Sigurdsson leads all Premier League players in key category

As Everton’s record signing over the summer, Gylfi Sigurdsson is slowly working his way towards showing that he is well worth the about £45m that the Blues shelled out on him. For one, despite being mostly isolated out on the left wing he has drifted inside to create chances and score as well, potting his sixth of the season yesterday in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.

His shot from distance not only kickstarted the Blues in the second half as they then proceeded to run away with the game, it also made him a Premier League leader in a unique category.

Speaking to evertonfc.com after the game, Sigurdsson talked about the importance of scoring early after the halftime break.

“We played on the front foot and got the early goal from a long pass forward and picking up second balls. After we went 1-0 up we could control the game from then on.

“The goal gave us the initiative and you could see that in the way that we played. We immediately got on the front foot again and managed to get a second straight away. We controlled the game really well, apart from their goal at the end.

“At half time, we reminded ourselves how much we wanted to win this game, especially at home and with a few fixtures coming up which are very important for us. It was vital to get the three points.”

The Iceland international also had good things to say about striker Oumar Niasse, who was involved in all three goals yesterday.

“Oumar has been fantastic. It was obviously very tough for him at the start of the season. But he has come in, worked really hard and scored some really important goals for us. Hopefully that will continue.”

On his own form, which has dipped recently with his last goal coming in the FA Cup loss to Liverpool over a month ago -

“It’s good for me [to score] and it came at an important time. This was a game that we needed to win so it was good to put us ahead. It’s always nice to get the goalscoring boots on.”

(Video courtesy r/soccer)