That’s all for today. Thanks for your company and emails; I’ll leave with Jacob Steinberg’s report from the London Stadium. Ta-ra.
And Tim de Lisle is your man for the Manchester derby. Let’s not discuss the cricket, eh.
It’s half-time in the 2pm games, and these are the scores.
Aston Villa 1-0 Luton (McGinn 17)
Brighton 1-0 Fulham (Ferguson 26)
Liverpool 2-0 Nottm Forest (Jota 31, Nunez 35)
Our live scores page has goal updates from across Britain and Europe.
Full time: West Ham 0-1 Everton
Peep peep! That’s a terrific win for Everton, their third in five league games. They defended superbly, particularly the centre-backs James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite, and had the better of what few chances there were.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose presence makes such a difference to this team, scored a really good winning goal early in the second half. Whisper it, but Everton are threatening to become a serious football team again. Sean Dyche is often sneered at but he is a seriously good football manager.
West Ham were very poor, and there were loud boos at the final whistle. They’ll be fine, though they do need to work out how to pick the lock when teams defend deep.
Boos ring out around the London Stadium, Everton get the three points! ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/USq8RglwzK
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 29, 2023
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90+5 min There’s audible dissent from the home crowd when Benrahma is tackled by Harrison. It’s been one of those days for West Ham; they’re a better attacking team than they have shown today, though Everton deserve credit for making them look so bad.
90+4 min McNeil goes down with a head injury, though West Ham are pretty sure he’s trying it on. He’s fine.
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90+2 min The excellent Onana fights off Soucek and finds McNeil. His shot is blocked but he collects the rebound and wins a throw-in off Coufal.
90 min: Good save by Pickford! Paqueta curls a very deep cross to Benrahma, who hammers a technically superb volley towards the near post. Pickford dives to his right to push it away. It was such a sweet strike from Benrahma.
There will be six added minutes.
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89 min: Everton substitution Youssef Chermiti replaces Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose fine goal separates the teams.
88 min Aguerd tries to place one from 25 yards. It’s kicked away and Everton break. Their defence has been superb today. You can certainly see why Jarrad Branthwaite has so many admirers – he’s tall, strong, deceptively quick and seems very calm for a 21-year-old in such a crucial position.
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87 min West Ham have had one shot on target, and I can’t even remember it. They almost get lucky when Aguerd’s mishit cross is tipped over the bar by the backpedalling Pickford. I think that would have gone in.
85 min: West Ham substitution Danny Ings replaces Aaron Cresswell, which means a switch to a back three.
84 min “It started way before the 1990s,” says Richard Hirst of the ABU culture. “I would say the hooliganism of Utd’s supporters in the 1970s, together with the dislikeability of the teams that had the snarling little ……. of the likes of Mickey Thomas and Arthur Albiston. But other views may be available!”
You’re right – I was referring specifically to the phrase “Anyone But United”, which I think was coined by somebody in Ireland when United had four players sent off in five games in the spring of 1994. Alan Mullery wore a Blackburn jacket on Sport in Question (I think) – they were United’s title rivals that season – and the whole thing started to grow.
82 min Alvarez is booked for leaving one on Onana. He’ll miss the Brentford game as well.
81 min If it stays like this Everton will move up to 15th (assuming Nottingham Forest, who are 2-0 down at Anfield, lose by at least two goals). They would be only two points behind Chelsea and, more importantly, five ahead of Luton in 18th. As Phil Grey said in the 3rd minute, they could well survive even if they are deduced 12 points.
80 min Everton have defended superbly, but it’s hard to fathom how poor West Ham have been going forward. This is the kind of performance that generates hashtags.
78 min Pickford makes a brilliant point-blank save from Kudus, though it wouldn’t have counted as Kudus was offside.
77 min Benrahma is booked for pulling back Garner, another man who has quietly established himself in this Everton team.
76 min “As the ‘inspiration’ I’d happily go with Eric Petersen’s suggestion,” says Richard Hirst. “It would be interesting to see how far Man Utd would be below all other teams, as everybody other than Utd supporters most disliked team. And to think in 1968 I wanted them to win the European Cup: it wouldn’t happen now!”
I was doing something on 1992-93 recently and it’s fascinating, looking through the archives, to see how much goodwill there was towards Man Utd. Within a year they were loathed and the concept of Anyone But United was born.
75 min Calvert-Lewin crashes a shot off the underside of the bar, though he was well offside.
75 min Everton continue to frustrate West Ham’s attack. That centre-back pairing of Tarkowski and Branthwaite looks like a keeper.
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74 min “I’m glad Alphonse Areola is getting a run in the team,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Being a goalkeeper is such a weird role, because as Arteta has shown this season, players can’t rotate in and out without sending some fans and commentators into meltdown. He’s much too good to be a benchwarmer.”
He is. I was going to say “so is Fabianski”, then I realised he’s 38 years old. When did that happen?
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73 min: West Ham substitution Tomas Soucek replaces James Ward-Prowse. That’s a slight surprise, especially as you’d imagine Soucek has been brought on partly for his threat at set-pieces.
72 min If it stays like this, and that’s a reasonably sized if, Everton will have quietly won four of their last six games in all competitions. They threaten to make it 2-0 when Garner’s low cross towards Harrison is cut out at the near post.
71 min The team news is in for the Manchester derby. You can follow that game with Tim de Lisle.
69 min Paqueta is booked for dissent, which means he’ll be suspended for next week’s game at Brentford.
68 min The corner leads to another handball appeal, I think against Onana. VAR says no. The ball did hit Onana’s arm but it was by his side.
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67 min Bowen gets away from Mykolenko, but the impressive Branthwaite comes across to concede a corner.
67 min West Ham have been really poor going forward. It’s becoming a problem, and one that doesn’t make much sense with players like Paqueta, Kudus and Bowen on the field.
65 min McNeil’s rising drive from distance is pushed over by Areola, a comfortable save.
65 min Benrahma appeals for a penalty when the ball hits McNeil in the area. His arm was tight to his body so there’s nothing to see.
64 min “Richard Hirst (33 min) has prompted me to consider the possibility of documenting a personal Premier League table of support, factoring in not only all these allegiances that we of a certain age have collected but also their rivalries,” writes Eric Peterson. “For example, I became an Everton supporter specifically because of my enmity toward Liverpool, which arose from a part of my youth spent in Italy and seeing them beat my hometown Roma in the 1984 European Cup. I’m fond of Fulham because my sister’s family visited Craven Cottage during a London holiday and were besotted by the experience. Consequently, that makes it more fun to make fun of Chelsea’s recent woes.
“I’m fond of West Ham because Everton legend David Moyes has found a happy home there. That means I’ll be hostile toward Millwall if they ever bounce up into the Premier League. And I’d welcome Leicester back into the top tier with open arms, from the joy I felt from their title run under former Roma defender Claudio Ranieri. Which means I don’t care for Nottingham Forest being re-established in the Premier League. And so on, and so on.”
63 min Bowen is fouled 25 yards from goal, which leads to a row between Alvarez and Tarkowski.
60 min The resulting corner is headed over under pressure by Doucoure.
60 min: Brilliant save from Areola! It’s Everton who look more likely at the moment. Mykolenko’s long ball was headed on beautifully by Calvert-Lewin in the centre circle. Doucoure surged through and, with defenders closing on either side, cut across a low, first-time drive from the edge of the D. It was shaping away from Areola, who got down superbly to his left to fingertip it round the post. That’s terrific goalkeeping.
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59 min Alvarez rifles over the bar from 25 yards. West Ham are starting to get a little desperate.
57 min: Substitution for West Ham Said Benrahma replaces a subdued Michail Antonio. That means Lucas Paqueta will play as a false nine.
56 min Paqueta tries an overhead kick at the far post and ends up shinning the ball away from goal.
54 min Paqueta’s cross is headed towards his own goal by the off-balance Mykolenko. It drops to Bowen, who volleys over from a tight angle.
53 min VAR checked for a possible foul by Branthwaite in the build up but they were happy with the challenge.
Harrison played a simple short pass into Calvert-Lewin on the edge of the area. He turned neatly away away from Zouma and Aguerd before dragging a precise first-time shot back across goal. It beat the diving Areola and rolled into the corner. It’s Calvert-Lewin’s 50th Premier League goal for Everton.
Calvert-Lewin gets his 5️⃣0️⃣ Premier League goal! 🔥
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 29, 2023
That touch and finish... pic.twitter.com/B7BhOA4L8N
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GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Everton (Calvert-Lewin 51)
The approach is certainly working for Everton!
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50 min “Boring and cagey might be the way that Everton need to operate to nick three points in games like this one,” says Matt Burtz. “If they can stay organised and maintain the clean sheet, there’s enough firepower on the bench with the likes of Beto and Danjuma to score a late winner. But I also imagine Dyche would readily accept a scoreless draw.”
Yep, agreed. When I said it was a poor game I wasn’t being critical of the approach. Pragmatism has worked for both these managers throughout their careers.
48 min: Chance for Bowen! Cresswell curls the free-kick to the far post, where Bowen gets the wrong side of the sleeping Doucoure but heads over from eight yards. Though he had to stoop to meet the ball, it was still a pretty good chance.
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48 min Cresswell tries to play a one-two with Ward-Prowse and is fouled by Patterson. Free-kick to West Ham on the left wing…
46 min Peep peep! Everton begin the second half.
“If today’s MBM gets too dull,” begins Fred Decker, who has an interesting take on the word ‘if’, “you might want to check out the highlights of last night’s final from the Canadian Premier League, our tier-2 pro league after MLS.
“Calgary’s Cavalry FC were tops in the regular season, but faced second-place Forge FC from Hamilton (a steel town, like Sheffield, hence the name) who had won four of the five CPL titles to date. Forge are Cavalry’s bogey team, and although Cavalry had the better chances it was 0-0 after 90 minutes. The match was settled by three highly entertaining goals scored in a ten-minute span, beginning at the 101st minute. Link is here.”
From the archive, an FA Cup quarter-final from 1991. I thought Stuart Slater was going to be a star.
Half-time reading
Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s column on the big showdown this afternoon: Gian van Veen v Michael van Gerwen.
Half-time pluggery
These podcasts are great, if slightly tragic, fun to record. I’ve no idea whether they are fun to listen to, and with an attacking trident of Giggs, Cantgona and Waddle, I don’t care.
Oi! These are the teams from our Premier League 1992-93 draft. Please vote for the winner at your earliest convenience. First up, Gary Naylor (@garynaylor85) pic.twitter.com/cEHH3gaGrT
— Nessun Dorma Podcast (@nessundormapod) October 25, 2023
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Half time: West Ham 0-0 Everton
Or, to put it another way, Pragmatism 1-0 Idealism. Both sides have worked hard, and we should probably leave it at that. It’s been a poor game.
45+2 min McNeil’s flat cross is headed well wide by Onana. It was no sort of chance. But Sean Dyche will be pretty pleased because Everton have kept West Ham quiet and had marginally the better chances. It’s not exactly an xG orgy but I’d be surprised if Everton aren’t ahead.
45+1 min “I can’t believe that someone at Everton has had the audacity of comparing their current shower with the great Danish Dynamite team of the 80s,” says Justin Kavanagh. “What would an apt nickname be for these greyshirts? The Everton Evaporation? The Toffee Tranquilisation?”
Arf. Well, in their defence, it was somebody at Hummel rather than Everton – a lot of their shirts this season have the Denmark 86 design.
45 min Five added minutes.
44 min Look, this isn’t a great game. We’ve had only two shots on target, both pretty tame. But at least it means we’re not following the cricket.
43 min “Every True Blue mourns the death of one of our own,” says Gary Naylor. “Success in theatre is more a matter of alchemy than it is in sport. I mean, Hamilton, Book of Mormon, Sweeney Todd? One common factor is casting for which there is no reliable playbook. As in football, it is critical, as demonstrated in Dear England, in which Joseph Fiennes is brilliant as Gareth Southgate, but the whole production would fail were it not for the guys playing Jordan Pickford, Bukayo Saka, Dele Alli and, especially, Harry Kane. Highly recommended and streaming soon!”
The sequel, Jude Conquers the World, sounds too.
41 min Onana stays down holding his head after a challenge with Kudus, who caught him with an arm as he fell. It was nothing sinister.
40 min Mykolenko’s hopeful cross is headed over from 15 yards by Calvert-Lewin.
38 min Now it’s West Ham who are struggling to keep the ball. Maybe that will suit them, such is their prowess on the break.
36 min It’s pelting down at the London Stadium. Not sure which side that benefits, if any.
34 min Aguerd’s clearance only goes as far as Harrison on the edge of the D. He moves across the line of the penalty area but blooters high and wide. It wasn’t as good a chance as his first one in the 25th minute.
34 min Everton are having a decent spell. A deep, inswinging corner from McNeil is headed down by Tarkowski and kicked away by Bowen, standing just in front of Areola.
33 min “Being a football supporter for 60 years brings so many dilemmas with it, because you have built up so many dislikes and grievances,” says Richard Hirst. “So, as a Fulham supporter I dislike West Ham (1975 Cup Final, Peter Mellor, Alan Taylor, for those too young to remember), but I need Everton to remain firmly below Fulham. I guess it will have to be a boring scoreless draw - sorry folks.”
32 min Mykolenko’s cross is missed by Calvert-Lewin and hits Aguerd. The away fans appeal for a penalty but nobody else seems interested.
29 min I’m not sure why those two were singled out to be honest as there was a fair bit of pushing and shoving. Pickford accused Kudus of cheating; I don’t think that was the case, although Kudus did then bounce to his feet to push Pickford.
28 min Jordan Pickford is booked, as is Kudus. The home fans aren’t impressed with that.
26 min: It’s kicking off! A very strong tackle by Tarkowski on Kudus leads to a zesty shoving match between both sets of players. Stuart Attwell is considering his options.
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25 min: Chance for Everton! Paqueta and Aguerd leave the ball to each other, just past the halfway line, and suddenly Everton have a three-on-two break. Harrison decides to go himself but shoots straight at Areola from the edge of the area. I’m surprised he didn’t try to find Doucoure or Calvert-Lewin, though maybe the angle wasn’t there for the pass.
(Edit: the angle was there, on both sides, so he took the wrong option.)
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23 min: Chance for Bowen! Ward-Prowse belts a crossfield pass out to Paqueta on the left. He lobs the ball smoothly over Patterson and then picks out Bowen beyond the far post. Bowen, usually such a good finisher, mishits a first-time shot that dribbles wide. That was lovely play from Paqueta, who signals for the crowd to make more noise.
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22 min West Ham continue to dominate possession – 65/35 according to our stats – without really penetrating the Everton defence. The game needs a goal, or even a shot.
19 min Patterson’s cross is miscontrolled by McNeil but falls kindly for Calvert-Lewin. He’s offside, though, so you can forget about it.
18 min Kudus has started brightly and is finding space between the lines. He and Paqueta should in theory be the lock-pickers West Ham need against a deep-lying defence.
16 min Neither team has managed a shot at goal in the first 16 minutes. I’m not judging them, just stating facts.
14 min Everton are wearing their grey third kit, an homage to the classic Denmark shirts of 1986. Alas, their attacking performance so far has not really evoked that Danish team.
Denmark 1986 home
— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) November 14, 2017
If they qualify tonight should Hummel bring back the design for the World Cup?#IREDEN pic.twitter.com/Qsv4APPwax
12 min Bowen waves an outside-of-the-foot pass down the right towards Antonio, who is matched for speed and then strength by Branthwaite. Very good defending,
9 min Paqueta stuns a clever pass over the Everton defence towards Bowen. He can’t reach the ball on the stretch and it bounces off the outrushing Pickford to safety.
7 min As we said earlier, this is a decent test for West Ham because they are usually so much better on the counter-attack. Antonio does well to get round the back on the left, but his cutback is intercepted at the near post.
6 min “Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. “My lingering thought about Bill Kenwright’s passing is sadness over how heartbreaking the last few years had to have been for him. From my own long-ago run as a community theatre actor, I feel his experience in professional theatre would’ve given him a unique advantage for a similarly volatile economic endeavour like owning a football club. Passion and talent from those involved at every level including the performers, backroom staff, fans (which Everton certainly have an abundance of), a top-notch facility to showcase its product, and the right kind of support from the benefactors footing the bill are the key ingredients.
“We Toffees are finding out the hard way that the benefactor part extends far beyond simply splashing enough money to make it go. The money has to be spent the right way. I imagine there was no doubt in his mind about where the path Everton have been on with Farhad Moshiri as the team’s primary benefactor, to use the theatre term, was leading. And I can only imagine the helplessness he felt, knowing that a reckoning like what Everton Football Club is now facing was probably inevitable, and he couldn’t do a damn thing because he wasn’t the guy writing the biggest cheques anymore. He deserved way better not to feel that way about the club he loved. A real shame.”
5 min Paqueta breaks into space down the left and arrows the ball back to Kudus on the edge of the area. He feeds it into Antonio, who dithers for a split-second and is dispossessed. That was unusually indecisive from Antonio.
4 min Some good early possession for West Ham, though all of it has been in front of the Everton defence.
4 min “As often happens (twice a year) I have woken up an hour early because y’all over there have changed your clocks and we here in ‘Murica have not,” writes J. R. in Illinois. “Anyway there’s obviously a huge match coming up later. I’ll bide my time by watching the preliminary matches until the big one kicks off in about four hours. Really looking forward to seeing how Gian van Veen fares in his first matchup with Michael van Gerwen.”
Arf. He looks quite the prospect.
3 min “In 2020-21, 29 points was enough to avoid relegation, and it looks like it could be even fewer this season,” says Phil Grey. “There has probably never been a better time to be deducted 12 points. Everton might only need about 38 points to survive.”
That’s a good point. Forty points is the new forty points.
2 min Mohammed Kudus has started as the No10 for West Ham, with Lucas Paqueta on the left.
1 min Peep peep! Lucas Paqueta gets the match under way.
The two managers, David Moyes and Sean Dyche, are carrying wreaths in tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton and Bill Kenwright. Geoff Hurst, now the only living member of England’s World Cup-winning XI, stands alongside them as they walk to the centre circle.
The players walk out to a decent reputation. It’s dry at the moment, though there’s a yellow warning for rain in London.
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A bit of pre-match reading
Team news
David Moyes makes two changes from the West Ham side that lost 4-1 at Villa Park last weekend. Aaron Cresswell and Mohammed Kudus replace Emerson Palmieri, who is suspended, and Tomas Soucek.
Just one change for Everton. Nathan Patterson covers for the suspended Ashley Young at right-back.
West Ham (possible 4-2-3-1) Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Bowen, Kudus, Lucas Paqueta; Antonio.
Substitutes: Fabianski, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Benrahma, Soucek, Fornals, Ings, Cornet.
Everton (possible 4-1-4-1) Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Onana, Harrison, Garner, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Virginia, Lonergan, Godfrey, Hunt, Gueye, Dobbin, Danjuma, Chermiti, Beto.
Referee Stuart Attwell.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of West Ham v Everton at the London Stadium. It’s been a horrible week for Everton, with the death of their chairman Bill Kenwright and reports that they are facing a 12-point deduction.
If that happens they will need close to 50 points to avoid relegation, which puts a game like this in a different context. Under normal circumstances Everton could reasonably budget for a defeat away to West Ham. Not any more.
West Ham, by contrast, am bumbling along pretty happily under David Moyes. They lost their last two games, away to Aston Villa and Olympiakos, but they are top of their Europa League group and sit ninth in the Premier League – a good effort given they have already played four of the Big Seven plus Brighton and Aston Villa.
This is the start of a decent run of fixtures for West Ham, with seven of their next eight games against teams below them in the table. Being favourites represents a different challenge for a side who love to play on the counter-attack. Only Sheffield United and Luton have had less possession this season. We’ll soon find out whether Moyes intends to keep it that way.
Kick off 1pm.
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