Blackpool play out entertaining six-goal thriller against Everton a week away from Reading opener

Frank Lampard’s side provided the latest opportion for the Seasiders in what has been a challenging pre-season for the men in tangerine, having already faced Leeds United and Everton.

The hosts emerged victorious with a 4-2 win, but Michael Appleton’s men pushed them all the way and had the Toffees on the ropes for parts of the second-half.

Nevertheless, Appleton will still have some concerns, most notably his side’s defending during a poor first-half.

Blackpool paid too much respect to their top flight opponents and were highly susceptible to the long ball in behind.

But the home side forced their way back into the game, with goals coming from Gary Madine and Callum Connolly, and had chances to equalise at the start of the second-half when they upped the tempo and started to put Everton under a lot more pressure.

With only six days until the new season gets underway, Appleton opted to name a strong side.

However, there was one noticeable omission with captain Marvin Ekpiteta left out of the squad altogether with illness.

His defensive partner Doug Tharme was also not included in the match day squad.

Dan Grimshaw was named in goal, the strongest indication yet that the 24-year-old will be Appleton’s first-choice keeper this term.

With Ekpiteta out, Richard Keogh partnered debutant Rhys Williams in the centre of defence following his loan move from Liverpool.

Callum Connolly filled in at right-back again in the absence of Jordan Gabriel, who remains sidelined with a hamstring problem.

James Husband (hamstring), Kevin Stewart and Jake Beesley (both stress fractures of the foot) also remain out.

The Seasiders actually started off with positive intent, pressing from the front and looking to force the visitors into mistakes.

Despite that, they were given an early let-off just four minutes in when Vitalli Mykolenko shot straight at Dan Grimshaw after Josh Bowler had let him run free in the Blackpool box.

The Seasiders - and Bowler in particular - certainly didn’t heed that early warning as the exact same thing happened again two minutes later, only this time it resulted in the Toffees opening the scoring.

Luke Garbutt was sucked in too easily to a crossfield ball, which allowed Nathan Patterson the chance to float into a cross towards the back post where Mykolenko met it sweetly with a first-time effort into the bottom corner.

Bowler had been caught napping once again, allowing the Everton wing-back the freedom of the box after surging past him.

Lampard’s side didn’t waste any time in doubling their lead and once again it involved some shambolic defending.

Salomon Rondon sprung the offside trap before putting the ball on a plate for Anthony Gordon, who steered home thanks to a close-range header.

Having started positively, the Seasiders were left chasing shadows having conceded two completely avoidable goals.

They did work their back into the game a little though, slowly but surely. They had a rare sight of goal midway through the half following some good build-up play between Matty Virtue and Lewis Fiorini, whose shot from the edge of the box was comfortably claimed by England number one Jordan Pickford.

The remainder of the half was fairly uneventful, with Everton controlling the majority of possession and probing every so often.

A common theme of the half was Blackpool’s susceptibility to a long ball over the top as they struggled defensively in both full-back areas. Ekpiteta was also an obvious miss for his ability to get back and mop up with ease.

We saw a sign of Blackpool’s frustration a couple of minutes before the interval when Luke Garbutt tried to pick out the top corner from 35 yards with a free-kick, only to sky well into the South Stand.

But there was cause to celebrate in the final minute of the first period when Gary Madine pulled a goal back for the hosts.

The striker headed into the back of an empty net at the second attempt after Pickford could only get one hand onto Josh Bowler’s powerful effort from the corner of the box.

The one-goal deficit didn’t last for long though, as Everton restored their two-goal lead inside the opening two minutes of the second-half.

Once again it was another sloppy goal to concede, as Dele Alli was given the space of the six-yard box to tap home after Grimshaw had saved Rondon’s initial shot.

The away side had clearly been taking defensive lessons from the Seasiders when Appleton’s men almost immediately brought the game back to 3-2.

Garbutt delivered a dangerous corner from in front of the North Stand which was met emphatically by Callum Connolly, who headed past Pickford to score against his former club.

Connolly was involved in the thick of things a few minutes later when Alli left him lying on the ground as retribution for a previous challenge. The Everton man was deservedly booked.

But at this point the wind was in Blackpool’s sails as they came within inches of levelling matters when Bowler unleashed a stunning effort from range.

The howitzer looked to be flying into the top corner but Pickford somehow managed to fling himself across his goal to tip it behind for a corner.

The Seasiders weren’t able to capitalise on their momentum though and it ended up with Everton extending their lead, rather than Blackpool equalising.

It came from Pool’s left-wing once again, as a cross into the near post was flashed home by Alli who nipped in ahead of Connolly, who made a last-ditch attempt to head clear.

The home side were dealt a blow in the 69th minute when Richard Keogh was forced to hobble off to be replaced by youngster Jack Moore, forcing Connolly to move into the centre.

With Ekpiteta already out through illness, the last thing Appleton needed was another of his centre-back’s picking up an issue.

With both sides making changes galore, the friendly predictably fizzled out in the final stages, although Fiorini did go close to adding a third goal for Blackpool when he dragged a shot just wide of the target.

The Seasiders now finish their pre-season with a short trip to Mill Farm on Tuesday night to face non-league neighbours AFC Fylde.

But then it’s all about the big one as Blackpool welcome Paul Ince and his Reading side to Bloomfield Road next Saturday.

TEAMS

Blackpool: Grimshaw, Connolly, Keogh (J. Moore), Williams (Thorniley), Garbutt (Apter), Virtue (Dougall), Fiorini, Carey, Bowler, Anderson (Lavery), Madine (Yates)

Subs not used: Maxwell, S. Moore, Dale, Hamilton, Lubala

Everton: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Mina, Godfrey, Mykolenko, Doucoure, Davies, Gordon, Alli, Rondon

Subs: Crellin, Holgate, Keane, Allan, Iwobi, Warrington, Wills, Price, Simms

Referee: John Brooks