Everton vs Boreham Wood: Rondon nets double as the Toffees enter last-8 of FA Cup

Salomon Rondon scored a double as Everton defeated Boreham Wood 2-0 in the FA Cup fifth round fixture at Goodison Park on Thursday. The non-championship side defended pretty well to not concede a goal in the opening half, but a near-post finish from the Venezuelan on 57 minutes broke the deadlock before a powerful header six minutes from time sealed the Toffees’ passage into the quarter-final stage of the competition. Frank Lampard’s team dominated the entire match against the National League side, 77 places behind them, with more than 20 chances created and ten shots on target. 

Also read: AIFF warns ATK Mohun Bagan defender Sandesh Jhingan for sexist remarks

FT. Job done and into the quarter-finals. Onwards, Evertonians! ✊

? 2-0 ⚫️ #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/VgqbCwwtas

— Everton (@Everton) March 3, 2022

As expected, Everton started the match on the front foot. Vitaliy Mykolenko forced a decent save from Boreham goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond inside the opening eight minutes. Few minutes later, Allan played a brilliant through ball to pick the run of Rondon, but once again Ashby-Hammond’s strong right hand denied the Venezuelan. 

Boreham’s defensive setup was pretty rigid and the hosts were finding it difficult to get through on goal, therefore they were forced to take chances from outside the box. Anthony Gordon cut inside from the left and tried to curl the ball into the far bottom corner, but Ashby-Hammond read the awkward bounce very well and pushed it away. 

After the break, Lampard introduced Richarlison to add more quality to the attack. Mykolenko was first to show again but his driven cross was missed by Rondon. The 32-year-old strike then headed over from Jonjoe Kenny’s cross.

Rondon finally put the hosts in front when he got in front of centre-back David Stephens at the near post and slotted home from Kenny’s low cross. Everton grew in confidence after the opener and Gordon played a nice little one-two with Richarlison before testing Ashby-Hammond. 

Rondon’s second goal

Twenty minutes from time, Richarlison was denied a goal after VAR intervention. The Brazilian’s close-range effort was chalked off after Adrian Clifton’s attempted headed clearance hit the forward’s hands and went in. Five minutes later, Richarlison forced a full-stretch diving save from Ashby-Hammond.

Rondon doubled the lead with a powerful header which was adjudged to have crossed the line before Ashby-Hammond pulled it back.

According to skysports.com, Lampard said: “In terms of game, it was comfortable in the end. We were slow in the first half, which is interesting for me because this type of game needs an injection of tempo and pace at the level we are normally at.

“We fell below that, but we addressed that at half-time, were sharper in the second half, and we’re through to the next round. These games are not easy, especially if you don’t score early, and I thought we dealt with elements of the game pretty well.”