the away side seeking to build on their lead just before the break and then dealt with a dangerous ball across the face of his goal despite his momentum taking him towards his own net.
This may well be the latest step in a recovery that will still take time following his summer groin operation, but the best signs came in the final minutes. Branthwaite was confident enough in his body to stay back as the only defender when Everton had a late free-kick.
And, just after Jack Butler gave the Blues a late lead, Ba broke through on the halfway line and looked destined to run through on George Pickford’s goal only to be slowed down by Branthwaite, who kept pace with the attacker.
He was then on hand to acrobatically clear after a sublime reaction save from Pickford slowed the ball enough for the centre-back to remove the trouble.
Sunderland’s final attack was met with another crucial block from Branthwaite, who completed a valuable 90 minutes and finished smiling.
Nathan Patterson, whose return is also needed for an Everton side that has now gone through seven players on the right of the defence across the opening weeks of the season, was less involved but showed adventure as he tried to offer an attacking outlet during his first action in almost six months.
The 22-year-old, who required hamstring surgery after pulling up at Chelsea in April, completed a useful 65 minutes. While he was tested by Tommy Watson, one of several Sunderland players who was involved on Sunday after being on the bench for the club’s Championship win over Middlesbrough on Saturday, he also appeared to come through a useful runout.
This game was always going to be about Branthwaite and Patterson but on any normal occasion Omari Benjamin would dominate the post-match headlines. The teenager, signed in the summer after he left Arsenal’s academy, has enjoyed an impressive start to this season and was a threat from the beginning of this match, drifting off the right to find the ball in pockets of space in the middle and drive forward. After Martin Sherif was withdrawn injured after 15 minutes, Benjamin moved up top and continued to pose a threat.
Sunderland almost took the lead through former Blue Joe Anderson, the centre back looping a 40 yard volley over Pickford but onto the top of the bar in the opening minutes. They did so after 25 minutes when Watson’s 20-yard strike opened the scoring in this seven-goal thriller. Benjamin slotted in from close range minutes later after Heath carried the ball down the left and played a clever ball behind the away defence.
Adil Aouchiche restored the Sunderland lead just before half-time but that was cancelled out when Everton started the second half on the attack and Benjamin turned his man before being hauled to the ground, with Charlie Whittaker scoring from the spot.
Both teams traded blows in an exciting finish that saw Benjamin grab his second after reacting quickest to Kelechi Chibueze’s low save but then, after a string of superb stops from Pickford, Ba appeared to have rescued a point for Sunderland.
There was still time for one final goal,though. It almost came from a wicked Luke Butterfield free-kick that hit Chibueze’s bar. Instead it came from Nathan Patterson’s replacement, Jack Butler, who applied the finish to Jack Patterson’s cross minutes before the end.
Branthwaite, who stopped to sign autographs before heading down the tunnel, was then crucial to the rearguard action that enabled his side to hold on for the win.
