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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Joe Thomas

Anthony Gordon scores winning penalty as Everton beat Celtic to claim Sydney Super Cup

Anthony Gordon sent Joe Hart the wrong way to win the Sydney Super Cup for Everton.

The 21-year-old kept his cool from 12 yards out to finish a penalty shootout that the Blues were always ahead in. Michael Keane, Tom Cannon and ex-Rangers man Nathan Patterson had done the damage as Everton scored their first three spot-klicks while Reo Hatate and Giorgos Giakoumakis both missed the target for Celtic.

Stanley Mills saw his spot-kick saved by Joe Hart but it was not enough to stop the Blues from claiming victory after a match that had finished goalless but had saw both sides miss a host of chances. Frank Lampard's team face Western Sydney Wanderers on Wednesday but take the title after winning the competition's headline game.

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The result followed a game that saw Celtic dominate possession but in which Everton also posed a threat on the counter. Ange Postecoglou's team had the majority of the possession in the first half, the lively Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi buzzing in front of the Blues' back line.

Jota created the first real opportunity of the match after Saed Haksabanovic set him free down the left. Jota pulled the ball across the face of goal but there was no team0mate to meet it.

The pair were a constant source of menace and won a series of free-kicks just outside the Everton box. Jota curled one against the crossbar after Abdoulaye Doucoure delayed a clearance 20 yards out, allowing Furuhashi to get between him and the ball when he did decide to swing for it.

Minutes later a free-kick from a similar area fell kindly for Asmir Begovic after hitting the wall. It was a double let-off after Isaac Price escaped a booking for his lunge on Matt O'Riley to conceded the opportunity. Price was not booked for the challenge but replays on the big screens around the stadium - and the subsequent gasps of the watching crowd of 41,121 - revealed he was lucky he did not get at least a yellow card.

Byt for all Celtic's possession they only created one clear-cut chance in the first half - Reo Hatate playing Furuhashi through on goal only for Begovic to parry his shot away.

Everton had their own chances and while they attempted to absorb pressure they repeatedly broke with purpose, creating the more meaningful opportunities. Demarai Gray saw a shot deflected just wide of Hart's goal, James Tarkowski and Keane both missed the target with headers from corners, and Gray, played through by Gordon, cut in from the left and saw another shot deflected wide.

The best chance of the half fell to Neal Maupay, however. Midway through the opening period, Mykolenko, who with Tarkowski and Gray kept springing Everton attacks, played a delicious, curling through ball that set Maupay through on Hart's goal. Hart rushed off his line and Maupay tried to lob him from the bouncing ball but saw his shot drift harmlessly wide.

In the second half the nature of the match changed. The Blues, already a centre midfielder down due to the knee injury suffered by Tom Davies in training, lost Abdoulaye Doucoure, who needed treatment after a first half coming together with Anthony Ralston. His departure at half-time led to Everton moving to 5-3-2 with Dwight McNeil and Anthony Gordon playing either side of Price, who displayed composure throughout the game with the exception of his challenge on O'Riley, and Gray supporting Maupay.

A frenetic resumption saw a flurry of chances as the overlapping Mykolenko played a ball across goal that just missed Gray, then Begovic produced a stunning point-blank stop from Furuhashi after Haksabanovic found him yards out.

Both sides caused trouble as the changes were made, Mason Holgate - who replaced Yerry Mina at half-time - producing an exceptional recovery after Jota was sent through on goal and Gray seeing a cross deflected goalwards but spinning just wide of the post as Hart scrambled to make up ground.

But the big moment came just two minutes from time as Liel Abada, just yards out, completely miscued with the goal gaping - paving the way for the penalties that followed.

Everton: Begovic (C); Patterson, Keane, Mina (Holgate 46), Tarkowski, Mykolenko (Vinagre 66); Doucoure (McNeil 46), Price; Gordon, Maupay (Cannon 75), Gray (Mills 75).

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