Dominic Calvert-Lewin dented West Ham's hopes of Champions League football as Everton battled to a 1-0 win at the London Stadium; Carlo Ancelotti: "He hasn't scored a lot of goals like this. This is a goal of a top striker"
Sunday 9 May 2021 20:01, UK
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti hailed the "cold" finishing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin after the striker's 16th Premier League goal of the season secured a vital 1-0 win against West Ham at the London Stadium.
Calvert-Lewin's first-half strike was enough to secure three points for the Toffees and keep them in the hunt for Europe.
It was Everton's 11th away win of the season, with only their poor home form preventing them from being in the mix for the top four themselves.
Ancelotti was delighted with Calvert-Lewin's energetic display, both in attack and defence, with the team's talisman falling to the floor in exhaustion at the final whistle.
"Calvert-Lewin - and also Richarlison - did fantastic work for the team," Ancelotti said. "I asked them to play vertical and to attack around the back. They did this a lot of times. The goal he scored today is a goal of a top striker.
"It's a goal where the striker prepares his movement and moves at the right time with a lot of speed and then he was cold in front of the goalkeeper. He hasn't scored a lot of goals like this. He's scored most of his goals from crosses or with one touch in the box. This is a goal of a top striker."
At times this term, Everton have shown they can be a match for anyone, but their consistency of good results on the road is matched by an abject record at Goodison Park where they have lost eight times.
The Merseyside club must shake off their home discomfort against Sheffield United and Wolves and demand the same excellence produced on their travels, as shown once again as they celebrated a fifth away victory in the capital - the first time in the club's history they have collected as many wins in London in a single season.
On this evidence, there is plenty to build on and Ancelotti still requires a couple of transfer windows to provide his squad with the necessary surgery to raise the standard of competition in Everton's starting line-up.
"We defended really well and it was not easy," he conceded. "But we covered the spaces in between well and tried to play on the counter attack.
"In the second half we could do better but it doesn't matter. All the times when we have won away it is this kind of performance, and with this we have won 11 away games. This is a lot."
European football came most recently for Everton in 2017, when they suffered a dismal Europa League group-stage exit. With the Premier League season in its final fortnight, they are primed again for another foreign adventure, but they must replicate this dogged display at Aston Villa on Thursday, live on Sky Sports.
"It was a vital victory because if we didn't win here we'd be out of the fight for Europe," Ancelotti continued. "There was pressure on the game but we managed it well. We played defensively at the top, and were really dangerous on the counter-attack.
"The players understood the importance of this game. The attitude, the spirit and the motivation was really high today. It must be the same against Aston Villa. It's important the players feel the game.
"We are not a possession team because we have different qualities. The correlation between possession and victory is not for football, it is for another sport. We knew that this was a vital game and there is another on Thursday so we have to be ready.
"The attitude is the base of this team as without the attitude we are dead."
West Ham stay in fifth and must regroup for their final three Premier League games, with plenty still to be attained from a season in which they have defied expectations.
This was the highest possession in a Premier League game by a David Moyes side (68.8 per cent) since Manchester United against Fulham in February 2014 (75.4 per cent).
"I was pleased that our play is improving," Moyes said. "It's something I've been working on getting better and we showed that. But we gave them a terrible goal. It was a game of very few chances in truth.
"It was terrible defending from my point of view as it was far too easy for him to score. We just switched off for a second and it proved costly.
"It's very easy what we need to do. We have to keep winning. I don't think we deserved to lose today, but we will just have to try and pick up the next win as soon as we can.
"I think because we've lost today, and I'd set my target on where we needed to go [to qualify for the Champions League], I felt defeat might make it one step too far for us. Overall, we beat them at Goodison, they beat us today, so the games have been pretty tight.
"Our running figures and our physicality has been great throughout the season. Manuel Lanzini picked up an injury and Aaron Cresswell picked up a knock for a challenge, but overall the fitness levels have been good."
Moyes said it was too early to provide an assessment on Lanzini, who received a thigh strain, while Cresswell was unable to continue as a result of a dead leg. The Hammers boss also refused to put a timeframe on when Declan Rice would be back in action.
West Ham visit Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event; kick-off is at 8pm.
Everton travel to face Aston Villa on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event; kick-off is at 6pm.
