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It was a much needed victory in south Wales for Everton on Tuesday night as they secured a 3-0 win against Cardiff City.

In terms of personnel, it was a changed starting line-up from Marco Silva, with five players coming in from the side that put in a lacklustre display against Watford 17 days earlier.

Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, Morgan Schneiderlin, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Theo Walcott were all restored as the Portuguese coach rung the changes.

The Toffees had an extended break ahead of their trip to Cardiff, allowing a solid period at Finch Farm in which Silva could prepare extensively for their first competitive fixture in nearly three weeks.

With Silva’s job security under increasing scrutiny - and a Merseyside derby this coming Sunday - something new and fresh was needed to bring hope to a club which had won just two of their previous eight in the Premier League.

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Yet despite the change in players on the pitch, Silva persisted with a 4-2-3-1 formation. It’s a formation that has come under heavy criticism this season, with Everton often left unbalanced and void of creativity.

On Tuesday night however, this didn’t seem the case.

The idea behind the set up was to rely on the returning Morgan Schneiderlin - making his first league start since September - and Idrissa Gueye to protect the defence in a deep block, and prevent the opposition space for counter-attacks when the two full-backs push forward in attack.

Although Everton have played this formation a lot this season, the inclusion of Schneiderlin over Andre Gomes meant Everton had two strong defensive midfielders on the pitch. Gomes is one of Everton’s better players in possession, however defensively he lack assertiveness and can sometimes leave his side a little exposed.

With no Gomes, from the outset there was a clear a avoidance to build through the middle and instead focus on attacking down the flanks, which has been Everton’s most creative areas this season.

When in possession, the back line would move the ball from side to side, looking to pull Cardiff out of shape and play around them instead of through them.

Notably however, it was a disappointing night for Richarlison. The Brazilian had little to no impact on the left of Everton’s attack. He managed just 15 successful passes all game and failed on all three of his through ball attempts. His xG for the match was just 0.02, suggesting he presented virtually no goal threat.

As a result, this hindered Lucas Digne, one of Everton’s stand-outs so far this season. There was also little continuity between the two on that left-hand side, with both players linking just 15 times all match.

Consequently, there was a big emphasis on attacking down Everton’s right hand-side. It’s unsure whether this was a pre-planned tactic of Silva’s, or a as result of the counterproductiveness of the Blues’ left-hand side.

Either way, Seamus Coleman was extremely efficient on this side, heralding a welcome return to form. The Irishman has been one of the big recipients of criticism during Everton’s poor run of form, with questions persisting over his long-term role in the side.

But as the game progressed, the right-hand side became Everton’s main offensive focal point, with Coleman key. He worked in cohesion with Walcott, with both linking on 25 occasions - more than any other two players on the pitch.

With both Gueye and Schneiderlin deployed in the holding midfield two, Coleman was able to advance higher up the pitch without risk of being caught out on a counter-attack; it was Schneiderlin's role that was perhaps most pivotal in this set-up.

While in possession, Schneiderlin would often drift into the right-back position and collect the ball from Michael Keane. By coming short and taking up this position, the Irish right-back was able to push further forward with Walcott.

(Image: WyScout)

This action proved significant in Everton’s first goal of the game.

In the below image, Schneiderlin occupies that right-back position again and has possession of the ball. Gueye comes to support the Frenchman on the ball. As a result, Coleman can push further up the flank and is on parallel with Walcott.

Everton have now overloaded that right side and got themselves in a 4v3 attacking situation.

(Image: WyScout)

Through quick intricate passing, Everton are able to bypass the pressing Cardiff players, granting Coleman the freedom to run in behind Cardiff’s left-back Joe Bennett.

Schneiderlin delivers a beautifully weighted pass over the top for the Republic of Ireland star to run onto before cutting back to Gylfi Sigurdsson, who opened the scoring for the Blues.

(Image: WyScout)

Everton’s tendency to favour attacking down the right is further reiterated below.

(Image: WyScout)

Jordan Pickford’s pass map shows the bulk of his distributed balls going down Coleman’s side, with England’s no.1 avoiding playing a single ball out to Digne all game.

It was a solid display across the whole pitch for Everton. The defence reduced Cardiff to their lowest xG in five matches, Sigurdsson was lethal again in front of goal, the substitution of Bernard proved influential and Calvert-Lewin again proved his worth, scoring with his only shot on target.

However, as somewhat of an unsung hero, Schneiderlin deserves a lot of credit.

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His inclusion raised eyebrows pre-kick off. Despite not featuring at all since Everton’s heavy defeat against Tottenham in December, he put in one of his better performances in a blue shirt.

He dominated in the air, winning four of his five aerial duels, and made six interceptions, which is his joint-highest this season.

His passing was instrumental in keeping the ball moving for Everton, boasting a completion rate of 89%, and he was succesful in 71% of his 24 passess forward.

Contrary to expectation, he worked very well with Gueye. With Schneiderlin sitting, Gueye was able to impose himself further up the pitch, almost taking on Gomes' role, and the Senegalese star notably fed a great through ball for Calvert-Lewin’s late goal.

Despite his deep-lying role, Schneiderlin offered balance to the side and Everton’s midfield. His positioning granted Coleman the freedom to drift further up the pitch and cause the Cardiff defence problems.

He can take pride in his display - and might even of given Silva a selection headache ahead of the Merseyside derby this weekend.