Everton: Demarai Gray scores on debut in Florida Cup

Demarai Gray started his career with Birmingham CityDemarai Gray scored on his first Everton appearance as fellow new arrival Asmir Begovic proved the hero in a 10-9 penalty shootout victory over Millonarios in the Florida Cup.

Winger Gray, 25, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen for £1.7m on Thursday, converted a 64th-minute spot-kick to cancel out Andres Llinas’ opener.

Former Bournemouth goalkeeper Begovic, 34, scored before saving Juan Moreno’s strike to seal victory in the shootout.

Andros Townsend also made his debut.

The 30-year-old, who joined on a free transfer after his contract at Crystal Palace expired, hit the woodwork as Everton chased an equaliser and was replaced by Gray for the second half in Orlando.

Both sides had missed just once in the shootout when Begovic, who also saved from Ricardo Marquez, struck down the middle to make it 10-9 – and then denied the Millonarios goalkeeper.

“He’s a keeper with experience. We were looking for this kind of competition for Jordan Pickford,” manager Rafael Benitez said on Begovic.

“It’s positive for him and it’s positive for us.”

On Gray’s performance, Benitez added: “He’s a player who I followed for a while. He’s a talented player and he needs to be consistent – he knows that. Playing behind the striker is a position I wanted to see if he was capable of, like he did.”

Everton will next play Mexican side Club Universidad Nacional on Wednesday, before a friendly away at Manchester United on 7 August.

In pictures: Everton’s 2021-22 pre-seasonRate this summer’s major Premier League signings

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