Dwight McNeil’s screamer inside the first minute gives Everton a massive three points in the race to stay out of the Premier League’s bottom three.
Everton were back at the friendly confines of Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon to face off against a Brentford side who were 12 unbeaten in league play with only 5 losses all season long. Sean Dyche named an unchanged starting XI from the 2-2 draw away to Nottingham Forrest, with Keane and Godfrey retaining their Roles at the back and Demari Gray leading the line up top.
It was an absolutely thunderous start for the blues only 30 seconds into the match, as Everton broke quickly via Iwobi on the wing, who played a great first time ball to Doucoure in the middle. The midfielder sized up his options before playing a good ball to Dwight McNeil, who measured himself and fired a cannon blast that beat David Raya and gave the toffees a shockingly early lead.
At the 20 minute mark, Everton had another golden opportunity. Iwobi once again playing creator and whipping a fizzing cross in that could only be parried away by Raya. It fell right to an unmarked Onana who somehow, off-balanced, blazed his effort over the bar from close range in a huge let off for the visitors. Brenford would finally grow into the match 5 minutes later, with Mbeumo testing Pickford from outside the box in the 24th minute. Pickford would make the save but only 2 minutes later Ivan Toney would beat his defender at close range and somehow blaze his header wide in a massive moment.
Everton would nearly score off a corner in the 33rd minute, as the home team continued to assert itself, but Iwobi’s effort from close range was saved well by Raya in goal to keep the visitors within one. It looked as if the home team’s domination had paid off in the 42nd minute, as Demari Gray bundled in from close range to put Everton up 2-0. However, following a VAR check it was deemed the ball came off Gray’s arm despite hitting him dead in the chest, and the goal was ruled out. A huge blow for the toffees who had controlled the first half, and somehow found themselves only 1-0 up at half-time.
As is customary, Everton came out of the blocks slow in the second half and it took a great save from Pickford in the 47th minute to deny Brentford and Rico Henry an equalizer as he headed from close range. Brentford continued to apply the pressure, making a double substitution in the 62nd minute as they looked to squeeze Everton back and find an equalizer. It nearly was for Brentford in the 71st minute, as Pinnock placed a header on target, but the goalscorer McNeil cleared it crucially off the line.
Davies, Maupay and Mykolenko would come on late for Everton as Sean Dyche’s side weathered an absolute storm of Brentford attacks. Goodison held its collective breath in the 93rd minute as the Brentford goalkeeper came up for a corner and got his head on it, but fortunately the ball trickled wide. Seamus Coleman would then rush back a minute later, beating the Brentford player to the ball and winning a free kick in what was crucially one of the last actions of the match.
Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye turned back the clock at a crucial time, leading Everton to a massive victory over one of the most in form sides in English football. A tale of two halves for sure, as Everton would have rued their chances in a dominant first half performance that could have seen them score 3 even without the massive VAR mistake. The second half was one of determination, as the blues dug deep and defended well despite having nearly no possession throughout the match’s latter stages. It truly is a massive three points ahead of a difficult run of fixtures, and following Sunday’s results sees Everton 15th for now, and looking ahead to another difficult matchup away at Stamford Bridge.
UTFT!
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