STOPPAGE-TIME DOUBLE GIVES WEST HAM COMEBACK WIN AT EVERTON

No appeals board will save Everton on current form. Sean Dyche’s team may have been lifted by the return of four points on Monday but the psychological release did not transfer to the pitch where West Ham struck twice in stoppage time to inflict a damaging blow on the relegation candidates. An exquisite finish from Tomas Soucek turned the game West Ham’s way in the 91st minute before Edson Álvarez sealed a second win in six days for David Moyes’s improving side.

Everton led through a second-half header from Beto, who also missed a first half penalty, but Kurt Zouma, Soucek and Álvarez struck in a stirring comeback by West Ham as the hosts’ winless Premier League run extended to 10 matches. Dyche’s team have not won in the league since visiting his former club Burnley on 16 December and are toiling at both ends of the pitch as they search for that elusive victory.

The Dyche double of a long ball and a foul on the opposition’s most creative player was quickly ticked off the coupon. Jordan Pickford launched the first into West Ham territory after two seconds and Lucas Paquetá took an accidental blow in the face from Beto before the Everton goalkeeper’s kick came down. Another attritional afternoon at Goodison beckoned.

Beto was making his first start of the year after the Everton manager’s patience with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal drought understandably expired after 20 games. The Portuguese forward’s limited game-time was another reason it was a surprise to see him take Everton’s first penalty award of the season. His admirable sense of responsibility did not reflect well on more established teammates.

Everton started brightly and, in fairness, did look to the fit-again Amadou Onana and James Garner to build play through midfield. But it was West Ham who created the game’s first chances with Álvarez testing Pickford from distance and Konstantinos Mavropanos heading wide from a James Ward-Prowse corner. The first clear opportunity fell to Beto but, played through by Dwight McNeil, he shot straight at Alphonse Areola in the centre of the West Ham goal. The rebound struck him on the knee and sailed wide.

The first half was a stalemate, however, with both sides short on creativity and guilty of squandering possession cheaply. McNeil encapsulated the lack of quality when conceding a corner with a poor first touch deep inside his own half. All of which heightened the importance of the penalty awarded shortly before the interval following a clear handball by Zouna. The vast majority of the stadium knew Zouma had handled from Beto’s chip but the referee, Craig Pawson, waved play on. VAR eventually sent Pawson to the pitch-side monitor and the inevitable spot-kick was given. There seemed an inevitability to the outcome too as Beto, with only one Premier League goal to his name, sized up how to beat Areola. The keeper read his intentions perfectly and saved a poor penalty low to his left.

Beto’s performance, along with the entire contest, improved considerably in a more open and entertaining second half. The centre-forward soon atoned for his penalty miss to give Everton a valuable lead from Garner’s deep cross. Sprinting in behind Mavropanos, Beto met the midfielder’s excellent delivery from the right with a clinical header into the bottom corner. McNeil could have doubled Everton’s lead moments later after releasing Jack Harrison free on the right. Harrison opted against a first time shot and floated a cross back into McNeil’s path, but the out-of-form winger volleyed straight at Areola. It proved a pivotal moment in the game. West Ham woke up.

Zouma brought the visitors level with a thumping header into the top corner from Ward-Prowse’s corner. The lively Mohammed Kudus went close to edging Moyes’s team ahead when Alvarez sent him racing away from James Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey, but his attempt to round Pickford was foiled by the Everton goalkeeper.

Everton had chances for a second through Beto, his replacement Calvert-Lewin and when Tomas Soucek cleared off the line from Abdoulaye Doucouré. Soucek would save his finest contribution for the first minute of stoppage time. Taking Kudus’ left wing cross down on his chest, the midfielder curled a glorious half volley into Pickford’s far corner with the outside of his right foot. West Ham fans were still celebrating Soucek’s late sucker-punch when Jarrod Bowen led a breakaway from a poorly-taken Everton corner and found Álvarez charging into space down the left. The midfielder dinked a delightful finish over Pickford to seal West Ham’s first away win of the year.

2024-03-02T17:34:33Z dg43tfdfdgfd