Season › 2019-20 › Opinion
Match Reports
Accounts from matches by our editorial team and featured correspondents
Everton end awful season in typically dour fashion
Lyndon Lloyd : 26/07/2020
You would think that a team bearing Ancelotti's fingerprints can't possibly keep playing this badly but they have managed it right up to the final game and it doesn't bode well for a 2020-21 campaign unless something significant happens in the transfer window.
Desperate Blues roll over for desperate Cherries
Michael Kenrick : 26/07/2020
And so, the final curtain is drawn on a dismal blighted Premier League season with Everton playing a pivotal role in Bournemouth's ultimately forlorn fight to avoid relegation.
Signs of life from Everton as they thwart Sheffield United
Lyndon Lloyd : 20/07/2020
Not only did Everton win their second away game since the post-lockdown restart but they did it with the kind of defensive resilience and resurfacing attacking enterprise that they will need in order to make 2020-21 a much more successful endeavour
A moment of superb genius amidst the usual dross
Michael Kenrick : 20/07/2020
After another dreadful first half, Richarlison brilliantly headed home Sigurdsson's free-kick to briefly set the game alight.
Everton emerge from their slumber in time to snag a point against Villa
Lyndon Lloyd : 16/07/2020
For all the reasons that have been thrown around and dissected in recent weeks, this was another illustration of the work that lies ahead for Ancelotti and Marcel Brands in the transfer market on the one hand and the manager and his coaching staff at Finch Farm over the other in the coming weeks.
Limited Blues come from behind to avoid serious embarrassment
Michael Kenrick : 16/07/2020
Everton's penultimate home fixture of this disrupted 2019-20 season sees them take on Aston Villa in a game that will have significance for both sides but for different reasons.
Checked Out
Lyndon Lloyd : 12/07/2020
This was almost as bad as anything served up under either Marco Silva or Carlo Ancelotti this season but the alarming drop-off in form over the past three games is further evidence of a mindset that urgently needs to change
Another abysmal Everton performance
Michael Kenrick : 12/07/2020
Everton are at 6th-place Wolves for today's lunchtime kick-off as the Premier League struggles to recover after the Covid-19 lockdown
No fans, no passion or drive
Lyndon Lloyd : 09/07/2020
If the mantra of “football is nothing without fans“ has become a bit of a cliché in recent weeks it's with good reason
Blues struggle again but Richarlison rescues a point
Michael Kenrick : 09/07/2020
Under fire following a dismal showing at Spurs on Monday, Everton went behind to Southampton after a poor first half that was rescued by a great strike from Richarlison.
Serial Let-Downs
Lyndon Lloyd : 07/07/2020
The Blues bottled another opportunity and without significant investment or miraculous management by Ancelotti, European competition could remain a flight of fancy for a while to come.
Dismal Blues lose terrible game to poor Spurs
Michael Kenrick : 06/07/2020
Unbeaten in three, Everton travel to Tottenham for a difficult assignment knowing that they will need to keep winning in order to retain an interest in the European qualification picture.
Ancelotti's game management preserves victory over Foxes
Lyndon Lloyd : 01/07/2020
In the wily Italian, Everton have a head coach with the ability to actually manage a game and it he did that with aplomb this evening
Early goals give Blues a vital win despite barrage
Michael Kenrick : 01/07/2020
Everton held on for an important win with a smart goal from Richarlison after a fine setup from Gordon, and a very rare Sigurdsson penalty through VAR.
Take the points, move on
Lyndon Lloyd : 25/06/2020
While this was an utterly forgettable game, dragged down by a truly dreadful first half, Everton accomplished the most important thing — they eked out a victory
Ancelotti engineers an economical win in the heat
Michael Kenrick : 24/06/2020
Hopefully buoyed by the derby but also rankled by the sense of what might have been against Liverpool, Everton travel to Norwich for a Wednesday evening kick-off.
Merseyside derby musings
Paul Traill : 22/06/2020
Those who regularly read my match reports would know that, as much as getting across (or trying to) what I feel about the team and how we are playing, I try to paint a picture of the general matchday experience. With that currently unavailable to us, I had no plans to write a report but, having watched the Merseyside derby on TV, there were a few things I wanted to get off my chest.
Derby luck remains elusive but Everton make champions-elect look ordinary
Lyndon Lloyd : 22/06/2020
Few would have begrudged the Blues if Tom Davies's late effort had crept in to claim the points after a solid defensive display that just lacked consistent quality going forward
Everton fail yet again with crucial opportunities missed
Michael Kenrick : 21/06/2020
Carlo Ancelotti gave Anthony Gordon a start but Everton fail yet again to beat Liverpool at Goodison Park.
Different manager, same old humiliation
Lyndon Lloyd : 08/03/2020
Carlo Ancelotti's Everton were made to look second best in almost every department as they were thrashed by Chelsea's injury-hit but superior side
Everton an embarrassing disgrace for Ancelotti
Michael Kenrick : 08/03/2020
An absolutely dismal display from Everton, nothing but a total embarrassment for Carlo Ancelotti returning to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea U23s 1 - 0 Everton U23s
Mark Louch : 03/03/2020
A report from the EBB stadium in Aldershot where Everton's second string took on their counterparts from West London
The malignant hand of Moss
Lyndon Lloyd : 01/03/2020
The reviled referee took the easy way out with his controversial decision to take away Everton's stoppage-time winner and failure to give the Blues a penalty for a clear foul on Gylfi Sigurdsson
Crazy moments bookend a drab game of wasted corners
Michael Kenrick : 01/03/2020
Everton play the second of four successive games against so-called “big six†clubs as Manchester United come to Goodison Park on Sunday.
Not your average Emirates defeat
Lyndon Lloyd : 24/02/2020
Everton showed their soft underbelly again and gave Ancelotti more headaches where the defence is concerned but the return of Gomes and the creation of some good chances bode well for the future.
Too many squandered chances after brilliant start
Michael Kenrick : 23/02/2020
Carlo Ancelotti had set Everton a very clear target for their late Sunday afternoon visit to The Emirates Stadium
European football? È possibile
Paul Traill : 09/02/2020
An important win then, one which has lifted Everton up to 7th. Everton are now second in the form table, which will raise a few eyebrows.
Rub of the green and Brazilian gold lift the Blues to victory over Palace
Lyndon Lloyd : 08/02/2020
Bernard scored a peach and Richarlison raced away to bag the decisive goal but Everton needed a little help from the woodwork and Jordan Pickford to come up trumps to beat the Eagles
Blues win the points if not the accolades
Michael Kenrick : 08/02/2020
It was a poor and error-strewn game at times but Everton under Ancelotti are nothing if not effective, and they scored the goals required for a decent win that takes them up to the dizzy heights of 7th in the Premier League.
A Smash-and-Grab Raid Against the Odds
Lyndon Lloyd : 02/02/2020
Everton came from behind to win a game for the first time in over two years thanks to a 90th-minute moment of redemption for one of their most consistent under-performers
A Sting in the Tale
Darren Arnold : 02/02/2020
While Everton weren't great for long stretches of the game, and gave themselves a mountain to climb in trailing by two pretty soft goals, they certainly impressed with their spirit and work rate.
10-man Blues steal the points in late drama
Michael Kenrick : 01/02/2020
Behind by 2 goals before Yerry Mina scored a brace off successive corners in first-half stoppage time, Delph was shown a second yellow card, but 10-man Everton held out until the last minute when Richarlison broke forward and Walcott finished in unrecognizable style to win a hotly contested game.
A Truly Evertonian Act of Self-Sabotage
Lyndon Lloyd : 21/01/2020
This was one of the more comfortable 90 minutes that the home team have had under the lights in recent season. Then “Everton†happened; that infuriatingly weak and soft-centred entity that seems to find new ways to shoot itself in the foot
Well, we really out-ridiculoused ourselves this time
Paul Traill : 21/01/2020
I doubt my friends and I are alone in just being fed up of this same old script. Everton always find a way to ruin you. We should be used to it by now, though somehow we're not.
A game neither side proved capable of winning
Lyndon Lloyd : 19/01/2020
This was one of the most frustrating games of a season that was full of them prior to Silva's dismissal and which starkly exposed the midfield, meaning the point gained was probably a decent one
Stalemate at the London Stadium
Michael Kenrick : 18/01/2020
Everton make their first trip back to the Capital since the opening day of the season to take on West Ham at the London Stadium this weekend.
All that we ask
Paul Traill : 12/01/2020
It was a deserved win and the most important thing is that the effort was there. It's not enough to erase the scars of last week's Anfield horror, but a reactive win certainly helps ease the pain. Effort from the players should be a given. It's not much to ask, is it?
A decent response
Dave Williams : 12/01/2020
Dave witnessed the win over Brighton, thanks to the West Country Blues.
Atonement, Step 1
Lyndon Lloyd : 11/01/2020
It was in the spirit of a reset of sorts that Ancelotti sent his team out against Brighton this afternoon and while the resulting display was far from transcendent, it produced three vital points.
Unconvincing win restores a little bit of pride
Michael Kenrick : 11/01/2020
Everton turn their focus back to the Premier League and making a concerted push for the top six over the remaining 17 games of the campaign, starting with the visit of the Seagulls.
A Disgrace to the Shirt
Lyndon Lloyd : 05/01/2020
So early in his reign, this one wasn't on the manager; this was squarely on a group of players who have largely escaped the worst of the criticism and allowed Marco Silva to carry the can but who have nowhere left to hide.
Horrendous finishing makes it far too easy for Liverpool's B team
Michael Kenrick : 05/01/2020
A month after going down to the defeat that proved to be the final nail in the proverbial coffin of Marco Silva's tenure, Everton are back at Anfield in the FA Cup
Everton out of energy and ideas in standard defeat to City
Lyndon Lloyd : 01/01/2020
Apart from a few moments, Carlo Ancelotti's men gave a really poor account of themselves today in what was their third match in six days
Everton not good enough to stop superior City
Michael Kenrick : 01/01/2020
Despite the narrow scoreline, Everton were never really good enough to hold a candle to the reigning Premier League Champions as Carlo Ancelotti failed to engineer a win at the Etihad Stadium.
Ancelotti has Everton looking up as 2020 beckons
Lyndon Lloyd : 28/12/2019
The Blues' supposed month from hell end ends on a high with a 100% record for Carlo Ancelotti from his first two games and 11 points from 15 since Marco Silva was sacked
Everton have just enough to get Ancelotti off to a flyer
Lyndon Lloyd : 27/12/2019
Carlo Ancelotti described this as the perfect first game and while it was short on genuine thrills and entertainment, few Blues would argue given the wider context of the season
The Ancelotti era starts with a win and 3 vital points
Michael Kenrick : 26/12/2019
Carlo Ancelotti takes charge of his first match as Everton's manager with Burnley the visitors to Goodison Park in this Boxing Day clash
Stalemate
Paul Traill : 22/12/2019
A mate asking if I wanted to join him in the Dixie Dean Lounge for the match. Naturally, I jumped at the chance… not least because of the prospect of catching a glimpse of a certain Carlo Ancelotti.
Duncan Ferguson, take a bow
Lyndon Lloyd : 21/12/2019
This was a forgettable game bereft of quality but Everton's indomitable Scot has managed to wring five precious points from three daunting-looking Premier League fixtures and paved the way for the appointment of one Carlo Ancelotti.
A dismal dreary welcome for Carlo Ancelotti
Michael Kenrick : 21/12/2019
Everton played out a dreadful pre-Christmas borefest against Arsenal in what was Duncan Ferguson's last game in temporary charge.
Just so... Everton
Paul Traill : 19/12/2019
You can't help but feel that frustration of another cup that has got away from us and, for the second year running in the Carabao Cup, we have bowed out on penalties.
Brilliant fight-back ends in another penalty shoot-out failure
Michael Kenrick : 18/12/2019
Everton fought back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the last minute through a brilliant strike from Leighton Baines. But a tepid spot-kick that from him in the penalty shoot-out after Pickford had superbly saved the first from Maddison allowed Vardy to score the winning penalty, a cruel ending for Blues everywhere, no more than Duncan Ferguson.
Blues so close to a lucky win at Old Trafford
Michael Kenrick : 15/12/2019
Everton took the lead through a lucky own-goal that was not called back by VAR, but could not hold on to it after a long rearguard campaign with a few missed chances to win it squandered.
Blues fight with pride... thanks to one man
Paul Traill : 08/12/2019
Last time we walked away from Goodison Park, we had supporters arguing with each other after the Goodison Park crowd had just sung “You're getting sacked in the morning†at Marco Silva. This time, it was great to walk out with smiles on our faces.
Everton break through wall of worry under Talismanic Ferguson
Lyndon Lloyd : 07/12/2019
Everton badly needed a result today; one point would have done in the circumstances but three would have been priceless and cometh the hour, cometh the man to inspire a performance of high intensity, desire and determination that was matched by a raucous and then rapturous Goodison Park.
Back to Basics for Ferguson's Battling Blues
Michael Kenrick : 07/12/2019
Duncan Ferguson takes charge of Everton for the visit of Chelsea as caretaker manager with Marco Silva finally sacked this week following a dreadful run of results that sees Everton starting this match in the relegation zone.
Ruthless Liverpool shred Everton's defences leaving Silva staring into the abyss
Lyndon Lloyd : 04/12/2019
Whether this latest drubbing was as bad as feared or simply just depressingly predictable probably depends on who you ask but at the base level, the Blue faithful were failed by Marco Silva, the majority of his players and a defensive strategy so surprising in its naïveté that it's hard to see how the Portuguese can remain in charge any longer.
Hopeless defending drops Everton into bottom 3
Michael Kenrick : 04/12/2019
Everton started the 234th Merseyside derby starstruck by Liverpool's attacking quality, pace and accuracy that saw them score 4 simple goals in the first half.
Fine margins but reality's grip tightens around Silva's Everton
Lyndon Lloyd : 02/12/2019
Everton have taken some punches to the solar plexus already this season but this one hit particularly hard and it will leave Marco Silva, if he is indeed to survive until the Merseyside derby, with a huge task in trying to lift his charges off the canvas in time for Anfield on Wednesday.
VAR secures predicted Everton defeat
Michael Kenrick : 01/12/2019
Everton begin their most testing run of the season at the King Power Stadium where they take an injury-ravaged side with Marco Silva in a precarious position despite a show of unity from Marcel Brands.
Canaries in the coal mine portend the death of Silva's Everton tenure
Lyndon Lloyd : 23/11/2019
This was so bad, so disorganised, passionless and lethargic that even if they had managed to rescue a point, it wouldn't have been enough to dampen the growing sense that Silva's week-to-week case for remaining in the post now needs to come to a definitive end.
Blues humbled in pathetic showing against bottom club Norwich
Michael Kenrick : 23/11/2019
With the final international break of the calendar year out of the way, Everton return to Premier League action this weekend with the visit of the division's bottom club, Norwich City.
Everton grateful for rare away win but Silva still has plenty to prove
Lyndon Lloyd : 09/11/2019
This was an absolutely vital victory but the performance that underpinned it was largely unconvincing and there was little here to advance Marco Silva's claim to be the man to realise the club's ambitions at the top end of the Premier League.
Blues finally win away from home
Michael Kenrick : 09/11/2019
Everton got off to a fine start down to the south coast, Tom Davies heading an early goal from a corner against fellow strugglers Southampton.
Injury curse strikes again before Tosun rescues a point
Lyndon Lloyd : 04/11/2019
It was one of those days where the final result felt rather immaterial; where a long-term injury to another important player, another largely disappointing performance, more infuriatingly poor refereeing and the damningly criminal injustice of VAR all combined to leave you with a sense of futility about 2019-20.
Horrible game ends in horror for Gomes
Michael Kenrick : 03/11/2019
Everton took on Spurs at Goodison Park in a lower-table clash, both sides confirming their poor form coming into this one. And it only got worse for Everton, gifting a goal to Spurs, then seeing Gomes go off with a broken ankle.
Big Second Half Sees Everton Into Last Eight
Paul Traill : 30/10/2019
In the first half, Everton were lacklustre and didn't get into their stride;they needed to be better. Thankfully, Everton did dramatically improve after the break and ran out fully deserving winners.
Holgate rescues a turgid Carabao Cup affair
Michael Kenrick : 29/10/2019
Everton struggled to break down Watford in a dreadful first half of this Carabao Cup game, but finally broke through thanks to Holgate, with Richarlison sealing it in the last minute.
Silva's men buckle at Brighton as VAR finally comes for Everton
Lyndon Lloyd : 27/10/2019
The “VARce†at the Amex Stadium was only part of the equation because there are deeper-seated issues at play in this Everton side behind why they spent the long journey north mulling yet another defeat
VAR denies Everton rare comeback away win
Michael Kenrick : 26/10/2019
Everton's visit to Brighton in Week 10 of the Premier League will feature in live commentary on BBC Radio 5.
Pressure-Relieving Win for Marco' Blues
Paul Traill : 20/10/2019
It was a great team performance from Everton, a real stellar effort from the lads in a game we simply had to win.
Changes for the good earn reprieve for Silva
Lyndon Lloyd : 20/10/2019
Together with Marco Silva'a adjustments in terms of personnel, Everton set a benchmark today for the minimum effort, tempo and drive that his required in every game and they have to meet it now on a consistent basis because they proved how much better they are than recent form has suggested.
Silva's changes breathe fresh life into Everton
Michael Kenrick : 19/10/2019
Marco Silva made no less than five changes against West Ham and secured the win with goals from Bernard and Sigurdsson.
All the Hallmarks of a Death Spiral
Lyndon Lloyd : 05/10/2019
This was same old, same old and it can't continue any longer. Marco Silva's position is rapidly becoming untenable, his status as Everton manager is in danger of being critically undermined by a stubborn refusal to change.
Why do we deserve this, Evertonians?
Paul Traill : 05/10/2019
I'd really rather not change managers again. I like Marco Silva. I want him to put it right, however watching today I was dismayed by our predictability and how rudderless we were.
10-man Everton beaten in another insipid away display
Michael Kenrick : 05/10/2019
Everton, effectivey unchanged, give up a goal from a set-piece, lose Coleman to a red card, and lose away again.
Happy October... Please
Paul Traill : 29/09/2019
I'm relieved to see the back of September as it's been disastrous. I firmly believe that, come the end of October, we will have won at least two of our three league games against Burnley, West Ham United and Brighton; and will have despatched Watford to make it into the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.
Blues can't bridge gulf in class but will take positives from defeat to City
Lyndon Lloyd : 28/09/2019
Evertonians will come out of this game with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the Blues suffered an almost entirely predictable defeat; on the other, there was a noticeable response from Marco Silva's players to the debacle against Sheffield United
Everton fall to the Champions again
Michael Kenrick : 28/09/2019
Everton hauled themselves back into contention when Dominic Calvert-Lewin's goal sent them into the break level but the Champions powered to victory in the second half
Sheffield return, via useless in-built Sat Nav
Paul Traill : 25/09/2019
Heading to The Wirral, I was navigated by the Sat Nav towards the A628, only to find it was closed. The Sat Nav is supposed to be aware of traffic and road closure issues but it declined to inform me (first world problems, eh!), instead routing me towards the next entrance to the A628, which was also closed.
Sack Marco? Not Now
Paul Traill : 22/09/2019
>Many want Marco Silva out. That would be a mistake in my opinion and I don't think that is the solution
There may be trouble ahead
Dave Williams : 22/09/2019
Sheffield Utd were very well organised, two banks of four and with our ponderous build-up and tendency to play across the pitch and back again we made it easy for them.
Crisis looms for Silva as another season derails
Lyndon Lloyd : 21/09/2019
Following an utterly dreadful performance against Sheffield United, the Portuguese can be under no illusions about the mess he and his team have made of the new campaign
Blades cut to the heart of Blues' incompetence
Michael Kenrick : 21/09/2019
Total domination of possession by Everton, and 6 corners in each half, produced nothing, only for Mina to score an own-goal from their first corner.
Away-day blues show no signs of abating
Lyndon Lloyd : 15/09/2019
This team is as firmly ensconced in the recent Evertonian tradition of serial underachievement away from home as any in recent years. Everton rarely win away matches and with defending like this, these sorts of ugly reverses are going to keep happening.
Blues have no answer for Bournemouth Bogey
Michael Kenrick : 15/09/2019
Everton went behind in a difficult first-half but Calvert-Lewin grabbed his first goal since March with a fine header to put them back in the game.
My Goodison Park Pilgrimage
Bill Gienapp : 13/09/2019
My very first trip to Goodison Park from Los Angeles, and thankfully, the gods were kind. Home against Wolves and even better, the match was moved to Sunday, which meant I wouldn't have to take a train straight from the airport.
Everton's under-performers rediscover their mojo in exciting win over Wolves
Lyndon Lloyd : 01/09/2019
Together with a trio of new signings making their full debuts, Richarlison, Sigurdsson and Gomes emerged from their early season funk to drive Everton to what feels like a huge victory
Everton edge thriller
Paul Traill : 01/09/2019
She's Electric by Oasis boomed out over the tannoy as Everton were applauded off the field following a job well done against a good team. A great game. A “thriller†you could say, and certainly a great advert for the Premier League.
Blues victorious in a tremendous Goodison exhibition
Michael Kenrick : 01/09/2019
Everton kicked off their second home game on Sunday with the visit of Wolves in whirlwind style, 2-1 after 11 mins, and winning well 3-2 in the end.
Stars new and old point the way forward as Everton deal with Lincoln
Lyndon Lloyd : 28/08/2019
Everton discovered their shooting boots and quadrupled their scoring tally for the season as they progressed to the third round of the Carabao Cup at Sincil Bank this evening
The Scripts Write Themselves
Lyndon Lloyd : 24/08/2019
A result and the performance that under-pinned it for the most part, were unsurprising — it was all just depressingly familiar; another potentially strong start to a season undermined by a display that served to highlight rather than mask the deficiencies that still exist in this Everton team
Blues go to sleep for 2 seconds...
Michael Kenrick : 23/08/2019
A very conservative Everton side played well enough until Aston Villa caught them sleeping on a quick free-kick, for Wesley to score with ease.
Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
Paul Traill : 18/08/2019
Though Everton lacked in quality for most of the game, they didn't lack in heart and spirit and did have a steely determination to see the job through on a blustery, but warm, afternoon at Goodison Park.
Not pretty but the points were paramount
Lyndon Lloyd : 17/08/2019
This could easily have ended in an irritating draw but this Everton team has now kept 10 sheets in its last 13 and with none of the summer acquisitions yet fully bedded in the team, it's been a pretty good start to the season.
Everton grind out a vital win
Michael Kenrick : 17/08/2019
Everton got off to a fine start with an early goal from Bernard against Watford at Goodison Park
Familiar story for rusty Everton against stubborn Palace
Lyndon Lloyd : 10/08/2019
“Plus ça change…â€, "deja vuâ€â€¦ pick your French cliché. Everton began a new season with yet another draw — their seventh in the last eight seasons — in a game that was eerily similar to the one between these two teams in late April.
Two points dropped after Schneiderlin walks
Michael Kenrick : 23/08/2019
Everton's 2019-20 Premier League campaign kicks off at Selhurst Park this weekend against Crystal Palace
