'Turned into Beckham' - Andros Townsend sends Everton message to Frank Lampard after Idrissa Gueye stars at World Cup

Andros Townsend joked that Everton teammate Idrissa Gueye had 'turned into Beckham' after the midfielder's wonderful free-kick led to the winning goal in Senegal's 2-1 win against Ecuador.

Gueye swung in a wonderful deep free-kick on 70 minutes for what was the eventual winner, courtesy of Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly - via the shoulder of Ecuador's Felix Torres. The cross topped off a whirlwind spell for the Blues midfielder, whose foul in his own half four minutes prior led to Ecuador's equaliser and earned him his second yellow of the group stage - he will now miss Senegal's round-of-16 tie and is stuck on 99 international caps.

The 33-year-old has never been known as a dead-ball specialist throughout his long career, but an inch-perfect cross from deep reminded Townsend of a certain David Beckham - and the Blues winger joked that his teammate may be on set-piece duties at club level from now on.

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“There is a long way to go of course,” Townsend said. “A great finish from Koulibaly and a great ball in from Idrissa Gueye. I’ve not seen him take any set-pieces at club level and all of a sudden he's turned into [David] Beckham!”

Asked who is usually on dead-balls at Everton, he added: “Normally Demarai Gray or Anthony Gordon, but if the manager's watching, I’m sure Idrissa Gueye will be on them after the restart.”

Townsend, who has been part of ITV's commentary team throughout the tournament as well as appearing on TalkSPORT, came in for plenty of praise for his co-commentary role over the weekend. The 31-year-old has been enjoying the media rounds for some time now, having been unavailable for Frank Lampard since an ACL injury picked up against former club Crystal Palace in March.

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