Match report: Everton 1-0 Brentford
Premier League: Despite two separate points deductions totalling eight points and doubts over their financial future and ownership, Everton have secured their top flight status for a 71st year in succession. Andy Hunter reports from Goodison Park …
Jordan Pickford: “Perfect,” says the Everton goalkeeper. “It was a big bounceback from Chelsea and now we’ve three games to go and enjoy it. There’s been a lot of pressure the last two years and after the deductions this year, the lads dug in massively. It’s been a perfect week: three wins, three clean sheets. I criticise myself but I made some crucial saves tonight.”
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James Tarkowski: “[The 6-0 defeat by Chelsea] was the toughest moment of the season and we were in a very dark place after that,” says the Everton captain in an interview with Sky Sports. “It’s been amazing. It’s been some week. Three wins. Today is the toughest game of the three. The lads turned up again. Incredible. The work Idrissa Gueye gets through is incredible.”
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A quick recap: Things could only improve after a dreadful first half in which both sides failed to muster a single shot on target between them. Jordan Pickford saved at the feet of Ivan Toney shortly after the break, before Idrissa Gueye scored from 10 yards out after the ball broke his way when Brentford failed to clear a corner. Everton hit the woodwork on two occasions, with both Dwight McNeil and James Garner sending thumping efforts against the cross-bar either side of Gueye’s strike.
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Full time: Everton 1-0 Brentford
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeeeep! A fairly dire game is put out of its misery but Everton fans won’t care about the lack of quality or entertainment on show at Goodison Park, where their team has won its third match in a week. They win courtesy of Idrissa Gueye’s second-half strike and guarantee their top flight status for another season.
90+7 min: Brentford teammates Bryan Mbeumo and Mathias Jensen have a frank exchange of views over something or other. I’m not sure what.
90+6 min: Michael Keane is playing as a centre-forward. Did we ever think we’d see the day?
90+5 min: Everton substitution: Keane comes on for Chermiti, who receives a warm round of applause from the Goodsion Park crowd.
90+3 min: Pickford dives to his left to save a low Kevin Schade rasper from distance. The Everton goalkeeper spills the ball but retrieves it before Ivan Toney can pounce.
90+1 min: Everton free-kick, wide on the left. With everybody expecting a cross into the penalty area, James Garner tries his luck and rattles the cross-bar with a fine effort.
90 min: Michael Keane was about to come on for Everton but has his hi-viz bib back on and is leaning against the dugout. He was to replace Chermiti, presumably in a bid to help Everton see out the win. The young Portuguese striker hasn’t had much to work with in this game, but did show a lack of bravery with the one half-decent chance that came his way.
86 min: Onana advances on the Brentford penalty area and dithers before passing the ball to Doucoure on his right. Shooting from an offside position, he loses his balance and sends the ball wide. The flag goes up, rendering his effort redundant.
84 min: Chermiti runs on to a ball in behind by Dwight McNeill but is unable to get a shot off under pressure from Nathan Collins. The flag goes up for offside. Brentford substitution: Mads Roerslev comes on fror Kristoffer Ajer.
83 min: A long Pickford kick-out sails over the head of its intended target, Chermiti, but Everton manage to win a throw-in deep in Brentford territory on the back of industrious ferreting by Harrison.
80 min: Kevin Schade immediately wins a corner for Brentford after leaving Brantwaithe in his dust. Nothing comes of the set-piece, which Everton clear in instalments.
78 min: Brentford double-substitution: Kevin Schade and Yegor Yarmolyuk on for Sergio Reguilon and Christian Norgaard. Everton substitution: Amadou Onana on for Idrissa Gueye.
76 min: Pickford sticks up an arm to save a rising long-range drive from Keane Lewis-Potter.
75 min: Reguilon’s low corner finds its way to Toney, who tries to steer the ball past Pickford at the near post. The Everton goalkeeper saves comfortably.
74 min: Tarkowski is booked for – I think – kicking a second ball on to the pitch to prevent Brentford from taking a quick throw-in or corner. He pleads his case with the referee, claiming innocence, but to no avail.
72 min: Chermiti sprints on to a ball through the centre but bottles his attempt to win it, pulling out of a 50-50 challenge with Brentford’s goalkeeper and allowing Flekken to hack it clear. That’s poor from the Everton striker – he could have beaten Flekken to that ball.
70 min: Gueye fouls Norgaard in the centre-circle and Brentford have a free-kick, which they waste. The ball is sent sailing out of play for an Everton goal kick.
68 min: Brentford double-substitution: Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter come on for Vitaly Janelt and Yoane Wissa.
67 min: McNeil sends a low drive fizzing inches wide of the upright moments after Everton had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down after the ball hit Kristoffer Ajer’s shoulder following a close range ricochet off Tarkowski.
65 min: If Everton win this game, they are guaranteed to stay up and it will be any two from Burnley, Luton and Nottingham Forest who go down with Sheffield United, whose relegation was confirmed earlier today. Given their superior goal difference over those three teams, a draw today will almost certainly guarantee Everton’s safety too.
64 min: A slip from Ben Godfrey allows Yoane Wissa to send a cross into the Everton box from the left. Jarrad Brantwaithe heads clear.
There's a VAR check ...
There was a check possible offside in the build-up to that goal but try as they might, the curtain-twitchers in Stockley Park can find no reason to chalk of Gueye’s opener. Everton are in front following their first shot on target!
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Brentford (Gueye 60)
I spoke too soon! Everton win another corner, still looking for their first shot on target. The ball is swung into the mixer and breaks to Gueye, whose first shot is blocked. Harrison’s low cross into the box is only half-cleared by Brentford and the ball breaks to the Everton midfielder, who rifles it into the top corner from about eight yards.
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57 min: The outswinger is sent towards the far post, where Brentford clear. Everton recycle the ball but Young overhits his delivery back inoto the penalty area and sends the ball out for a Brentford goal-kick. The almost total absence of anything resembling quality or finesse in this football match being contested by 22 elite professionals is comical.
55 min: Yoane Wissa shoves Jack Harrison to the ground as the duo contest a ball sent fizzing towards the corner flag by McNeil. McNeil sends the ball towards the far post, where Flekken punches it out for a corner under pressure from Ben Godfrey.
54 min: Dwight McNeil sends a swerving, curling shot from distance thumping against the cross-bar. Flekken was beaten all ends up but Brentford were saved by the woodwork.
52 min: Jack Harrison puts the ball straight out of play for a throw-in as another Everton sortie into Brentford territory fizzles out into nothing.
50 min: Matthias Jensen advances through the centre and curls a low cross into the path of Ivan Toney, whose right-footed shot is saved by Jordan Pickford, who dives at the striker’s feet.
49 min: Young plays the ball out of defence to Chermiti, who is robbed of possession on the halfway line by Mathias Jensen. The Brentford midfielder plays the ball back to his goalkeeper, Mark Flekken, who has taken 49 minutes to get a mention in this match report.
47 min: Pickford takes a free-kick from just inside his own half and instead of booting it long into the box, picks out McNeil with an excellent pass down the wing wing with his left foot. The Everton winger’s control lets him down and he loses the ball.
Second half: Everton 0-0 Brentford
46 min: The second half kicks off, with hopes high that it can eclipse a first half in which there were no shots on target and the only “highlight” of note was the sight of Jarrad Brantwaithe blocking an effort from Matthias Jensen after James Tarkowski had been nutmegged.
Half-time: Everton 0-0 Brentford
Peep! With a blast of his whistle, referee Darren England draws a massively forgettable first half to a close. There’s no point in beating around the bush – it’s been a dismal game of football so far.
45+1 min: Chermiti lays the ball off to Harrison, who has a shot from distance blocked.
45 min: Chermiti gets a nice touch on a free-kick from deep, sending the ball looping around the corner for Doucoure in a good position about 10 yards out. He slices his shot horribly wide of the upright.
43 min: Nathan Collins blocks a Harrison shot and puts the ball out for an Everton corner. Nothing much comes of it, although once the ball’s recycled by Everton, the Brentford defender is forced to block another shot, this time from Tarkowski.
41 min: Bryan Mbeumo fouls Dwight McNeil seconds before Chermiti returns to the pitch after changing his boots.
38 min: Chermiti hurts himself as he goes in on Vitaly Janelt with a crunching challenge. There’s a break in play as he receives treatment. He’s been feeding off scraps in this first half but you can’t fault his enthusiasm or desperation to impress on this rare opportunity to get some game time.
36 min: Ivan Toney tries his luck from distance but his shot is blocked by Tarkowski. The Brentford striker gives away a free-kick as he tries to retrieve the breaking ball. Pickford sends the ball long to Chermiti, who is again bested by Pinnock. The young, inexperienced striker simply doesn’t have anywhere near the same physical presence as Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
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35 min: Everton corner. McNeil picks out Tarkowski at the far post, who heads it back across the face of goal. Brentford clear.
33 min: Dwight McNeil drills a low cross into the Brentford penalty area from the left but fails to beat the first man. That man? Nathan Collins, who hacks clear.
30 min: Looking every inch the raffish wing-commander with his carefully Brylcreemed hair, Jack Harrison canters down the right wing with the ball at his feet but runs into a solid wall of resistance in the form of Kristoffer Ajer.
29 min: Chermiti forces Pinnock into a mistake and wins a corner for his team. The subsequent inswinger is cleared at the back post by the man who gave away the corner in the first place.
27 min: James Garner advances into Brentford territory with the ball at his feet but their visitors aren’t long winning possession back. This is pretty grim fare for the neutral observer, as both sides are struggling to hold on to the ball.
25 min: Brentford win a free-kick wide on the left, take it short and then send a cross towards Ivan Toney. Pickford plucks the ball from the sky and sets up a quick counter-attack, which comes to nothing very quickly. The home side keep sending speculative balls in the direction of their young Portuguese striker, Chermiti, but he’s unable to get to any of them.
23 min: Everton win a free-kick about 10 yards inside their own halfg for a Wissa foul on Tarkowski. Pickford launches the ball towards the edge of the Brentford penalty area but is unable to pick out his intended target, Brantwaithe.
21 min: A low Kristoffer Ajer ball across the face of the Everton goal is blocked and cleared by Tarkowski.
20 min: Jarrad Brantwaithe blocks what looked a certain goal after Vitaly Janelt had sent a pull-back through Tarkowski’s legs and straight into the path of Matthias Jensen, who pulled the trigger.
17 min: An announcement over the Goodison Park PA warns supporters to remain seated and says that anyone “who persistently stands” will face repercussions of some kind. It seems unnecessary, as very little has happened in the opening 15 minutes to get supporters of either side out of their seats and on their feet.
16 min: Pinnock sends a five-iron down the left flank, trying to pick out Bryan Mbeumo. James Tarkowski is first to the ball and tidies up at the back for Everton.
14 min: Brentford win a throw-in deep in Everton territory and eventually get a cross to the back post, where Pickford punches clear under pressure from Nathan Collins.
12 min: Tarkowski plays a low ball to the feet of Chermniti, who has his back to goal and tries to spin around Ethan Pinnock. Not today, young man – the striker falls over in the face of the immovable man-mountain behind him but doesn’t get a free-kick.
11 min: Jordon Pickford races out of his area to meet a ball over the top of his defence that Yoane Wissa was chasing. The Everton goalkeeper heads the ball clear in a style similar to Kevin De Bruyne’s excellent headed goal against Brighton on Thursday night.
9 min: Doucoure plays a crossfield diagonal towards McNeill on the left touchline but the Everton winger is unable to keep the ball in play and puts it out for a Brentford throw-in halfway inside their own half.
6 min: Dwight McNeil collects a cross from the right and from a narrow(ish) angle, sends the ball fizzing across the face of goal. Chermiti flings himself at the ball near the far post but despite stretching every sinew, is unable to get the crucial touch.
4 min: Jensen sends the ball into the mixer and Jarrad Brantwaithe misses his header. Everton eventually hack the ball clear, with Tarkowski dooing the honours. There’s a VAR check for a potential handball by Abdoulaye Doucoure in his own penalty area but replays show the ball hit him in the face.
3 min: Jarrad Branthwaite is forced to concede a corner under pressure from the terrier-like harrying of Mathias Jensen.
3 min: Pickford launches another long ball towards Chermiti, who is beaten to it on this occasion by Ethan Pinnock.
2 min: On his first Premier League start for Everton, Youssef Chermiti engages in a futile chase down the left flank trying to win possession of a ball hoofed in his general direction from deep. Kristoffer Ajer gets to it first.
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Everton v Brentford is go ...
1 min: Everton kick-off, their skipper having elected to do so after winning the coin-toss. Abdoulaye Doucoure gets the ball rolling, playing it straight back to Jordan Pickford.
Not long now: James Tarkowski and Christian Norgaard lead the sides down the tunnel and up the stairs as the Z Cars theme music blares out over the Goodison Park PA system. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
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Sean Dyche: In an interview with Sky Sports, the Everton manager explains that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is ill and carrying a couple of knocks. Vitaly Mykolenko is out with an ankle injury that “he’ll take a bit of time to recover from”.
On the similarities between Brentford and Everton’s form coming into this game: “I jusat spoke to Thomas and he’s somebody I respect and know reasonably well. We were saying that one of the conundrums of how we both hadn’t won games for long periods despite pretty decent performances and it’s just one of those things you have to come out of. We’ve both done that in our own ways and now we’ve parked that, we want to take these on and try to win the game.”
The foot of the table: Sheffield United’s defeat at St James’ Park means they are relegated from the Premier League, while a draw for Burnley at Old Trafford leaves them second from bottom on 24 points, one behind Luton, who lost at Wolves.
Everton are eight points clear of the drop zone and a win this evening will guarantee their safety. Even a draw ought to be enough, given their superior goal difference to the four teams below them.
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Thomas Frank: “The biggest thing comparing this season to last season is that we have lost way too many games and when you don’t win, you don’t get that little bit of sugar, that natural little bit of feedback to the brain that says all the hard work is paying off,” said the Brentford manager in an interview with Sky Sports yesterday.
“A big thing is looking at the processes, looking at the performances, looking at how the players are developing, because they are still developing even if we are losing. Losing is just a result on the scoreboard and performances are the most important thing.”
Tonight’s match officials
Referee: Darren England.
Assistants: Simon Bennett and Dan Robathan.
Fourth official: Dean Whitestone.
VAR: Michael Oliver.
Assistant VAR: Richard West.
Those teams: Dominic Calvert-Lewin is not in the Everton matchday squad, presumably having failed to recover from the illness through which he played in midweek. In the abence of Beto, his place is taken by the 19-year-old Portuguese centre-forward Youssef Chermiti, who has yet to score a senior goal for the club in this, his first season on Merseyside. Vitaly Mykolenko is injured and missing from the matchday squad. His place in the side is taken by Ashley Young.
Brentford make two changes to the side that trounced Luton last weeklend. Ivan Toney and Christian Noorgard come into the side, with Mikkel Damsgard and Keane Lewis-Potter dropping to the substitutes’ bench.
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Everton v Brentford line-ups
Everton: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Young, Harrison, Gueye, Garner, McNeil, Doucoure, Chermiti.
Subs: Keane, Onana, Danjuma, Virginia, Andre Gomes, Lonergan, Warrington, Hunt, Metcalfe.
Brentford: Flekken, Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Reguilon, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Mbeumo, Toney, Wissa.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Schade, Jorgensen, Ghoddos, Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Roerslev, Yarmolyuk.
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Early team news
Long-term Brentford absentees Josh Dasilva, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Ben Mee are all out for the rest of the season, while loanee striker Neal Maupay can’t play in this game because it’s against his parent club. England hopeful Ivan Toney is facing a late fitness test after a short spell out with a hip injury.
Beto misses out for Everton after being stood down under the concussion protocols, while Seamus Coleman and Lewis Dobbin are also absent with injury. Vitaly Mykolenko is unlikely to be fit as he recovers from an ankle injury, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also a doubt after playing through illness to help put Liverpool to the sword on Wednesday night.
Premier League: Everton v Brentford
All but mathematically safe from relegation on the back of a midweek derby win that almost certainly smithereened the title hopes of their bitter rivals Liverpool, Everton’s players, manager and fans are likely to be in an extremely jubilant mood at Goodison Park this evening. They welcome a Brentford side who will be in similarly upbeat mood, having guaranteed themselves another season in the top flight with their emphatic win over Luton Town last Saturday.
Whether or not Everton’s players will be able to scale similarly dizzy heights to those of Wednesday night against significantly less exalted and loathed opposition remains to be seen and Brentford’s players arrive having had the benefit of a midweek rest. There’s little beyond pride at stake for either side but we’ll find out how up for the challenge they are come 5.30pm (BST).
