An international round-up of how Everton players got on turning out for their countries
Iliman Ndiaye in action against South Sudan
Iliman Ndiaye in action against South Sudan(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Iliman Ndiaye displayed a trait that Everton manager David Moyes wants to see more of as he and fellow Senegal star Idrissa Gueye took a huge step towards qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals with a 5-0 thrashing of South Sudan.
Ndiaye’s pinpoint right-wing cross set up Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr for a first time right-foot finish to open the scoring on 29 minutes while his low delivery from the edge of the area slipped through keeper Majak Mawith’s hands to present former Liverpool player Sadio Mane – now of Saudi side Al-Nassr – with a gift at the back post to double the visitors’ advantage in the opening minute of the second half and give the Blues ace a brace of assists.
The rout was completed with Sarr bagging his second on 54 minutes, Nicolas Jackson converting a penalty on the hour mark and Cherif Ndiaye – no relation to the Everton man – adding a fifth with 15 minutes to go. By this point, Ndiaye and Hill Dickinson Stadium team-mate Gueye had made way for Ilay Camara and Cheikh Niasse respectively in a double substitution on 71 minutes with one eye on their crucial next encounter.
The Lions of Teranga have now taken 21 points from their nine matches to top Africa Group B, but with one round of matches left to play, DR Congo kept them waiting to clinch their spot by maintaining the pressure with a 1-0 win in Togo thanks to Cedric Bakambu’s seventh minute strike which keeps them just a couple of points adrift. Senegal will be expecting to get the job done in their final fixture at home to fifth placed Mauritania on Tuesday as DR Congo host Sudan, hoping to capitalise on what would be a huge upset the Stade Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio.
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After Ndiaye teed up Gueye for his goal against Liverpool at Anfield in the 2-1 Merseyside Derby defeat on September 20, Moyes admitted he was surprised that it was the player’s first assist since his £15million move from Olympique Marseille the previous summer. Speaking in his pre-match press conference for the following match at home to West Ham United, the 62-year-old said: “Yeah, I think I did check that last year that his assists weren’t that high actually.
“So, we’re hoping that he does [provide more], but he has been getting on the end of things and scoring for himself. Let’s hope that continues.”
Ndiaye, who has switched from the left-wing role he occupied for Everton for most of last season to be mostly deployed on the right this term following the signing of Jack Grealish, started centrally as a number 10 against Crystal Palace due to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s one-match suspension, but moved back on to the right – where he usually plays for his country – after Tyler Dibling was taken off. After equalisng himself from the penalty spot, it was from this area that he provided the cross that led to Grealish’s dramatic stoppage time winner and Moyes was eager to namecheck his contribution in his post-match press conference.
The Glaswegian gaffer said: “I think the bit you have to take from this is Iliman Ndiaye’s cross in such a small space was incredible. He stood it up and really Beto should have buried it and the keeper makes a good save if you want to put it that way, but Jack is in and around to block it and we get that goal.”
Vitalii Mykolenko was also in action, playing in a ding-dong World Cup qualifying encounter in Reykjavik. Ukraine were leading 3-1 at the interval but had a scare as they were pegged back to 3-3 by their hosts with 15 minutes to go after Albert Gudmudsson’s second half brace before two goals in the final five minutes from Ivan Kalyuzhnyi (85) and Oleh Ocheretko (88) gave them a late 5-3 win with the Everton left-back picking up an 83rd minute yellow card and completing the full game ahead of Monday’s home match with Azerbaijan which, due to the war in their homeland, takes place in the Polish city of Krakow.
Meanwhile, Dibling started England Under-21s 4-0 win away to their Moldova counterparts. Lee Carsley’s side scored through Jamie Gittens, Divin Mubama (2) and Rico Lewis with the Everton player making way for Josh King on 69 minutes ahead of Monday’s home game with Andorra at Derby County’s Pride Park in what will be their first fixture on home soil since retaining the UEFA European Under-21 Championship on June 28 with a 3-2 victory over Germany after extra time.