There was a moment during this hard-earned Everton victory which illustrated what Ronald Koeman has brought to Goodison Park since replacing Roberto Martinez in the summer.
It came in the 83rd minute when, with Everton leading through goals by Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley, Koeman took off an attacking player, Yannick Bolasie, and replaced him with centre-back Phil Jagielka. It brought to mind at once this same fixture last season when the home side collapsed to a 3-2 defeat by conceding three goals in the final 12 minutes after Martinez had sent on an additional striker, Oumar Niasse, to help defend a lead despite his team being down to ten men.The least surprising aspect of their victory was that Lukaku should have struck their first goal, the Belgian scoring for the ninth game running against West Ham in Everton colours.
It came five minutes after half-time and was a goal curious in its conception, Yannick Bolasie actually teeing it up with a sliding tackle on Winston Reid down by the dead-ball line. The West Ham defender had looked poised to clear after Adrian’s low save from Seamus Coleman’s near-post shot but Bolasie flew in to divert the ball across goal where Lukaku headed it into the empty net.
Slaven Bilic, the disappointed West Ham manager said: “The first goal was cheap. It was the wrong decision in a situation when we had the ball. It was a crucial moment.”
For an Everton side without a victory since mid-September, it was certainly that though after Barkley had curled a shot narrowly over, they still had defending to do as West Ham chased an equaliser. Joel Robles, deputising for the injured Maarten Stekelenburg, stood tall to deny Michail Antonio after he had powered past Funes Mori. Bryan Oviedo then produced a goal-saving block on substitute Andre Ayew and instead Everton clinched the points through Barkley after 76 minutes.
Barkley must have endured moments of self-doubt during a campaign in which he has lost his England place and, briefly, found himself dropped to the bench by Koeman. Yet this was Barkley at his best: direct and powerful, rather than dawdling in possession as happened too often under Martinez. After sending Lukaku away with a ball spun out wide to the right, he surged into the box and was in the perfect place at the far post to apply the killer touch with a precise half-volley.
There was a standing ovation when Barkley was substituted near the end, and Koeman praised the 22-year-old’s performance, saying: “It was one of his best of this season.
He was working hard, he was tackling offensively he was important in the game and Adrian made an incredible save in the first half and then he scored the second goal.”
Reflecting on the contest overall, Koeman added: “The start was nervous because of the last few results. We had a lack of confidence. The second half was good, really different.”
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