Everton 2-0 West Ham United
This weekend’s Premier League opener was billed as a must-win game by Marco Silva, and his team delivered as Everton beat West Ham with something to spare.
The Toffees move away from the relegation mire with this much-needed win thanks to goals from Bernard and Gylfi Sigurdsson, while two other Everton efforts were denied by the woodwork.
Everton boss Marco Silva has been under mounting pressure following a run of four defeats, and after a summer spend of £100m the Toffees hardly expected to feature in the Premier League 2019 betting odds in the “relegation” section.
Loyal Everton fans will hope this is the start of their season now, and that the gloom around Goodison Park will evaporate.
There’s no guarantee the Everton coach would have been potted had he lost this game, but talk of his job security should subside for a while after a fine performance. Silva had kept his cool, making five changes from the team which lost to Burnley, and one of his recalled players, Theo Walcott, put in a man-of-the-match performance.
It’s nice when a plan comes off.
For Manuel Pellegrini, this was a disappointing showing from his team, which did so well to win at Crystal Palace before the international break. They came into the game unbeaten away from home and had the chance to move up to third, but now sit just two points ahead of their hosts, who started in the bottom three.
Highlights of the game
The Hammers began brightly enough when Manuel Lanzini took aim with an early free-kick and was narrowly wide of the post.
But Everton soon got into their stride and went ahead with their first real attack on 17 minutes. Walcott did well to find Bernard in space, and he cut inside and fired past Roberto at his near post.
The roof came off Goodison Park as the pressure began to lift.
As the hosts poured forward again, the second goal was inches away when Richarlison tried his luck at Roberto’s near post, but this time it bounced back off the upright.
Everton were playing with far greater purpose and intensity than in recent games, and Pellegrini reacted by bringing on Andriy Yarmolenko at the break.
The Ukranian is in fine form with three goals already this season. He almost created the Hammers’ equaliser when he put in Pablo Fornals, but he mishit his shot wide of the post.
Walcott too came close to a second but his thunderbolt smashed the crossbar. Everton’s nerves started to jangle a little when summer recruit Alex Iwobi was clear through on goal, but he fired straight at the keeper with the goal gaping.
England and Everton keeper Jordan Pickford has come under criticism recently for his lack of presence, but he kept his side ahead with an instinctive save from Angelo Ogbonna when the striker met a corner.
But any nerves from the home crowd disappeared in the second minute of injury time when Gylfi Sigurdsson picked up a pass from Richarlison, before cutting inside and unleashing a beauty beyond Roberto and into the top corner.
Key statistics
Under Manuel Pellegrini, the Hammers have become an entertaining team to watch and the pre-match SBOBET odds suggested a close encounter, but Everton’s impressive performance ensured their visitors had very little joy.
While the possession was shared fairly evenly, Everton dominated the goalmouth action, winning the shot count by 19 to eight and 10 to four on target. Eleven of the Toffees’ 19 shots came from within the penalty area, while they also won 11 corners to West Ham’s two.
It was quite a frenetic game, with possession turning over quickly and low passing accuracy at 73 per cent for Everton and 68 per cent for the Hammers.
Crucially, it’s a result which ends Everton’s four-match losing run, while West Ham’s unbeaten away record is no more.
What’s next?
The Toffees started the day in the relegation zone of the Premier League and now they can look at the remaining Premier League 2019 results to come this weekend with greater calm.
Everton host struggling Watford next week before a tough run starts at home to Spurs and away to Southampton.
They need to pick up more points in November because December looks less than festive, with clashes against Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United to come, not to mention Leicester City!
The Hammers have two very winnable home games against Sheffield United and Newcastle United, before a trip up north to face fellow Clarets Burnley.
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