Onward and upward for Everton after laudable win at Southampton

The trip to St Mary’s, like the one the Blues used to make to the tight confines of The Dell, is almost always a tricky one for Everton. Five of their last six visits to Southampton had ended in defeat, none more convincing than their last two when they were passed off the park by Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side.

The Saints might have made an erratic start to the season but they beat Chelsea at home at the end of August and, on their day in front of their home fans, they can be a very difficult proposition. Today wasn’t one of those days, although had Jordan Pickford not been alert 20 minutes from the end and had Duje Ćaleta-Carn not volleyed a gilt-edged chance over the bar in stoppage time, they could have ruined Everton’s day.

Frank Lampard’s Toffees earned this victory, though — only their second under his stewardship so far and only Everton’s second since their 2-0 win down the road at Brighton more than a year ago. It wasn’t always pretty, by the end it was a little ragged, but this was a markedly better display than the one they put on in this fixture back in February and it helped extend the team’s unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions.

Indeed, it’s fair to say that Everton dominated the first half and could have been a couple of goals to the good by the halfway stage if they hadn’t exhibited so little nous in the final third. Lampard admitted afterwards that, “[t]here are glimpses … but we can get a lot better and we've got hard games coming up so we need to stay on it,” a nod, no doubt, to the fact that his team were resolute at the back and tidy in midfield but found that promising attacks routinely fell apart in and around the opposition penalty area.

Whether it’s through more work on the training pitch with the current personnel or via the transfer market over the next couple of windows, it’s a lack of cutting edge that the manager will be desperate to resolve but today, the determination, spirit and togetherness of the players he already has saw them find their feet after conceding the first goal to turn the contest on its head with two quick-fire goals early in the second half.

The concession of the opener to Joe Aribo could have been devastating and would, you feel, have proved decisive to the Everton of last season. It was made worse by the fact that the goal had come directly from an uncharacteristically lazy and wayward pass by Idrissa Gueye who had been almost exemplary up to that point. (The Senegal international had atoned for a similarly sloppy piece of play in the first half by quickly winning the ball back.)

And were it not for James Tarkowski’s own powers of recovery, Southampton might have retaken the lead straight after Conor Coady’s richly-deserved equaliser after the centre-half had passed straight to a white and red shirt in his own half. He got back, however, to block Che Adams’s shot superbly and was then helped out by Vitalii Mykolenko and Seamus Coleman who also put their bodies on the line to retain parity. Less than 60 seconds later, it was 2-1 as Dwight McNeil hammered home brilliantly for what would prove to be the winner.

Such are the building blocks of momentum and a habit of, firstly, not losing and then winning, something Everton have now done in consecutive games for only the second time since beating Burnley at Goodison Park in September 2021.

With Nathan Patterson ruled out through injury and Anthony Gordon feeling “under the weather” in the manager’s words, Lampard made two changes to the starting XI beyond restoring Pickford between the posts in place of his deputy Asmir Begovic.

As expected, Coleman came in at right-back and McNeil replaced Gordon on the right flank and though both players exhibited a bit of rust, Everton began to find some rhythm after Iwobi had almost picked Amadou Onana out in the middle with a cross from the left but the Belgian was just beaten to it by a defender.

At the other end, Che Adams clipped a shot into the side-netting after five minutes but it was the Toffees who carried the greater attacking threat, even if their attacks often foundered when they reached the final third.

Demarai Gray narrowly missed with a direct free-kick, Coady almost got his toe to a ball in following a set-piece and Neal Maupay had a couple of opportunities when his shot from close range was blocked and later when he popped up at the back post at a corner but his header was caught by Gavin Bazunu.

The best chance of the first period had fallen to Gray, though, when, having done the hard part by gliding past his man with impressive footwork, he could only serve up a tame finish that the keeper comfortably saved.

Ralph Hassenhüttl’s men finished the first half with a brief flurry that saw Stuart Armstrong’s low cross deflect into Pickford’s arms and the same player then test the Everton keeper for the first time with a deflected shot that was also safely gathered.

The Blues and Gueye, in particular, had looked increasingly composed as the first half had gone on but a dreadful pass by the Senegal international across midfield went straight to an opposition player and the ball was quickly worked to Adams who found Aribo and he drilled through a crowd of blue shirts to give the hosts the lead.

Everton won a free-kick by the touchline halfway inside Southampton’s half almost immediately by way of reply and when Gray’s delivery found Onana at the back post, the lanky Belgian headed back across goal where Coady, the Blues’ best outfield player on the day, was lurking to bang it home.

Another horrendous pass out from the back, this time by Tarkowski, allowed Southampton in for a chance to restore their lead but the former Burnley defender made amends with a terrific block that was emulated by Vitalii Mykolenko and then Coleman as the Blues staved off the attack and began one of their own.

Iwobi collected a pass on the Toffees’ right and floated a ball in towards the penalty spot where Onana appeared to be pushed over by Kyle Walker-Peters but it continued on to McNeil who took one touch and then slammed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net to give Everton the lead.

Onana could have killed the game just three minutes later when he stooped to meet Coleman’s cross but put his header horribly wide and then, after Adams had chested the ball down and volleyed just wide, Gray was clean through but could only shoot at Bazunu, with Video Assistant Referee, Lee Mason, no doubt poised to rule it out for offside in any case.

The final 20 minutes were dominated by the Saints as they tried to find a way back to parity but Adam Armstrong’s effort from 12 yards bounced over the bar in the 71st minute and Stuart Armstrong arrived to meet a similar cut-back from the by-line but Pickford flew to his left to push it around the post a minute later.

The England international then beat away a strong shot from Walker-Peters and Coleman did well to head away a James Ward-Prowse free-kick but it wasn’t until the match moved into six minutes of added time that Hasenhüttl’s side threatened again to grab a point.

Everton’s markers failed to pick Caleta-Car up from a free-kick but, thankfully, the Croatian could only side-foot his volley over when he had the whole goal to aim at while Adam Armstrong had one last chance off Adams’s knock-down but shot straight at Pickford.

Again, this was the kind of fixture that the Blues would have lost this season, particularly after falling behind, so its testament to the job that Lampard is doing, the positivity he has injected into the camp, and the character of the players he has helped bring into the club that this time, they not only got something from the match but went on to win it.

Teams that can put a run of results together can see their League position improve rapidly and Everton have hauled themselves out of the bottom three to a position just outside the top 10 having avoided defeat in six Premier League games now with the second-best defence in the division.

Tough tests await in the form of Manchester United next weekend and daunting trips to Tottenham and Newcastle after that but there is a solidity and mental fortitude now that will give the team every confidence they can grind out results against the odds where before they would have folded. Onward and upwards, as they say…

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