Paul Tait’s Everton under-23 side have their hopes of progressing out of the group stage in this season’s Premier League Cup hanging on a knife edge after a ‘last gasp’ defeat to Birmingham City on Saturday.
Everton put in an exceptional performance in their last fixture, beating Mansfield Town in the FA Trophy at Goodison Park thanks to 2 injury-time strikes from Liam Higgins and Tom Cannon.
Going into their PL Cup clash with Birmingham City, they were obviously brimming with confidence.
The blue’s lineup would remain largely unchanged from their win over Mansfield a few days ago, with Halid Djankpata in for Francis Okoronkwo and Issac Heath in for Ben Godfrey some of the only changes to the side.
As expected, Everton would have more control over possession during the game but would struggle to create any clear-cut chances, with Birmingham’s defence having a comfortable half.
In the second half, the home side would take control of the game, with Everton being put on the back foot.
In the 3rd minute of injury time, Birmingham would finally find the breakthrough through 15-year-old Trevan Sanusi, handing his side all 3 points.
FT.#EFCU18 put on a five-star show against Derby in #U18PL, but #EFCU21 fall to a last-minute #PLCup defeat.#EFC 🔵 pic.twitter.com/aqotWTgDEF
— Everton Academy (@EvertonAcademy) December 3, 2022
Everton currently sit bottom of their PL Cup group after 3 fixtures, with Southampton clearly leading the way with 3 wins from 3.
Escaping the group remains a tough task for the young toffees, their upcoming fixtures against Colchester and Southampton now become ‘must-win’ games.