On a day that good old-fashioned left-wing solidarity prevailed at the BBC with numerous staff showing support for former Everton striker Gary Lineker, it was apt that Dwight McNeil proved to be the Blues’ saviour.
Before this game Sean Dyche called for his players to be relentless and while they were far from perfect, they were just that at Goodison Park as they survived a strong second half onslaught from Brentford to cling on for a potentially precious three points.
After going ahead twice in the first half in their last outing at Nottingham Forest six days earlier only to be pegged back on both occasions, Everton got off to a dream start here when McNeil fired them ahead after just 45 seconds.
MATCH BLOG: Everton vs Brentford LIVE - reaction to huge win
READ MORE: Everton player ratings as Dwight McNeil superb and seven more excellent in Brentford win
It was a slick move from the Blues that demonstrated the kind of football this struggling side are still capable of producing at times with Alex Iwobi picking out Abdoulaye Doucoure who might have felt within his rights to drive forward himself but instead had the vision to see McNeil who held his nerve to slot in a smart finish.
With a full 89 minutes to hold on to their lead it was intriguing to see how Dyche’s side would go about sticking or twisting but they continued to push forward and were only denied a second goal in controversial circumstances.
Just before the break, Gray had the ball in the Brentford net with an effort that appeared to go in off his chest but following a VAR review, was deemed to have handled the ball and his effort was ruled out. It was the kind of incident that under normal circumstances might have been pored over at length by the Match of the Day pundits - but hey ho.
After the break, the visitors increasingly turned the screw but after going 12 Premier League matches unbeaten it was unlucky 13 for them and the home fans inside Goodison roared their side on to a victory that ahead of a challenging set of fixtures ahead moved them up to the relatively dizzying heights of 15th.
