Pressure-Relieving Win for Marco' Blues

It was a great team performance from Everton, a real stellar effort from the lads in a game we simply had to win.

On Friday afternoon, I received a WhatsApp message from a friend offering me some well-priced tickets in the Dixie Dean Suite for the game against West Ham United. We just couldn't refuse and so we arrived at Goodison Park at 10 am in our suits for a top draw five-course meal with complimentary bar. We enjoyed a great afternoon with good company, Jeff Winter (!) the guest speaker, Mike Higgins was also doing the rounds and we had the best seats in the house not far from Bill Kenwright, Farhad Moshiri, Marcel Brands and Denise Barrett-Baxendale. All that was needed was an Everton performance and thankfully the Blue boys didn't disappoint.

We were a little surprised, though not disappointed, by the team news. We weren't necessarily baying for the dropped players to be so, but there was a clear need to change and we were pleased to see Marco had the bottle to do so. Djibril Sidibe came in for an enforced change at right-back with captain Seamus Coleman suspended. Morgen Schneiderlin was unavailable for family reasons which allowed an opportunity for Tom Davies, and Andre Gomes's return to the midfield was welcomed by all. What a difference he makes to the team.

I wasn't surprised to see that Marco took the opportunity to utilise two of the players who didn't travel for international football over the last few weeks as he gave game time to Theo Walcott and Bernard. With no league goals to his name yet this season it was a reasonable call to drop Gylfi Sigurdsson, Alex Iwobi moving in-field to replace he, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin was also dropped, Richarlison given the opportunity up top. A bold move by Marco, and good on him for being bullish enough to be so. Had it backfired he could have been, well, fired.

We began the game at a fair tempo though West Ham did look threatening as they probed on the break. We could barely watch as they had a well-positioned early free-kick, though thankfully they wasted it. Everton began to grapple control of the game and should have been ahead when Tom Davies was left free inside the 6-yard box from a corner kick but he was too casual and side-footed comfortably at Roberto Jiminez. We didn't have long to wait until we took the lead however when Bernard struck on 17 minutes with a bizarre goal. Bernard timed his run well to collect Theo's clever pass. The crowd groaned as he feigned to shoot and we thought the chance had gone. The Brazilian wasn't finished though and he jinked his way past Arthur Masuaku before somehow squeezing the ball past the onrushing Roberto Jiminez and into the net from an impossible angle. It was pitiful defending from West Ham United and I'd have been furious had we conceded a goal like that, though needless to say it was nice to profit from it.

Bernard's compatriot, Richarlison, almost doubled our lead shortly afterwards when he hit the post from a similar position. It was good from Everton. We played well. Tom Davies and Andre Gomes dominated the midfield and we got to half time a goal ahead, albeit with a few jitters as we approached the break. West Ham United have some talented players in their ranks, many of whom are technically astute, but they don't possess enough steel and are short of one or two battlers in there. Unsurprisingly they tried to affect their performance by introducing Andriy Yarmelenko but the leggy Ukrainian failed to make a significant impact and was well marshalled by Lucas Digne.

Everton continued to probe in the second half and missed a number of opportunities which on another day could have proved costly, Alex Iwobi guilty of the biggest miss of them all when he hit straight at Jiminez when through on goal. Theo Walcott almost scored the best goal of his career when he let dip from distance on the half volley and was extremely unlucky to see the ball cannon back of the underside of the crossbar and out. There were also other opportunities for Richarlison and Yerry Mina, neither of which found the net.

At 1-0 we were always cautious of course and West Ham United almost equalised late in the game. The match official Paul Tierney somehow gave West Ham United a corner when it should not only have been a goal kick, but also a free-kick to Everton for a clear foul of Djibril Sidibe. From the ensuing corner-kick, Angelo Ogbonna connected but his deflected effort was well-repelled by Jordan Pickford, who was otherwise largely untested throughout.

Even later in the game Yerry Mina made a game-saving interception at the back and his clearance released a counter-attack from Everton which resulted in substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson firing in a wonderful goal from the edge of the penalty area to secure the victory.

It was a great team performance from Everton, a real stellar effort from the lads in a game we simply had to win. The key is to back this up of course and next weekends trip to Brighton is a great opportunity to arrest our worrying away form, and our home game against Watford also brings opportunity to progress into the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup. A win next weekend and we could be as high as seventh position in the league, and with an ominous run of fixtures on the horizon you feel we need to be cashing in our chips now. The missed opportunity is already vast.

Following the game we finished up in the lounge, the Jaegerbombs perhaps a trifle unnecessary, before meeting some Dutch Evertonians who had flown over for the game. I met one of them over in Genk a few summers ago during an Everton pre-season tour. It's fabulous to find other Evertonians in other corners of the world.

Onwards we go, and it's nice to see out the rest of the weekend with a smile rather than a grimace.

Player ratings

Pickford: Not a lot to do but was there when it counted at the death. 7

Digne: Most importantly he defended well. He got forward well also though his final ball was often lacking. 7

Mina: An outstanding and courageous performance by Yerry who is getting better and better. 8

Keane: Also solid. 7

Sidibe: Impressive, and Seamus can have few complaints if he remains sidelined for the next game. Djibril has had to wait patiently for his opportunity and he didn't disappoint. I think Seamus is better defensively, though Djibril offers more in attacking areas and is a good option to have. 7

Davies: Was perhaps Everton's best player in the first half though following a careless yellow card he was a lot quieter in the second period. Still, a good lively effort from Tom. When Morgan and Fabian are available again it will be interesting to see who gets the nod. 7

Gomes: Took a little while to get going but in the second half he was sensational. He scrapped hard and retained possession fabulously. We've certainly missed Andre in the middle. Let's hope he retains a clean bill of help for the remainder of the season. 8

Iwobi: Had a pretty good first half though was rather lethargic after the break and didn't quite get into his stride. He also missed probably the games best opportunity. Not great, but not too bad either and it was a worthwhile change putting him there. 6

Bernard: Kept on battling right until the end and scored an important goal, his second in as many games against the Hammers. 8

Walcott: Did very well. I know it's unpopular to comment positively on Theo but I like him. He showed good application in games and always works hard. 7

Richarlison: Battled manfully throughout and got little from Paul Tierney. A really good effort. 7

Kean (for Walcott): Got involved and contributed. 7

Sigurdsson (for Iwobi): A great contribution in the short time he had on the field, scoring an excellent goal. A great response to being dropped by our Icelander. It's a nice problem for Marco to have now in deciding whether to return him to the team or not and it will be interesting to see if he is in the starting XI at Brighton next weekend. 8

Holgate (for Mina): Yerry limped off at the end of the game though he probably could have carried on. Nevertheless, Mason did well in the very short time he had on the field, winning a couple of key headers. 7

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