Match Report

Everton collapsed in nightmarish fashion against Bournemouth to somehow throw away a 2-0 lead by conceding three goals in nine minutes and remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League heading into the international break.

For the second home game in succession, large expanses of empty seats were visible at Goodison Park following an exodus of irate Evertonians and the Blues and their manager were met with a torrent of boos from those fans who had remained behind at the final whistle.

This should have been Iliman Ndiaye's day on the occasion of his belated first Premier League start; instead, it will be remembered for one of the most calamitous nine-minute spells this famous old stadium has seen. 

Sean Dyche’s side were cruising to a well-deserved victory behind goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the game moved into the final five minutes of the 90, but there were already alarming signs that their dominance of the contest was waning when their star performer was mystifyingly withdrawn in favour of Abdoulaye Doucouré and Andoni Iraola's own substutions transformed his team's posture.

The Cherries duly pulled a goal back in the 87th minute through their chief threat Antoine Semenyo and then stunned Goodison in stoppage time, first when Lewis Cook wiped out Everton’s lead and then when substitute Luis Sinesterra won it with 96 minutes on the clock.

The horrifyingly chaotic finale seemed almost — almost... because this is Everton, after all — unimaginable earlier in the second half when the Blues were rampant at times, albeit let down by their familiarly inconsistent end product in the final third. Two goals to the good before an hour had elapsed, they had chances to match or even improve on last season’s emphatic 3-0 win over the same opposition before they self-destructed in a manner only Everton teams can.

The first half had had an air of deja vu in that the hosts had the upper hand but hadn’t been able to translate their superiority into goals. However, there was optimism that would eventually get it right given that Ndiaye had finally been handed his first Premier League start and Tim Iroegbunam was, once again, in confident and purposeful mood in the middle of the park alongside Idrissa Gueye.

Together with the magical Ndiaye, the former Villa man was at the heart of Everton’s best moments in the first period, playing a neat touch to Jack Harrison to flash a cross across goal early on and then collecting a pass from the Senegalese forward before driving past Julian Araujo and skidding a ball of his own in front of Kepa’s goalmouth.

Everton kept it and Gueye smashed Harrison’s cut-back over while Harrison spurned the chance to put the first shot on target a couple of minutes later but dragged his effort wide.

Earlier, Calvert-Lewin had headed a Dwight McNeil corner into the side-netting but when he won another set-piece in the 33rd minute and headed the resulting delivery back across goal to Keane, Ndiaye went close to opening the scoring. Unfortunately, though the defender’s touch fell invitingly for him, Ndiaye’s volley wouldn’t squirm between the keeper’s feet and it remained goalless at the interval after Kepa had easily saved McNeil’s speculative drive from distance.

The pattern continued into the second half, with Iroegbunam finishing another powerful run with a drilled shot that was charged down by Cook before Everton took the lead when Bournemouth failed to clear a free-kick after Ndiaye’s determined run had been checked by Justin Kluivert.

Harrison kept the ball alive with a cross that Calvert-Lewin chested into the path of Keane who finished with the kind of aplomb and crisp shot that has become typical of him in front of goal in recent seasons to break the deadlock.

Gueye bounced a half-volley into the goalkeeper’s arms shortly afterwards and Seamus Coleman somehow contrived to miss a gilt-edged chance after Everton had completely carved the visitors’ defence open before Calvert-Lewin doubled the lead in the 57th minute.

Iroegbunam overran the ball trying to bustle his way to the edge of the box once more but Ndiaye won it back, played in McNeil and the winger-turned-No.10 knocked it perfectly into the path of DCL to strike confidently past Kepa from a central position.

In marked contrast to the horribly one-dimensional approach against Brighton on the opening day, Everton were playing some lovely football at times, as good as anything Goodison has witnessed under Dyche and they should have added to their tally as the second period progressed.

After more lovely work by Ndiaye, McNeil should have shot himself but tried to play Calvert-Lewin in again with a heavy pass that ran away from the striker, while Ndiaye had two efforts of his own, one a low drive after neat feet had taken him past Araujo and the second a wayward shot that he ballooned into the Gwladys Street.

Harrison failed to bend a 25-yarder around Kepa, James Tarkowski should have scored with a header off a corner but struck the outside of the post and Iroegbunam hammered one narrowly over as Dyche’s men continued to press for more goals.

Bournemouth had barely been in the contest for 80 minutes but they briefly threatened when Jordan Pickford was called into action for the first time to push Marcus Tavernier’s strike away to safety and then see Sinisterra’s shot past his post a minute later.

But the 83rd-minute departure of Ndiaye along with his ability to hold the ball up in forward areas caused a rapid change in the character of the game, one that the Cherries seized upon in devastating fashion, exploiting the fatigue plaguing both Coleman and Vitalii Mykolenko.

They attacked after Iroegbunam had been dispossessed in their half and when Tavernier found Kluivert and he delivered a hard, low cross, Semenyo arrived untracked to convert a simple finish at the back post.

For Everton fans who had seen this movie before, alarm bells started ringing but Dyche proceeded with his planned substitution that removed Calvert-Lewin from the fray and after both Doucouré and McNeil had seen tempting balls flash across the face of goal with no takers, at one end, Bournemouth equalised at the other in the second minute of injury time.

This time it was Sinisterra who was allowed to cross and Cook stole in unchallenged to bury a header past Pickford to make it 2-2.

Tavernier should have won it a minute later as Everton almost completely folded but Pickford made a double save to keep his header and follow-up shot out before denying Semenyo’s low strike seconds later.

The epic surrender was complete two minutes after that. One more uncontested cross was whipped in from Everton’s right and this time it was Sinisterra coming in at an empty back post to head home before wheeling away in stunned delight to celebrate with his team-mates and the away fans.

In retrospect in the aftermath of a defeat whose scars will run deep for Everton players and fans alike, this was unforgivably atrocious game management from Dyche and his men and it will once again put the head coach in the crosshairs of criticism and frustration from much of the Goodison faithful.

The Toffees were heading for their first Premier League win in August for three years but threw it away in incomprehensible fashion and head into the international break with an awful lot of introspection needed, particularly from the manager and a defensive unit that just caved in the closing stages.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Updates

Everton looked like a different side as Ndiaye and Iroegbunam inspired a tremendous performance that gave them a 2-0 lead with 3 minutes to go. But three tremendous crosses saw three ridiculous goals given up in the last 10 minutes to turn the game on its head. 

With the transfer window now closed, Evertonians will be wondering just how many of the six new players who arrived they will get to see in action today against Bournemouth at Goodison Park. 

The answer is just two: Tim Iroegbunam, and Iliman Ndiaye, with Jake O'Brien, with Jesper Lindstrøm not making a sufficient impact yet, and Armand Broja coming in injured and unlikely to be seen for at least the next 2 months.

With Coleman and Garner returning against Doncaster Rovers, there is hope that the injury crisis is waning, but Chermiti, Branthwaite and Patterson are all still recovering from surgical procedures, and now they have another in the shape of Broja to keep them company in the overused Finch Farm treatment room. 

And Orel Mangala is ineligible, having been signed after the 12 noon Friday deadline for this game.  

Some great high pressing from Harrison and Coleman following the visitors kicking off in the glorious Goodison sunshine, but The Cherries were not fazed.  Bournemouth using Everton's long-ball tactic to get the ball upfield quickly for their main threat the Brazilian Evanilson.

The first chance fell for Seamenyo facing away from goal and scoring an Australian Rules 'behind'. Harrison was played in brilliantly by Iroegbunam and cross well but of course Calvert-Lewin was 3 yards behind the defenders and unable to connect. 

More positive play saw Harrison's cross deflected behind for Everton's first corner, McNeil playing it short and then getting a second bite, this one to the far post, just too far despite Calvert-Lewin getting ahead of the ball and putting it into the side netting. 

Iroegbunam stole the ball well off Christie but Everton failed to push forward and Bournemuth countered with threat but Evanilson got in mix-up. At the other end, Iroegbunam burst forward and put in another perfect cross but guess what? Yes, Calvert-Lewin jogging in 3 yards behind where he should have been. The ball fell to Gueye for his customary rugby conversion from just inside the penalty box. 

A decent cross in from Harrison but Calvert-Lewin was the wrong side of the defender. Harrison picked up the rebound and dribbled in to the middle only to shoot very poorly well wide of the goal. The next attack broke down before it got very far, with Calvert-Lewin offside. 

Calvert-Lewin was then crowded out by four defenders after McNeil fed him a decent ball. Iroegbunam played a great ball for Ndiaye but Araujo slid in with a brilliant tackle to deny him the shot. Nothing came of the corner, Keane heading wide. 

Pickford kept putting forward, Calvert-Lewin winning most, but the second ball falling to Bournemouth, who came right back at the Gwladys Street goal with annoying regularity.

On one such foray, they won a corner taken very poorly but still not immediately cleared, Pickford coming out for the second ball and missing to completely. When Everton did get forward, Ndiaye had strayed offside.

It was scrappy at times but Calvert-Lewin won a corner, McNeil delivering it a long way beyond the far post but Calvert-Lewin did very well to get the ball back across goal for Ndiaye to shoot strongly but too close to Kepa. 

A Bournemouth free-kick was well-defended, stopping any real chance from developing. At the other end, Iroegbunam tried a clever backheel but Calvert-Lewin had moved out of range. Bournemouth countered to win another corner, falling eventually for Tavernier to welly high and wide. 

Some great passing and movement from Harrison got Mykolenko to the byeline for a cross but it hit a defender. Keane gave an easy ball to Kluivert but he was so surprised, he quickly lost it. At the other end, McNeil shot weakly from too far out. 

Lots of effort and endeavour in the warm sunshine but nothing to show for it at half-time. 

From Pickford's restart punt, it was worked to Iroegbunam but his strong shot hit Cook before Coleman was denied a corner. Calvert-Lewin face-palmed Araujo. That saw a strong drive forward by The Cherries that needed some topping, at the expense of a corner, headed away well by Calvert-Lewin.

Ndiaye drove back down the left and was fouled but the free-kick did not reach Calvert-Lewin but the second phase came back and fell remarkably to Michael Keane who hammered home Everton's first Premier League goal of the season on his 200th start for the club. 

From the restart, more good work saw a difficult ball powered into the ground by Gana and it was easy meat for Kepa. A deep free-kick by Pickford bounced behind. 

A tremendous play by Harrison got Coleman in behind but somehow Kepa touched his shot over the bar when a low shot would surely have scored.

Still it seemed the game since half-time had been played in The Cherries' half and a great play saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin finally set up perfectly by McNeil and a  lovely little chip took it over Kepa and into the net for a wonderful second goal. 

Some fantastic individual persistence by Ndiaye really got the crowd going and should at least have earned a free-kick. More brilliant work by him set up McNeil but wanted to pass it to Calvert-Lewin. rather than shooting, and got it all wrong, missing a fabulous chance for the third goal. 

But it won a corner that led to another from the other side, but The Cherrries countered and Pickford came out of his area  smartly to head the cross away from Tavenier. It was end to end and Ndiaye came so close to scoring, his shot taking a deflection off a defender and toward Kepa. 

Ndiaye went on another surging run, but the end product was a bit of a let-down as he powered his shot over the bar. Harrison was next but his shot was straight at Kepa. 

Another wonderful run down the left by Ndiaye with tremendous ball play and a superb cross that seemed to fall perfectly for Calvert-Lewin but he just didn't shoot! Put off perhaps by the defender tracking him.… From the corner, Tarkowski powered his header into the side netting. 

Iroegbunam stepped in for a vital interception to stop a Bournemouth attack in its tracks. A McNeil free-kick saw Keane dragged off the ball by Semenyo but incredibly no penalty given as the Everton players reacted to his aggression with some serious handbags. Yellow cards brandished.

Iroegbunam's persistence was almost rewarded but his shot sizzled inches over the bar as Everton continued to press forward into the final 10 minutes. But following a corner, Tavernier tested Pickford with an angled shot before Sinisterra's shot needed saving, as Ndiaye went off to a fine ovation with the game surely won, Doucoure on in his place. 

But Ouattara got behind the Everton defence and put in a tremendous cross that Semenyo beat Mykolenko to get a late goal back. 

Everton went up the other end and put not one but two balls across the Bournemouth goal without them being converted as things became unnecessarily nervy with 6 minutes added on. 

But another fantastic cross by Bournemouth saw Cook power home a tremendous header to equalize. And Bournemouth came forward again, with another incredible chance for Taverneier this time saved by Pickford, who was then called again to get down and parry another tremendous shot.

And in the final minute of added time, the seemingly inevitable collapse was complete as another tremendous cross from Kluivert was headed in at the far post by Sinisterra. An unbelievable end to a game that Everton seemed to have won with what had been an excellent display until these shocking last 10 minutes.

Everton:  Pickford, Coleman, Tarkowski, Keane [Y:76'] , Mykolenko, Gana, Iroegbunam, Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye (83' Doucouré), Calvert-Lewin (88' Beto).

Subs not Used: Virginia, Dixon, O’Brien, Young, Lindstrøm, Garner, Armstrong.

Bournemouth: Kepa, Kerkez (66' Ouattara), Senesi (77' Huijsen), Zabarnyi, Araujo (77' Smith), Christie (66' Scott), Cook, Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo [Y:76'], Evanilson (66' Sinisterra).

Subs not Used: Aarons, Brooks, Hill, Travers.

Kick-off: 3 pm, Saturday 31 August 2024
Referee: Stuart Attwell
VAR: Graham Scott

Attendance: 38,305

Michael Kenrick

Get back out there and show us what you're made of

That the day was going too well should have been a beacon that it was about to go South… 

Picked up at 12:20 pm, and in the pub before 1 pm, even with a nice seat with a view of the early kick-off game. Having missed our opening Premier League game of the season, it was great to see the usual fellas, and chat mostly about the trials and tribulations of going online and getting Oasis tickets, before eventually turning our focus on Everton. All of us were pleased to see Iliman Ndiaye in the starting line-up after his excellent contribution in the League Cup in midweek.

We got through the Gwladys Street turnstiles in time for kick-off. It was a beautiful end-of-Summer's day and very warm in the stands. The atmosphere was very good as we attacked towards the Park End in the first half. 

Speaking of the Park End, the tribute for Super Kev was terrific. During the minute's applause on the 9th minute, I found myself reminiscing about some of the goals he scored at Goodison Park, with a well-taken goal in a 2-2 draw against Leeds United in 2001 a memory I was somehow drawn to. It was a great tribute to a great man, which was well observed by all. RIP, Super Kev.

We were on top in the first half if not in complete control. A lot of pressure, though not a lot of efforts on goal, Michael Keane perhaps coming closest when he headed into the side-netting from a trademark deep corner. 

Bournemouth gradually settled into the game and it felt like stalemate at one point, though Iliman Ndiaye getting on the ball more towards the end of the half hinted at what could be done after the break.

And so it proved in the second half. We came out of the traps well and really went full throttle at Bournemouth. The ever-maligned Michael Keane finished very well after Dominic Calvert-Lewin knocked down Jack Harrison's cross following good work by James Tarkowski to keep it alive. It amuses me that you literally wouldn't want the ball to drop to anyone else in that situation!

Everton were rocking from there forth, with Iliman causing havoc. Bournemouth dumbfounded with how to cope with him. The Cherries were let off the hook when Seamus Coleman, having done everything right to get into a great shooting position, hit it straight at Kepa who tipped it over the crossbar. However, it wasn't long before we'd doubled our advantage when Dominic finished brilliantly when teed up by Dwight McNeil, again, following splendid work from Iliman.

Bournemouth rung the changes to no avail. Everton continued to dominate and, if truth be told, when Sean Dyche substituted Iliman Ndiaye with Abdoulaye Doucoure, you felt we'd more or less finished the job. I don't recall anyone at the time shouting "What the hell is he doing?"

In hindsight, this was an error by Sean. At 2-0 and with a bit of time remaining, this should have been done when the game was definitely done. Bournemouth were terrified of Iliman. They didn't know how to handle him.

And then suddenly, they didn't have to worry about him. Before you knew it, Antoine Semenyo had arrived at the far post to turn the ball in, and there was immediately angst amongst everyone, supporters and clearly the players alike.

What happened next was inexplicable. While the substitution of Iliman Ndiaye was a mistake, it's hardly out of this world to bring on a solid experienced Premier League player like Abdoulaye Doucoure to help shore things up in the final 10 minutes or so.

In Jordan Pickford, Vitali Mykolenko, Michael Keane, James Tarkowski, Seamus Coleman, Idrissa Gueye, Dwight McNeil, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jack Harrison, there's mountains of experience in seeing games out. Those very same lads did it plenty of times last season even.

The drop-off was incredible and you could feel the momentum and belief grow from Bournemouth. It was horrible.

While the Iliman Ndiaye substitution was a mistake by Sean Dyche, I kind of got it. Beto was readied to come on just before Bournemouth pulled one back. Once Bournemouth scored, however, Beto should have politely been asked to sit back down. Dominic's performance was very good and given what just happened, I thought that was a really poor call from Sean Dyche.

What followed was a horror show. You knew what was coming, and those nine minutes felt like an eternity. I remember looking at the clock when Bournemouth scored and thinking "Shit, there's still three minutes to go". It's hard to believe that Jordan actually had to make two or three good saves even between that time and when Bournemouth dealt us the biggest humiliation. I, we, everyone, were completely stunned.

On the way home we tried picking apart Bournemouth's goals and what went wrong at the back for them. From the Gwladys Street, it was hard to tell, all we knew is that it was awful. Dan's general view from the Top Balcony was that it was a clusterfuck all round.

Having now mustered up the courage to watch the highlights, and as picked up by Danny Murphy on Match of the Day, the efforts from our midfielders to get back and help out the defence were appalling, and totally not in line with what Sean seems to have drilled into these players.

In the car while travelling back, we were discussing a number of different substitution options Sean could have made. Tim Iroegbunam, after a good performance was anonymous in the last 20 minutes and could have been swapped for James Garner to bring a bit of nouse into the middle, or even for Abdoulaye Doucoure had he deemed James not quite fit enough for that.

Or with Bournemouth having thrown so many attackers on, maybe bringing on our giant 6ft-6in centre-back to help shore things up. Ashley Young would even have been a handy substitute as he's shown decent craft with game management, as Jack Harrison looked pretty gassed by this point.

There was a lot that could have been done, and we had enough on the substitutes bench to change it with. Sean made errors here, though that all said, it's fair for him to have expected much, much better from his players.

Still, with the performance being mostly very good, especially so for 40 minutes of that second half, there are so many positives to take from that game, Iliman Ndiaye being the most obvious one. Dominic Calvert-Lewin also put in easily his best performance of the season so far.

With Jarrad Branthwaite, James Garner, Nathan Patterson, Jesper Lindstrom, Orel Mangala, Armando Broja and maybe Dele Alli all to be available, there's plenty of scope for recovery this season.

But that'll be down to the players, manager and his team. This stings, and with the international break it's a long time for them to stew over this. If there's anything about them, they'll have the bit between their teeth to put this right and make sure this sort of collapse doesn't happen again.

Following the international break, a tough task awaits at Villa Park. What a great opportunity then, for the players and manager to get back out there and show us what they are made of.

Man of the Match: Iliman Ndiaye

Paul Traill

Match Preview

Everton hope to build on their Cup win over Doncaster when their Premier League campaign resumes this weekend against Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

The Blues have made an awful start to their League season with back-to-back defeats, seven goals conceded, and none scored, but even though it was against League Two opposition, they showed some encouraging signs in the Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday evening.

One of the most prominent aspects of the win over Rovers was the performance of Iliman Ndiaye, particularly in the second half where he scored an excellent solo goal and made his strongest case yet for his first start in the Premier League.

The consensus among supporters appears to be that he should come into the side for Abdoulaye Doucouré, who has struggled to make an impact thus far, but with Dyche indicating a preference to deploy the Senegalese out wide, it may well be that if he plays, Jack Harrison or Dwight McNeil would be the player to make way.

Meanwhile, James Garner’s return from injury could see him keep his place in the starting XI, perhaps resuming his partnership with Idrissa Gueye at the expense of Tim Iroegbunam who could count himself hugely unfortunate to lose his spot having made such a strong start to life as an Everton player.

In defence, Seamus Coleman came through an hour on Tuesday and could start again, alleviating the selection crisis at right back, but it remains to be seen if Jake O’Brien did enough to displace Michael Keane at centre-half alongside James Tarkowski.

Up front, Dominic Calvert Lewin is expected to lead the line once more given that it is unlikely he will have left the club before the transfer deadline. The striker has yet to agree a new contract at Everton and now finds himself in the position of needing to perform well for the Toffees in order to earn a move away, either in January or as a free agent next summer.

Regardless of who is selected, Everton will need to perform significantly better than they did in their home opener against Brighton. Just like last season, fans will be hoping that a cup of victory over Doncaster can be the catalyst that ignites the team’s home form.

With two 1-1 draws form their first two games, Bournemouth come to Merseyside unbeaten so far, although manager Andoni Iraola was hugely aggrieved that a late winner against Newcastle last week was wiped out by a controversial VAR call.

The Cherries no longer have Dominic Solanke spearheading their attack but in Antoine Semenyo and Luis Sinisterra they have dangerous players capable of causing the Blues problems. They could also hand a debut to on-loan goalkeeper Kepa who has just arrived from Chelsea.

While Everton have looked unconvincing so far in the League, they do have a good record over Bournemouth at Goodison Park, having won six of seven since the south coast club were first promoted to the top flight in 2015.

A victory would send Dyche and his squad into the international break in a much more upbeat state of mind, with the additional potential fillip of a fit Jarrad Branthwaite by the time the season resumes against Aston Villa on 14 September.

Kick-off: 3pm, Saturday 31 August 2024
Referee: Stuart Attwell
VAR: Graham Scott
Last Time: Everton 3 - 0 Bournemouth

Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, McNeil, Ndiaye, Doucouré, Calvert-Lewin

Lyndon Lloyd

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