Lyndon Lloyd 29/10/2023 0comments  |  Jump to last
West Ham 0 - 1 Everton

Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired home a terrific striker's goal, his 50th in the Premier League, and Sean Dyche's Everton successfully frustrated David Moyes's West Ham to notch their second away win of the season so far.

The 26-year-old struck six minutes into the second half following a tightly-contested first period and the Blues managed to keep the Hammers at bay for the remainder of the game, with Jordan Pickford pulling off a 90th-minute save to deny Lucas Paquetá to preserve the points.

It was the first time that West Ham had been shut out at home in 2023 and the first time they'd not scored in the Premier League this season but for Everton it was night and day from their pathetic display in this same fixture under Frank Lampard last January.

With Ashley Young suspended, Nathan Patterson came in as the only change from the team that had started last weekend's Merseyside derby and, for the most part, the young Scot acquitted himself well along with the rest of the back four despite West Ham looking the more incisive in the early going.

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Paquetá's dink over Patterson gave him space to deliver a dangerous cross to the back post where Jarrod Bowen missed in uncharacteristic fashion midway through the first half.

Two minutes later, though, the visitors should have gone ahead themselves when Paquetà gave the ball away in his own half and Jack Harrison, Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucouré surged forward in a three-on-one situation against Nayef Aguerd but the on-loan winger made a mess of the chance and ended up shooting meekly at Alphonse Areola.

James Tarkowski had a header blocked at the back post off a deep Dwight McNeil corner and Harrison ballooned an effort high and wide from the edge of the box while McNeil and Amadou Onana were also off target with headers in the closing stages of the first half.

Everton had kept the likes of Bowen, Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus quiet in the first 45 minutes but it initially appeared as though Moyes had fired his troops up for the start of the second period.

Bowen had an early shot blocked and a couple of minutes later, after Patterson had been adjudged by referee Stuart Attwell to have committed a foul, Bowen stole in ahead of the static Doucouré but, thankfully, his header flew over the crossbar.

Three minutes after that, it was 1-0 to the Toffees. The imperious Jarrad Branthwaite did well to muscle ahead of Antonio to win the ball 10 yards inside the opposition half and fed it to Calvert-Lewin. He exchanged passes with Harrison and despite the attentions of Kurt Zouma and Aguerd, he took a really smart touch wide of the latter and drilled it into the corner of Areola's goal from just inside the box.

Bowen slammed a volley over after Vitalii Mykolenko's awkward header and dropped to him inside Everton's penalty area and Edson Alvarez skied an effort into the stands before Doucouré came close to doubling the Blues' lead.

This time, the French-born midfielder was put into the clear by Calvert-Lewin's towering knock-on but, though he took it early, Areola did well to palm Doucouré's skidding shot wide of his left-hand post with an hour gone.

The home crowd at the London Stadium were becoming increasingly restless as the half wore on but it was Everton who were keeping the opposing keeper the busier as McNeil forced Areola into tipping a rising effort over and Calvert-Lewin smacked a shot off the underside of the bar from Onana's slide-rule pass, although the offside flag would have negated any goal.

Somewhat predictably, Everton dug in for the final 15 minutes and dared West Ham to break them down but Pickford and his defence proved to be unbeatable, with the keeper even making a brilliant point-blank block to deny Kudus even though an offside decision would stop play afterwards in that instance as well.

Alvarez was well off target again from distance in the 85th minute, Pickford helped a cross-cum-shot from Aguerd behind a couple of minutes later and, after Calvert-Lewin had just failed to find Harrison in the box at the other end, Pickford made his last telling intervention.

Paquetá's cross picked out the substitute Saïd Benrahma but England's No.1 was equal to his volley, parrying it away to safety. 

A really creditable performance and victory – it was overseen by Farhad Moshiri and Josh Wander and Don Dransfield from prospective owners 777 Partners – means that a difficult week for Everton, one overshadowed by the death of Chairman Bill Kenwright and negative press around the independent commission into finance breaches, ends on a positive note.

The win lifts the Toffees up a place to 15th place and to within striking distance of the top half of the table, with a Carabao Cup Fourth Round tie against Burnley and a home assignment against Brighton to come at Goodison Park in the next week.

 

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