Brentford vs Everton. Premier League.
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Match report and free highlights as Everton deservedly win 3-1 at Brentford to lift themselves out of the relegation zone with a first Premier League win of the season; Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure's opener before James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck
Sunday 24 September 2023 16:44, UK
Everton secured their first Premier League victory of the season in impressive fashion as Dominic Calvert-Lewin completed a fine 3-1 win over Brentford on Saturday Night Football.
Abdoulaye Doucoure's sixth-minute opener gave Sean Dyche's side an early platform before Mathias Jensen levelled against the run of play (28).
But the visitors would not be denied a first win since the final day of the last campaign as James Tarkowski, on his third return to Brentford, headed in Dwight McNeil's corner (67) before Calvert-Lewin latched onto James Garner's pass to seal the victory (71).
The England striker was jeered by some fans after he went off with a fractured cheekbone during the 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa at the start of the season.
Calvert-Lewin said: "You can see the emotion at the end with the lads and the fans. It's been a tough start to the season. It's been frustrating personally to not be involved as much as I would have liked.
"Football is a funny old game. When I came off against Aston Villa my own fans booed me off. Today they cheered me. I'll relish this and take the rest with a pinch of salt."
Everton rise out of the relegation zone into 15th in the table while Brentford drop to 12th.
Dyche took his under-fire team to West London having failed to win any of their opening five Premier League games, with just one point on the board prior to Saturday. The Blues boss urged his team to "play with a smile" despite the tough start to their campaign - and they made the perfect start.
From Garner's measured corner, Tarkowski headed the ball into the path of Doucoure who sliced across the ball to drill beyond the wrong-footed Mark Flekken for his second goal of the season.
The recent negative press surrounding the club appeared alleviated as the visitors came close to a second inside the opening 15 minutes when Beto's cushioned header was latched onto by McNeil but his shot across goal was just wide of the far post.
Brentford, now winless in their last four, were then thankful to the woodwork as Doucoure bullied Mads Roerslev off the ball from Tarkowski's centre but was denied by the crossbar with his rising effort.
Just 89 seconds later, Jensen was celebrating scoring Brentford's equaliser.
Yoane Wissa was deemed fractionally onside in the build-up as Vitaly Janelt found Jensen for a precise finish across Jordan Pickford and in off the post. It was Brentford's first shot on target.
Keane Lewis-Potter went close to completing the turnaround before the interval but was unable to convert Bryan Mbeumo's low cross.
Everton had a spate of chances after the restart with McNeil's shot into the gloves of Flekken before Amadou Onana and Beto both headed wide.
Brentford lost their first Premier League game this season last weekend when they went down 1-0 at Newcastle - but they were well below their standards as Everton wrestled control of the contest.
McNeil's corner was headed in by Tarkowski to deservedly nudge the visitors back in front - and Calvert-Lewin came off the bench to score his first goal since May and alleviate the pressure on Dyche.
Brentford captain Christian Norgaard said: "We've been quite happy with our performances this season. This is by far our worst. It's hard to explain. We struggled to get to grips with the basics.
"Communication, organisation, those sort of things. We should be able to fix this quite easily. It's about taking responsibility. It's a team thing. You have to demand more from yourself. We failed to do the basics today."
Everton boss Sean Dyche:
"It reinforces the games we've played this season. I thought we deserved it overall; we were very, very strong from start to finish.
"We were trying to bring a bit of freedom because there was a lot of noise after our last game but people forget Arsenal are a top side to be fair.
"We had a meeting with the players in the week. You get tight when you're not getting the results so we've got to bring some freedom to our play and today was a very good sign of that.
"I don't think it came from anywhere. The signs have been there but you have to change the storyline, you have to take your chances.
"To come in at 1-1 was a bit of a head-scratcher, so to come out in the second half and be so calm again was very pleasing.
"I'm very pleased with the whole performance. My job is to look at the performances, win or lose. We've deserved more but you've got to force it and today we did.
"We had a good chat in the week with the players and said it's us who have to change the story.
"It's tough playing well and not getting results. That's where you should grow and have on-pitch maturity and play under pressure and that's what we did today."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank:
"The first five games of the season we performed very well. This was hopefully a one-off. We need to bounce back and come out flying [in our next game].
"Everton deserved to win. Two key things - set-pieces and a lot of the basic things. We lost the ball in similar situations and that put us on the backfoot. We did a good job to hang in the game and get an equaliser.
"We need to come out with a completely different mindset and performance in our next game."
Sky Sports' Ben Grounds:
There was a huge roar from the Everton supporters as Jordan Pickford sent the ball into the early autumn sky one final time and Michael Oliver blew his whistle. Relief and joy. They got what they deserved tonight. There is a line in a popular chant sung by Evertonians - The Spirit of the Blues - which includes the line 'we don't know the meaning of losing'.
Against Arsenal, after home defeats to Fulham and Wolves, it looked as though they'd forgotten how to win. But had they not come away from West London with three points based on their performance on Saturday, you may have wondered if they ever would this season. Such was Everton's dominance, this must now act as a springboard for their season.
Brentford lost their previous Premier League game when going into half-time level against Newcastle. Not since January 2022 had the Bees lost successive such games, doing so against Manchester United and Wolves - but they failed to capitalise on Jensen giving them a foothold.
With the Merseyside club in the middle of a proposed takeover by American investment firm 777 Partners, Dyche continues to face questions over his leadership and the direction of the squad - but this result certainly puts a different complexion on the path ahead.
With Calvert-Lewin back fit and back among the goals as an alternative to Beto, Everton demonstrated they have the firepower to survive.
Since Sean Dyche's first Premier League game in charge of Everton back in February, Abdoulaye Doucoure has scored more goals than any other player for the Toffees (7).
Brentford host Arsenal in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday at 7.45pm before returning to Premier League action at Nottingham Forest next Sunday at 2pm, live on Sky Sports.
Everton travel to Aston Villa on Wednesday in their Carabao Cup third-round tie (kick off: 7.45pm) before they host Luton Town at Goodison Park next Saturday in the Premier League at 3pm.
