David Moyes’ half-time team talk and tactical tweak was crucial in Everton holding Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park on Saturday. The Blues went into the break a goal down but drew level from the penalty spot almost immediately after the half-time restart to secure a point.
Iliman Ndiaye, making his first start since February’s Merseyside derby at home, converted from 12 yards after Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly pulled Jack Harrison down in the box. The 49th-minute goal levelled proceedings after Leandro Trossard had given the visitors the lead at the 34th-minute mark.
Ndiaye shed light on his manager’s half-time team talk that inspired the side to play more aggressively. “Obviously, it was not good enough in the first half, but he [Moyes] came in the changing room and told us to change,” Ndiaye told TNT Sports after the game.
“He told us to stop, let’s go out and turn things around. Everyone needed to be at it and put more into it. We tried to turn things around and that’s what we did.”
Ndiaye recently made his return from injury and came off the bench in the 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. The Senegalese winger scored his eighth goal of the Premier League in front of the home fans.
Meanwhile, David Moyes made a small tactical tweak at half-time as the Blues pressed Arsenal with more intensity in the second 45. Speaking on how his side were sluggish in the first half, Moyes said that the players were disappointed and angry at each other because of how they played.
“Tactically we made a small change in how we were going to press Arsenal. We struggled to get the ball off them at times in the first half but we got better in the second half. Great credit that we were able to get a point out of it,” Moyes said in the post-match press conference.