Marco Silva has gotten off to a great start in front of a sold-out crowd at Goodison Park in what could be his last three matches as Everton boss.
Everton put on a brilliant display as they dispatched West Ham by two goals to nil.
Silva made five changes to the starting lineup as players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Morgan Schneiderlin and Dominic Calvert-Lewin saw themselves dropped for below-par performances in previous matches.
Fabian Delph was not selected in the squad after being withdrawn from the England squad.
Djibril Sidibe replaced the suspended Seamus Coleman.
The Toffees got off to a lively start as just eight minutes in, Bernard whipped in an inviting corner which was nodded on by Pablo Fornals, finding an unmarked Tom Davies who could only connect with the heel of his foot directing towards Roberto.
16 minutes gone and the deadlock would be broken by Everton as Theo Walcott plays a perfectly weighted pass to Bernard. The Brazilian winger would get himself out of trouble with some silky skills and tucked it past the West Ham goalkeeper from the tightest of angles.
Just five minutes after the goal, Everton would threaten Roberto’s goal again as summer signing Alex Iwobi connects with Richarlison, who drives his shot onto the post.
The Blues by far the better side as they went into the break with a one-goal lead.
The next decent chance of the game would come in the 63rd minute. Lucas Digne’s freekick would be defended by Angelo Ogbonna but only to Walcott. The 30-year-old would unleash a cannon of a half volley onto the crossbar.
Everton kept on pressing West Ham and would get another chance to make it 2-0. Sidibe played through an unmarked Alex Iwobi who only had Roberto to beat, but he shoots straight at the Spanish keeper.
A questionable decision from the officials as a foul was given from a corner for what seemed to be nothing wrong, baffling the Everton players and the viewers. Mina would direct the ball into the net but it would not count.
Peter Walton would try to explain that Andre Gomes seemed to have blocked Issa Diop from defending the set-piece.
Questions would be asked of the referee again in the 82nd minute when Arthur Masuaku appeared to have hacked down Djibril Sidibe. Paul Tierney would award a corner to West Ham instead.
The Hammers had their first dangerous attempt of the match from the corner. Pickford would save a deflected Ogbonna shot to keep the game at 1-0.
In the second minute of added time Everton would seal the three points when Richarlison played a pass to substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson.
The Iceland international would bend a sensational shot into the top corner to make it 2-0.
This was more like the performance that Toffee’s fans are looking to see, as the Blues took all three points at Goodison Park.
(Pic by Kathrin Mezger under Creative Commons Licence)
