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Everton's away-day pain goes on with defeat at West Ham

West Ham 2 - 1 Everton

Everton lost for the 17th time in the Premier League this season as a much-improved away display was wrecked by hugely costly individual errors that allowed an under-whelming West Ham to edge the match 2-1 at the London Stadium.

Aaron Cresswell profited from a needless foul by Mason Holgate in the first half to sweep the Hammers into the lead with a impressive direct free-kick and though the Toffees' defender would atone for the error with a deflected strike that pulled Everton level eight minutes into the second half, an awful slip by Alex Iwobi led to Jarrod Bowen scoring the winner before Michael Keane was sent off for a second bookable offence.

It was the first time the Blues have had a man dismissed in three successive matches in the Premier League era and it undercut what chances Frank Lampard's men had of salvaging something from the match in the final quarter of the match. It also means Keane will miss Wednesday's crucial game against his old club Burnley at Turf Moor.

With Allan still suspended, Lampard had been hoping to bring Donny van de Beek back into the side after he was forced to sit out the defeat at Crystal Palace because he was cup-tied. The Dutchman was named in the starting XI but tweaked a muscle in his thigh in the warm-up and with André Gomes out with a knock himself, had to be replaced in midfield by Holgate.

With illness keeping Seamus Coleman out of the side, there was an opening for Nathan Patterson to make his League debut but he, too, had been ruled out after turning his ankle in training, which meant Jonjoe Kenny switched to right-back and Vitali Mykolenko returned on the left with Ben Godfrey partnering Keane in the centre.

Unlike many of Everton's recent away performances, the first half was a fairly even affair, with the visitors largely matching their hosts in terms of possession and chances created. Pablo Fornals saw an early shot off Ryan Fredericks' cross blocked and Richarlison's attempted bicycle kick off Kenny's delivery met the same fate but it was a mistake by the Brazilian that almost led to the first goal.

Richarlison gave the ball away cheaply off a throw-in but Mickael Antonio's effort was deflected behind and Bowen's eventual shot following the resulting corner was hit straight at Jordan Pickford.

Three minutes later, Pickford did superbly to tackle Fornals with his feet after Everton had left themselves vulnerable on the counter-attack while Lukas Fabianski in the West Ham goal did similarly well to rush to edge of his box to deny Richarlison after the forward had been played in by a perfectly-weighted ball from Iwobi in the 29th minute.

Three minutes later, however, Everton's solid start was undermined by a sloppy foul given away by Holgate not far outside his own box. His trip on Bowen set Cresswell up for a chance to beat Pickford from 20-off yards which he did with a curling free-kick that found the top corner to make it 1-0 to West Ham.

The Blues' best chance of the half arrived five minutes before the break, though. Pickford picked Richarlison out this time with a pin-point ball forward but the Brazil international's attempt to guide it over Fabianski with the outside of his boot was lofted just too high and it cleared the crossbar by a matter of inches.

Undaunted at the start of the second half, Everton began the brighter of the two sides after half-time and this time it was Iwobi connecting with Dominic Calvert-Lewin with another lovely through-ball but the striker could only clip the crossbar with a left-foot shot from the angle.

Three minutes later, however, it was 1-1. Richarlison won a corner and then held off his marker after Fabianski had failed to punch the set-piece clear to prod the loose ball back to Holgate. The makeshift midfielder despatched a measured shot towards goal that took a heavy deflection off Fornals and flew into the far corner.

Parity lasted a mere six minutes, though. With the feeling growing that the Hammers were there for the taking if Everton could fashion another good opening, the Blues were trying to build a move forward when Iwobi mis-controlled a pass from Keane that gifted possession to the home side as Antonio was sent away into oceans of space and just Pickford ahead of him.

The England keeper did well to foil the striker with a blocking save but the rebound fell to Bowen who steered it over the desperate lunge of the last defender covering the goal to restore the Hammers' lead.

Six minutes after that, it was effectively game over when Keane, who had been booked in the first period for pulling Antonio back, was carded again for a late lunge in on the same player, reducing the Blues to 10 men for the remaining 25 minutes.

Richarlison had one shot blocked behind and a couple of set-piece opportunities for Lampard's men went begging before Godfrey planted a stoppage-time header from a free-kick over the bar and referee Michael Oliver called time.

With Watford and Burnley both losing and Leeds picking up just a point on Saturday, the picture at the bottom remains largely the same in terms of Everton's battle against relegation, although Wednesday's clash with the Clarets now takes on enormous significance.

Lampard and his charges can take heart from many elements of this display but, until the injury situation improves, they know they must cut out critical mistakes in their attempts to drag themselves out of the mire.

 

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