Everton vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,262.
Match report and free highlights as Everton drop points in stoppage time for second game in a row; Beto had put them ahead in the second half but Zouma, Soucek and Alvarez make it back-to-back wins for the Hammers who are up to seventh but Everton slide back towards the relegation zone
Saturday 2 March 2024 19:07, UK
West Ham scored twice in stoppage time to boost their European qualification hopes with a turnaround 3-1 win at Everton, who were dominant for the majority of the contest and will wonder how their winless run has stretched to 10 Premier League matches.
In a week which began with Everton being handed back four of the 10 points they had been deducted for financial issues, there was hope they could capitalise on that good news - and after Beto had missed a penalty and clear one-on-one chance in the first half, his header after the break looked to have them on course for a much-needed victory.
But West Ham's response was swift, with former Everton loanee Kurt Zouma cleverly steering James Ward-Prowse's corner into the net. Everton continued to come forwards and Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola produced a player of the match performance with nine saves to keep them in it before a stoppage-time smash and grab.
It was the second game in a row Everton had seen points slip away in injury-time, after 10-player Brighton grabbed a point with Lewis Dunk's 95th-minute leveller last weekend.
Tomas Soucek had earlier cleared off his own goal-line as West Ham defended their goal with determination - but the midfielder produced a moment of quality to turn the match around in the first minute of added time. His strike with the outside of his boot across Jordan Pickford and into the top corner stunned the home side.
As Everton threw players up the pitch to salvage something, Edson Alvarez's neat finish hit them again on the counter-attack. They were poor goals to concede but it was Everton's familiar lack of cutting edge which was their undoing here.
They slip to 16th, five points above third-bottom Luton, who play one of their two games in hand live on Sky Sports at home to Aston Villa on Saturday evening. West Ham move up to seventh, just two points off sixth-placed Manchester United ahead of their derby game at Manchester City live on Sky Sports on Sunday.
This is the fifth time Everton have had over 20 shots in a Premier League home game this season but they've now ended up on the losing side in three of those games. Just as against Luton and Manchester United, it was their wastefulness which Dyche will look back on.
It began in the first half. Beto was given the nod ahead of Dominic Calvert-Lewin by the Everton boss, who had described the Portuguese as "chomping at the bit" to play. His enthusiasm was clear to see early on, with him driving wide and then just failing to connect with Abdoulaye Doucoure's teasing cross. But his missed one-on-one chance and saved penalty summed up Everton's final-third frustrations at Goodison.
Jordan Pickford comfortably saved an Edson Alvarez shot from distance at the other end before Konstantinos Mavropanos headed wide amid a series of corners for the visitors but the big chances came Beto's way.
It was a well-weighted pass from Dwight McNeil to play him in on the angle midway through the half but his low shot was easily kicked away from a thankful Areola. There wasn't enough conviction in his penalty effort, either, although credit has to go to Areola who had to stretch to parry it away.
West Ham will feel that was justice served after Beto's pass to Doucoure had popped up and struck the helpless Zouma on the arm as the defender tried to block the ball with his chest. However, when referee Craig Pawson was advised to go to the pitchside monitor by VAR the penalty award felt inevitable.
Areola was sharp again soon after half-time to field McNeil's spin-and-shot from 30 yards but there was no hope for the keeper when Beto met Garner's pinpoint centre. It was redemption for the striker and his celebration showed how much it meant to hit the net.
The game suddenly opened up and Areola had to scramble to get in the way of McNeil's close-range effort moments later. Mohammed Kudus tried to respond at the other end with a shot deflected wide. And from the resulting corner Zouma levelled it up with a smart header into the far corner. His celebration was muted given his connections with the Merseyside club but it gave West Ham the platform for their late surge to victory.
First they had to survive more Everton attacks, with Areola pulling off a stunning stop to push behind Beto's shot which looped up with a deflection before Soucek made his goal-line block to prevent Doucoure converting the follow-up corner at the back post.
Areola beat Calvert-Lewin to a low cross before saving from the substitute striker with 10 minutes to play but West Ham - who had threatened sporadically on the counter - were the next to break through. Kudus' deep cross was chested down by Soucek and then brilliantly struck into the far corner. What a hit.
The clock had already ticked into added-on time by then but there was still enough play left in the game for West Ham to add another, breaking from an Everton corner, with Bowen teeing up Alvarez for a cool finish over Pickford. A third goal to rub salt into Everton wounds.
Everton boss Sean Dyche: "The responsibility is on us. It's as simple as that. I can't keep talking about chances. You've got to score goals. You've got to score more than one when you're doing that kind of work. It's a responsibility on everybody. But certainly I'm looking at the talent we've got and it seems an odd thing how we're not scoring more goals. It's bizarre.
"The chances we were creating [at 1-0] if you go and score the second it's a long way back for any team in the Premier League. Defensively we were pretty solid again today but we've got to score goals. It's not just about centre-forwards, it's about everyone taking their opportunities. You've got to kill games off. I'm very, very frustrated. If it was that easy, we'd all be scoring loads of goals. But there were so many chances.
"I thought we could have had another penalty by the way. The push on Jimmy [Garner], two hands in the back. But we'll take one [penalty], that's a starting point."
West Ham boss David Moyes: "I think the result was harsh on Everton. Our goalkeeper made four or five outstanding saves. But we scored three goals at Everton and Everton don't concede many, we scored four against Brentford. We've done the job. The Premier League games are really tight at the moment, I don't think there's an awful lot between the teams. We've just gone through six or seven weeks where very little has gone for us. Thrilled with the win, wee bit of a throwback but I enjoyed it.
"We had to hang in a wee bit today and be resilient. We had to find a way with staying with it. It was a really tight game and the small margins went in our favour."
Everton head to Old Trafford next Saturday lunchtime to face Manchester United (kick-off 12.30).
West Ham are back in European action when travelling to Freiburg for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday (kick-off 8pm) before hosting Burnley next Sunday in the Premier League (kick-off 2pm).
