A Good Day

Everton 3 - 0 Bournemouth

It was my son’s birthday yesterday, and he was awarded Player of the Match in his kids football game. “If Everton win, that would be a hat-trick of celebrations today” he said gleefully while clutching his trophy award. ‘Don’t get your hopes up’, I thought…

After some lunch, Dan picked us up quite promptly and we were parked up for at around 1:15 pm. Such was the beautiful weather, we thought against going to the usual pub and instead visited the Fan Zone which was a nice change up. Them self-service Coors beers are pretty cool, and it was a nicer environment for my son, who was able to come along to the game thanks to Dan and his lad generously offering to switch seats. So rather than having to stand up and not see a lot in the Gwladys Street, we could enjoy a great view from the Top Balcony. Splendid stuff.

In the Fan Zone, we’d got the team news and understood that Idrissa Gueye was playing in midfield alongside James Garner and a more advanced Abdoulaye Doucoure. I thought I was going mad when we lined up with Amadou Onana in the midfield instead though it did materialise that Idrissa had injured himself in the warm-up.

Not that I like to see players get injured, of course, though this turned into a blessing in disguise as Amadou, for me at least, had his best game yet in a Blue shirt in what was as dominant an Everton performance we’ve seen for many a year.

In our podcast earlier in the week, we made a lot of our ability to win games once we take the lead, and inability to get back into games once falling behind. And so it felt important that we got in front early in this one.

Our early dominance was repaid when Illia Zabarnyi slipped and panicked a bit in possession as James Garner zoned in. James, who excelled in the centre throughout, took the ball forward and surprised everyone, not least Neto in goal,  by taking his strike quite early to put Everton ahead. It looked for all the world that he was going to slip Dominic Calvert-Lewin in, which may have caught the goalkeeper out. My boy jumped up for joy and it was great to give him a hug and a high five, the first of three in the afternoon in celebrating our goals.

The next of which wasn’t too far away. Bournemouth briefly murmured and had us struggling with a number of corner kicks which eventually we managed to clear. As it was, pressure built from corner kicks of our own resulted in our second goal.

It was clear to see that Neto isn’t a goalkeeper that likes to catch. On a few occasions, he punched clear though Everton got the ball back into the box. On this occasion, Vitalii Mykolenko curved a ball back into the penalty area and Neto punched clear but only to Jack Harrison. Jack had a few options, of which lofting the ball back towards goal and into the net probably the least likely to result in a goal, though this is what he tried. ‘You don’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket’ they say, or perhaps in more footballing terms – ‘you don’t shoot, you don’t score’. So credit to him for taking it on and clipping in a lovely goal, to put Everton into a full deserved 2-0 lead.

It could have been more too. Dominic Calvert-Lewin hit the crossbar with a nice header, and Amadou Onana flashed an effort just wide on the turn when perhaps he might have done better. There were a couple of other opportunities too, but we had to be delighted with what we had at the break.

During half-time, my son had his photo and message up on the big screen. It was a bit of an anxious wait. I’d sent the photo and message in to Everton though had no response on if it was going to feature, so I was kind of hoping for the best while encouraging my son to keep an eye on the screen. Thankfully it came up which made his day. It would have sucked to have him watch all the messages and then not see one for himself!

Everton continued the second half in much the same vein and pressed aggressively up the field. Our third goal was a joy to watch. Amadou was really settling into his groove by now and did very well to retain possession. Was it a foul as Bournemouth were claiming? Possibly, but if the referee doesn't give it in the first instance it’s not clear and obvious enough to overturn that in my view.

Anyhow, this resulted in Dwight McNeil getting down the left and chipping a ball to the back post. (It was very Kevin Kilbane to Tim Cahill vs Crystal Palace in April 2005, Christ, how long ago was that?!?!). Jack Harrison should have scored though it was well blocked on the goal line. However, Abdoulaye Doucouré was on hand to make sure and walloped it into the net. The result no longer in doubt. And one more hug and high five with my boy. Brilliant.

Though we eased off slightly from an attacking sense, we still had some other openings and on another day could have scored five or six. Abdoulaye should have done better with his chance, Dwight too though that he'd cleared it off the line and then ran the length of the field to be there to hit the shot was incredibly commendable in itself, and Amadou was unlucky not to score with one of his two fierce drives at goal from a corner kick but it wasn’t to be. Instead, preserving a highly valued clean sheet perhaps became more of the priority by the end, though whatever James Tarkowski or Jarrad Branthwaite couldn’t handle was well dealt with by Jordan Pickford.

Going into the international break and with the next match at Anfield, this was an important win, make no mistake. While this only takes us up to 15th position in the league table, it’s a big relief to have a little cushion on the teams in the Bottom 3. Look at our goal difference already compared to them too. We’re on -3, they are on -13 or in Sheffield United’s case, -16. Luton Town are on -9. It goes to show quite how tight most of our games have been.

After the match, Dan kindly took us back home and we went out for a great family meal. A brilliant birthday for the boy, hopefully one he’ll remember for some time. Certainly one his old man will.

A great day. Up the Toffees.

Jordan Pickford: Caught what he had to and saved well when required. 7

Vitalii Mykolenko: A good solid effort. 7

Jarrad Branthwaite: Did well. Looked calm and composed as ever. 7

James Tarkowski: Marshalled the team well and defended well. 7

Ashley Young: He did okay. Positionally he’s very aware which is probably what’s keeping him in the team. He doesn’t really get caught out with balls over the top, which may be an area Nathan can improve on. 6

Amadou Onana: He was everywhere. He used the ball smartly and made several excellent tackles and interceptions. Dan made a point on the way home of – is he a bit of a Paul Pogba? Capable of brilliance but doesn’t do it often enough, and looks good when the team is winning and is well on top. Which posed the question – does Amadou play well because the team plays well, or is the team playing well because he is playing well? I’m actually not sure but he was my Man of the Match yesterday. 8

James Garner: He had an excellent game in the middle. He scored a good goal of course, but its his tenacity, and then nous when we win back the ball which make him so valuable in there. A great effort. 8

Dwight McNeil: I think that’s Dwight back to his best and fully fit as he didn’t quite seem there against Luton Town. A great shift throughout. 8

Jack Harrison: A brilliant full league debut from Jack. I hate to term him a “Sean Dyche player” but he epitomises everything you would expect for that category. He’s selfless for the team, works very hard and is productive with the ball, as he showed with his goal of course. The team seems to be shaping up. 8

Abdoulaye Doucoure: I think we just have to accept Abdoulaye’s limitations in comparison with the great work he brings to the team, especially given the fact he is coupling this with goals too. He makes some poor decisions which frustrate, but does a lot of good too which is why he will stay in the team. And if he’s popping up with goals, who can really complain? 8

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: With three wins coming in the last four games it’s probably not a coincidence that this has arrived with Dominic’s return. He leads the line very well and can cause problems for any team when fit. For the first time probably since he was managed by Carlo Ancelotti, he now looks fully fit. If he can stay so throughout most of the season, we will be in no trouble whatsoever. 7

Nathan Patterson (for Jack Harrison): He settled into the game pretty nicely. 6

Beto (for Dominic Calvert-Lewin): He did okay and showed some glimpses of what he can do, but has a bit to go yet. The good thing is that if Dominic is not available, he is an adequate replacement. It’s great this competition for places malarkey! 6

Youssef Chermiti (for Abdoulaye Doucoure): Though not on long I was made up to see him for a few minutes and kept a close eye on him. He got involved well, and at one point chased back into our penalty area to try and win the ball back. A small sample, I know, but he looks handy. I’m looking forward to seeing him develop. 6

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