Frank Lampard buzzing for Vitaliy Mykolenko after ‘incredible strike’ in win over Leicester

Frank Lampard admitted he was buzzing to see Vitaliy Mykolenko score as Everton beat Leicester City 2-1 to pull out of the Premier League bottom three.

The Ukranian left-back scored an incredible opener in Sunday’s win after just six minutes, volleying home Alex Iwobi’s ball from 20 yards for his first goal in a Toffees shirt.

Foxes striker Patson Daka equalised within five minutes before a Mason Holgate header on the half-hour turned out to be the eventual winner.

And Lampard admitted how pleased he was for Mykolenko to score his first goal after what has been an awful year off the pitch for the young defender.

“I don’t expect those ones much, the ones out the blue.” Lampard said. “It’s just an incredible strike and it flew in and I’m really pleased for him.

“He’s been playing so well and for all that’s been going on for him coming to the country and the Premier League and what’s going on back home for him, he’s dealt with it incredibly.

“Playing top-level football and an amazing goal for him and it was great to get ourselves in front and get a nice feeling early in the game.”

Lampard ‘proud’ of resolute performance

When Leicester equalised via a defensive mixup before Yerry Mina came off injured, it looked as though it could have been another tough away-day for Toffees fans.

But Michael Keane stepped into Mina’s role and the rest of the back line stepped up, remaining disciplined and compact as the Foxes struggled to create danger.

There were few occasions where Brendan Rodgers’ men found space to shoot - and whenever they did, they found Jordan Pickford once again in sparkling form, with Lampard proud of his team’s resilience.

“Defended Well, great resilience in the team and created a lot of good chances.” He said. “We rode our luck a little bit at times but it’s another big one, but still more to go.

“It's important to enjoy these moments and realise that there's still a lot of work to be done.

And on thev bounceback from Leicester’s equaliser, Lampard added: “Proud because that could knock you, particularly with our away record.

“It can happen and it’s nobody's fault. You go again and the lads did that and they continue to.

“Just before that we could gone 2-0 then it goes 1-1. They kept getting for every minute.”

Mina injury potential blow

The only negative that came from Sunday’s win was another injury to Yerry Mina.

The colossal centre-back went down unchallenged after 18 minutes with what looked to be muscular problem, having only just returned from a quadriceps injury thay sidelined him for several weeks.

Mina’s presence was pivotal in last weekend’s win at home to Chelsea, and although Keane stepped in brillantly, the loss of the Colombian would be a big blow.

The injury picture will become clearer over the next couple of days, but at this point in the seaon a muscle tear is likely to end a season.