Everton recorded successive league wins with a 2-0 victory at Leicester City.

Richarlison’s long-range stunner on 21 minutes gave the visitors a deserved lead, with the Brazilian finding the target for the first time since September.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side assured their move into the Premier League’s top six when Mason Holgate scrambled home a corner during the second half.

But the Blues were left sweating on back-to-back clean sheets when Lee Mason awarded a penalty for Andre Gomes’ apparent foul on Ayoze Perez.

The decision was overturned on a VAR review which showed the midfielder, who replaced an injured Allan mid-game, had won the ball during the tussle.

Here were the key talking points from the King Power Stadium:

Olsen impresses a second time out

 

Carlo Ancelotti has been prone to tinkering lately, so it was pleasing to see him stick with all bar one of the starting XI from Saturday’s win over Chelsea.

That said, the one change he made came as a surprise, with the improved Jordan Pickford rested in favour of Roma loanee Robin Olsen in goal.

Although Ancelotti confirmed Pickford was not injured, despite suspicions he picked up a knock last weekend, he will be encouraged by Olsen’s showing.

The Swede didn’t have much to do, in truth; a point-blank stop from Jamie Vardy’s header and a diving save to deny Cengiz Under was the extent of his workload.

But what he had to do, Olsen did with no fuss, with Everton’s defence showing no sign of being unsettled by the change in the man between the sticks.

Despite Pickford’s positive form lately, each of Olsen’s performances in an Everton shirt have been impressive, both here and in a defeat at Newcastle.

If Everton’s understudy continues in this vein, England’s number-one will appear less secure of his previously unassailable position between the sticks.

Allan injury poses midfield headache

 

Nothing feels quite so quintessentially Everton as losing one of their most influential players to injury amid a much-improved run of form.

Ancelotti will be delighted with the result but he will surely be more troubled by Allan’s hamstring injury, which will likely see him out until at least 2021.

The combative midfielder has been an excellent addition to the side since his summer signing, providing Everton with the bite they dearly lacked last term.

On the back of a succession of quality individual performances, the Brazilian was again excellent at the King Power until his injury shortly before half-time.

More worrying for Ancelotti is the lack of an obvious alternative to Allan. None of Everton’s other fit midfielders really match his tenacity in the centre of the pitch.

Andre Gomes replaced Allan and while he did a solid job, the Portuguese is far less industrious and hardly a like-for-like replacement in that regard.

With four games in 12 days over the Christmas period, it will be interesting to see whether Gomes is given the chance to make that midfield spot his own.

Equally, you wonder if fielding a player of Gomes’ ilk will upset the balance of an Everton midfield which has been so critical to their recent upturn in form.

Four centre-backs pays off again

 

Typical – you wait three months for an Everton clean sheet, then suddenly two come along at once.

But just as they did against Chelsea, Ancelotti’s four centre-backs nullified Leicester brilliantly, reducing Vardy and co. to relative scraps throughout.

Playing another low defensive line more than made up for the lack of pace in Yerry Mina and Michael Keane, who blocked and booted all that came their way.

By sticking with Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate in the full-back roles, Everton were less adventurous going forward but more protected defensively.

Both were again superb in unorthodox roles and justified Ancelotti’s decision to pick them ahead of more natural fits in Niels Nkounkou or Jonjoe Kenny.

Against less fierce attacks than their last two opponents, the onus might be on Everton to be more expansive and make more forward ventures from their full-backs.

But with Arsenal and both Manchester clubs still to play in December, this more pragmatic tactic of frustrating the opposition may keep working a treat.

Either way, Ancelotti’s decision to ditch a problematic back three system since Fabian Delph’s injury at Burnley has evidently paid dividends.

No need to rush Rodriguez back

 

Before last weekend, Everton had failed to win any league games without James Rodriguez. Now they’ve done so twice in the space of four days.

Since his arrival from Real Madrid, Rodriguez has been consistently superb, debunking the myth that he is lazy, while notching three goals and assists.

But in his absence, Ancelotti has found a system that suits Everton, at least against the league’s better sides, which he would be wise to stick with for a while yet.

That should involve the Colombian at some point – fatigue will play a huge role over the festive period – but there should be no urgency to rush him back.

Rodriguez has already suffered two knocks this term and had 16 injuries to contend with since 2016-17, so needs to be handled with care by Ancelotti.

Now that Everton have proved they aren’t wholly dependent on him, it should afford the mercurial 29-year-old more time to get totally back up to speed.