It’s been obvious since the first day of the season that Everton needed a flash of inspiration up front and they found it in the diminutive shape of Neal Maupay as the Frenchman fired the Blues to their first Premier League win of the campaign by display the kind of penalty box instincts Frank Lampard’s side have sorely been without over the past six weeks.
As eluded to already, with his relatively small stature and low centre of gravity, Maupay, snapped up from Brighton & Hove Albion last month, offers a rather different kind of focal point to the attack than either Salomon Rondon, who has often laboured when deployed this term, or the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who despite being back in training, was still not included in the matchday squad here.
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With Richarlison departing this summer – ultimately joining Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth up to £60million – Everton always new that they would need fresh attacking options but given the hope that Calvert-Lewin, despite suffering what Lampard described as a “freak” injury on the eve of the campaign, will remain their main man up front for the lion’s share of the season, they had to bring in someone who as well as being an able deputy to the England international, could also offer them a different dimension up front.
Maupay already looks like he fits the bill on both scores. Although his Blues debut was delayed by Bank Holiday red tape that denied him any involvement against Leeds United at Elland Road and then he was unfortunate not to score on his debut in the Merseyside Derby, the 26-year-old offers a proven Premier League performer.
He’s not just here to make up the numbers though and in providing the cutting edge here with his first goal in a dozen outings, he secured Everton’s first three points since ‘that’ night against Crystal Palace in May. The 3-2 victory then secured the Blues top flight status for another year but it’s to be hoped Maupay’s match-winner can now provide the springboard to a campaign that is much less traumatic at Goodison Park.
