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Match Reports

Accounts from matches by our editorial team and featured correspondents

A Fittingly Awful End to a Dreadful Season

Lyndon Lloyd : 14/05/2018

A performance that mostly made the Hammers look a significantly better team than their record and recently averted crisis suggests they are and, eventually, a defeat that may have seemed harsh when comparing chances created but which was wholly deserved on the balance of play.

Are you (allowed to be) entertained?

Paul Traill : 06/05/2018

Let's draw a line under this season and go again next season with a new, better, manager. A big breath of fresh air is needed. There's a lot of cobwebs to blow out of the club.

Lucky Davies strike adds late drama to lifeless Blues display

Lyndon Lloyd : 06/05/2018

Lady Luck handed out unjust rewards to an Everton side that only really rallied in second-half stoppage time just when it looked as though Nathan Redmond had secured three vital points for Southampton

Will finishing well mean starting well?

Paul Traill : 29/04/2018

We're experiencing a strange end to a difficult season. It's great to see us finish strongly. In any other season, such a strong finish could be a very good catalyst to hit the ground running with pre-season and start the next season well...

Win over tame Terriers unlikely to nudge opinion on Allardyce

Lyndon Lloyd : 29/04/2018

Everton enhanced their prospects of finishing in eighth spot but Sam Allardyce's search for love from the Blues' faithful is likely to be in vain

Rare away win a boost for Big Sam's ego

Michael Kenrick : 28/04/2018

Vlasic started in place of Bolasie but it was Cenk Tosun who gave Everton the lead at Huddersfield.

Style in short supply as Blues prevail over Newcastle

Lyndon Lloyd : 24/04/2018

Everton won a match for the first time in four attempts and moved up a place but it was dull fare that featured just one shot on target. Yet the media bandwagon is again, patronisingly, asking what more Blues fans want.

Surely this can be handled better?

Paul Traill : 24/04/2018

Everybody knows Sam Allardyce will be leaving at the end of the season. We know it, the players know it, Moshiri knows it, Sam knows it. This doesn't stop the circus continuing on into town though and we remain a laughing stock.

Everton pass up successive away win but Allardyce hails 'precious point'

Lyndon Lloyd : 16/04/2018

This game was as neat an illustration of the manager's play-for-the draw lack of adventure as any thus far.

A point snatched from the jaws of victory

Michael Kenrick : 14/04/2018

Everton take an undeserved lead through an own-goal at Swansea City but all-too-predictably succumb to persistent Swans pressure in the end.

Why can't we ever just do it?

Paul Traill : 08/04/2018

Whatever the reason, I wish that for once we'd just do it. Missing sitters in the last few minutes of a derby against under-strength Liverpool — we won't get many better opportunities than that!

Passionless derby ends in stalemate

Michael Kenrick : 07/04/2018

Despite a late rally by Everton that saw them miss two late chances, a mostly passionless derby ended in stalemate.

Allardyce interview fail

Paul Traill : 31/03/2018

Sam has now failed in his job interview for me, with the only hope of resurrection being an emphatic hammering of Liverpool next weekend, but we all know that won't happen.

City Slickers humble Bumbling Blues

Michael Kenrick : 31/03/2018

Everton went behind after just 4 minutes to the Champions-elect Manchester City and were torn apart with two more slick goals.

Slalom at Stoke

Andre James : 17/03/2018

The game was end to end early on and the home fans made it clear they disliked Davies and Rooney, the former who was really out of sorts, going down on several occasions before he was subbed in the second half.

Tosun wins it for Everton in the Snowy Potteries

Michael Kenrick : 17/03/2018

Two goals from Cenk Tosun gave Everton a rare away win after Charlie Adam was harshly sent off for a studs-up foul on Rooney.

A rare day of relative comfort

Lyndon Lloyd : 11/03/2018

Everton earned their first clean sheet since Boxing Day and a much-needed win to virtually guarantee safety from the drop

Big Sam's eight game job interview

Paul Traill : 11/03/2018

We still have an opportunity to look up rather than down this season. If, and it's a ginormous if, we can go unbeaten in these games and win the majority of them, this gives us quite a platform and good momentum going into pre-season. This then makes it difficult to move Sam Allardyce on.

Tosun secures important Blues victory

Michael Kenrick : 10/03/2018

A plethora of corners comes to nothing until Bolasie and Walcott force an own-goal to break the deadlock, with Tosun's fine strike sealing it.

Dreadful away run prolonged as Everton buckle once more

Lyndon Lloyd : 05/03/2018

Everton's early promise turned into a familiar collapse and another away defeat under Sam Allardyce as Burnley came from behind to win 2-1 at Turf Moor

A Never-Ending Nightmare

Paul Traill : 04/03/2018

The latest away defeat under Sam Allardyce has increased the despondency around Everton

Tosun scores but Blues stunned by Burnley resurgence

Michael Kenrick : 03/03/2018

Cenk Tosun opened up his account with a fine header in Everton's televised Saturday lunchtime trip to Burnley but the Blues crumpled after the break.

Allardyce strengthens the case for further change with latest away defeat

Lyndon Lloyd : 25/02/2018

Particularly away from home, Everton are boring to watch, easy to defend against and easy to beat. With no signs of progress on that front, can anyone find an argument for persisting with the status quo next season?

A soft goal knocks the stuffing out of spiritless Everton

Michael Kenrick : 24/02/2018

A decent first half was followed by an increasingly awful second and a soft goal given up that squandered another 3 winnable points.

Looking up, not down

Paul Traill : 11/02/2018

Report of the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace

Win provides fine retribution for Oumar Niasse

Michael Kenrick : 10/02/2018

With a goal and an assist against Crystal Palace this afternoon, Oumar Niasse extracts retribution for that gross injustice back at Selhurst Park.

Everton disgraced in the Capital once again

Lyndon Lloyd : 04/02/2018

Pub-league defending from Allardyce's team was ripped apart by Arsenal at the Emirates

Allardyce's folly invites Gunners shellacking

Michael Kenrick : 03/02/2018

After a shocking five changes to his winning side, Allardyce watched impotent as Arsenal smashed four past hopeless Everton before the break.

Win relief

Paul Traill : 01/02/2018

Eventually we were able to see the game out and claim a vital, and ultimately deserved three points. Though we were up against it in the final 20 minutes, for the best part of an hour of this game we were the better team.

Walcott brace celebrates Coleman's winning return

Michael Kenrick : 31/01/2018

Seamus Coleman returns but two goals from Theo Walcott give Everton the win over Leicester at Goodison Park despite Vardy's second-half penalty.

Everton stagger one point closer to safety

Lyndon Lloyd : 21/01/2018

Everton are slogging through the remainder of their Premier League programme hoping to accumulate enough points to justify the appointment of Sam Allardyce and stay in the top flight.

Woeful Everton take undeserved point

Paul Traill : 20/01/2018

It's a mess alright, and I can't wait for this season to end...

Niasse strike overshadowed by McCarthy injury

Michael Kenrick : 20/01/2018

Everton surrender another soft goal in a pitiful first half. McCarthy off with what looks like a double leg break; Niasse equalizes.

Allardyce undermined as abject Everton revert to type

Lyndon Lloyd : 14/01/2018

This wasn't supposed to happen anymore after Sam Allardyce was appointed, was it?

Wembley footballing lesson humbles miserable Blues

Michael Kenrick : 13/01/2018

Everton were humbled at Wembley by simple but effective football from Spurs, despite a decent first half from new signing Cenk Tosun making his debut.

Second best

Paul Traill : 01/01/2018

Relegation is not a threat, but surely the plan has to be to attack better than that?

Blues collapse in poor second-half display

Michael Kenrick : 01/01/2018

Everton were even at the break but had no response to relentless pressure and two impressive strikes from distance.

Defeat for Allardyce after Gueye levels

Michael Kenrick : 30/12/2017

James McCarthy made a surprise comeback for Everton only to gift Bournemouth a goal in another dreadful first half but Gueye gets the equalizer.

No goals: another clean-sheet, another point

Michael Kenrick : 26/12/2017

Everton's remarkable new-found defensive solidity under Sam Allardyce was in evidence again at the Hawthorns against struggling West Brom.

Almost a Christmas miracle

Paul Traill : 24/12/2017

A resilient effort from Everton and if you cast your mind back a month to that wretched performance versus Southampton, you would never in your wildest of dreams have us walking away from a draw with the champions a little miffed that we didn't have more of a go at them.

Everton battle to stay unbeaten under Big Sam

Michael Kenrick : 23/12/2017

Everton survived another torrid half of desperate defending and went in at half-time still in the game.

Derby point a daylight heist but satisfying nonetheless

Lyndon Lloyd : 10/12/2017

If ever a performance needed to be viewed in its proper context, this horribly defensive display was it.

Rooney penalty saves a vital derby point

Michael Kenrick : 10/12/2017

Rooney rescues an embarrassingly poor Everton display with a fantastic penalty to deny Liverpool their expected victory.

Giving something back

Paul Traill : 08/12/2017

What a tremendous trip. I enjoyed every minute. Great company with Gaz and Dan, and it was superb to meet so many other Blues who had travelled from afar, most notably John and Stretch.

Solid win for Big Sam sets the tone

Michael Kenriick : 02/12/2017

Sam Allardyce takes charge of his first match since agreeing to become Everton manager as Huddersfield Town come to Goodison Park

Rooney ensures Unsworth signs off with emphatic win

Lyndon Lloyd : 30/11/2017

Wayne Rooney may have grabbed the headlines but this was “Rhino's” night as Everton tonked David Moyes's West Ham at Goodison Park.

Playing Devil's Advocate

Paul Traill : 30/11/2017

Why the sudden upturn in performance? Has David Unsworth finally found his best team, albeit too late? Has the penny finally dropped what is required for the players? Or, is this simply the reaction to a new manager coming in?

Rudderless Everton are drifting towards disaster

Lyndon Lloyd : 26/11/2017

Two shots on target out of five total for Everton tells its own story — a team utterly bereft of confidence, seemingly without much faith in the caretaker boss and, for some of them, no stomach or desire for the fight

Another dismal and dispirited capitulation

Michael Kenrick : 26/11/2017

Everton got off to another terrible start after a soft easy goal but equalized off a brilliant Sigurdsson strike before another second-half collapse.

You learn who you can depend on

Paul Traill : 24/11/2017

The game meant nothing. The team talk on the face of it should have been a piece of piss. “Right you lot, here's your opportunity. Prove to me why you should be in the team”. Unfortunately the majority out there only really proved why they shouldn't be in the team.

Crisis of confidence

Paul Traill : 19/11/2017

We just don't have the confidence currently. I believe the players are good enough but it'll take a bit longer yet until we get any sort of swagger back. Players just don't look for the ball enough. Too many hide and there's a real lack of responsibility on the field.

Opportunistic Niasse helps secure a crazy point

Michael Kenrick : 18/11/2017

A crazy game with Niasse winning a dubious penalty and then scoring an easy gift after Everton twice went behind through naive defending.

Sausage Party!

Paul Traill : 06/11/2017

A splendid day out at the game. Them fun days only ever happen about once or twice a season so I was glad to make the most of it, even if I paid for it a bit in work today.

Everton kickstart their heart amid rollercoaster contest against Watford

Lyndon Lloyd : 06/11/2017

Where there is life there is hope and Everton put the defibrillator paddles to their season today with an impressive recovery from a seemingly impossible position to beat Watford in what eventually became an adrenaline-fuelled encounter at Goodison Park

Reality bites hard as Unsworth's audition turns sour

Lyndon Lloyd : 30/10/2017

After the so-nearly response at Stamford Bridge, there was hope and encouragement. Following this 2-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium, Evertonians will be feeling mostly despair as the extent of the mess that their club finds itself in 10 games into the 2017-18 season is laid bare.

Green shoots cut to shreds by Vardy strike

Michael Kenrick : 29/10/2017

Sliced apart by a slick move for a classic Vardy goal after a failed Everton free-kick, Unsworth's side had a mountain to climb.

Everton plumb new depths after heavy Gunners defeat

Lyndon Lloyd : 22/10/2017

Last term, this fixture marked a turning point, at least in Everton's home form. The only turning point this season's visit of Arsenal to L4 might spark, however, is an abrupt one in Koeman's employment status… although there's no guarantee that the Everton Board will be so decisive.

Rooney stunner before Blues are destroyed

Michael Kenrick : 22/10/2017

Wayne Rooney rolled back the years with a fantastic finish from distance to put Everton ahead early but Arsenal swept through with three goals as Gana was sent off

For how long does this go on?

Paul Traill : 20/10/2017

I'm not one for sacking managers quickly. I like to see managers given the opportunity to build a team. It hasn't been our style and I want to believe it can work under Ronald Koeman. That said, the pressure is on, and failure to beat Arsenal, a Carabao Cup exit at Chelsea, and defeat at Leicester City would pretty much make his position untenable.

Rooney penalty papers over glaring cracks in Koeman's tenure

Lyndon Lloyd : 16/10/2017

Everton under Koeman are simply dull. They're boring to watch, easy to defend against and too easy to score against if you attack them enough within a given 90 minutes.

Rooney saves Everton with late spot-kick

Michael Kenrick : 15/10/2017

A poor match came to life with Brighton scoring, Rooney saving Koeman's side with a fortuitous penalty

Koeman's Blues stuck in reverse as recruitment failings bite

Lyndon Lloyd : 01/10/2017

This was Everton showing commitment, decent tempo and tenacity — in the early going, at least — and it still wasn't enough. Not by a long way.

From My Seat: Burnley (H)

Ken Buckley : 01/10/2017

After the debacle that was Thursday night, we licked our wounds and girded our loins and trouped back to the Grand Old Lady via the Room of Nonsense to sort out team and tactics before heading off to sample the real thing.

The board have a big decision to make

Paul Traill : 01/10/2017

The talk on everyone's lips after the game of course was, should Ronald Koeman be sacked. It's safe to say, most of the supporters seem to think so. Personally, I'm pretty neutral.

Abject naivety the final straw for pitiful Blues

Michael Kenrick : 01/10/2017

Despite a bright attacking start, Burnley took the lead with an easy goal. Everton had no meaningful reply, with Koeman now under massive pressure.

It was just so Everton

Paul Traill : 29/09/2017

The Europa League campaign doesn't have to be doom and gloom just yet but we are certainly doing it the hard way.

Niasse brace gets Koeman out of jail

Paul Traill : 24/09/2017

Win we did. It still wasn't especially pretty up until the winning goal just five minutes later, but we persevered

Reborn Niasse eases the pressure on Koeman

Lyndon Lloyd : 24/09/2017

The Senegalese striker helped bail Koeman out of another uncomfortable post-match inquest with a two-goal blast in the space of five minutes that turned this match on its head and delivered three points that seemed unlikely before he entered the fray 10 minutes into the second half

From My Seat: Bournemouth (H)

Ken Buckley : 23/09/2017

All in all a good day out. A win which was vital in terms of confidence. Niasse comes in from the cold. Will Big Ron apologise for his treatment of the lad? He should.

Niasse rescues Blues with fairy-tale brace

Michael Kenrick : 23/09/2017

After going behind to a fine Josh King goal, supersub Oumar Niasse came on to score twice and underline his newfound cult status.

Better Blues collapse in the last 7 mins

Michael Kenrick : 17/09/2017

Valencia scored a screamer after 4 minutes but Everton came close until they gave up three goals at the end after Rooney had gone off.

Trip to Atalanta

Rob Halligan : 15/09/2017

Following on from my thread about our trip to Croatia, I thought I would give a report on our trip to Atalanta, not giving any opinion on the match itself as we all know what a crock of shit that was.

Woeful Blues make a mockery of top-six ambitions

Lyndon Lloyd : 10/09/2017

The largely one-dimensional approach to recruitment this summer has led to Everton's uninspiring start to the new season, one which has, over the past two games, lurched from concerning into the realm of deeply demoralising.

From My Seat: Tottenham Hotspur (H)

Ken Buckley : 09/09/2017

Overall a very frustrating day. Time for manager and players to stand up and get themselves welded into a coherent team.

Meek surrender to silky Spurs

Michael Kenrick : 09/09/2017

Everton's showed some attacking intent but allowed Kane to score his first of the season before gifting a finish for Eriksen, and another for Kane after the break.

Everton left chasing shadows in familiar Stamford Bridge defeat

Lyndon Lloyd : 27/08/2017

With just six shots on target in the opening three games, the problems that were laid bare today can't be explained away by mere fatigue alone, even if it was undoubtedly a factor for those who did play in all three matches in just six days. The same nagging deficiencies remain despite massive expenditure on upgrading the team.

Dismal showing limits Chelsea to two easy goals

Michael Kenrick : 27/08/2017

Everton tried to keep it tight, and gave up two goals in an abysmal first period.

Calvert-Lewin comes of age but Everton are denied a stirring victory

Lyndon Lloyd : 22/08/2017

It's a shame that Dominic Calvert-Lewin's impressive assist for Wayne Rooney in the 35th-minute of this early-season tussle between Manchester and Merseyside at the Etihad didn't end up serving up a precious winner.

Everton surrender two points to City ferocity

Michael Kenrick : 21/08/2017

Wayne Rooney scores his 200th Premier League goal and celebrates in fine style at The Etihad, where City are down to 10 men.

One foot in the group stage

Paul Traill : 18/08/2017

With four clean sheets in four games, it's hard to complain. I'll be interested to see where we stand in a month's time.

From My Seat: Stoke City (H)

Ken Buckley : 13/08/2017

All-in-all, a good day out and now we can turn our minds to Thursday when off we go again.

Welcome home, Wayne

Paul Traill : 13/08/2017

With the fixtures upcoming, I was simply relieved to be coming away with the three points, our first opening day win for five years

Rooney leads the way in rare opening-day win

Lyndon Lloyd : 13/08/2017

The Prodigal Son brought all his experience to bear against Stoke, scoring the winner and helping Everton dictate much of the second half to hold on for a 1-0 victory.

Fine Rooney goal elevates dour encounter

Michael Kenrick : 12/08/2017

A dreadful half turned on its head with a lovely move, great cross and fine header from Wayne Rooney before the break.

Evertonians just get everywhere

Paul Traill : 24/07/2017

Luckily we didn't book our trip to the Netherlands for Everton's game-that-wasn't against Groningen and so, when the game against Genk was announced, Gaz and I were able to book some flights to Brussels Charleroi.

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