Everton 1 – 0 Brentford
Everton made it a hat-trick of home wins in the space of six days by edging Brentford 1-0 thanks to Idrissa Gueye’s 60th-minute strike that ensured the Blues’ Premier League survival for another season.
After a fairly flat first half that saw precious little goalmouth action at either end, Dwight McNeil hit the crossbar as Everton came the closer to breaking the deadlock before Gueye popped up with his second goal in three games.
Brentford were coming off the back of their biggest away win in the Premier League having thrashed Luton Town 5-1 last weekend and they had their moments after half-time, but Jordan Pickford came up trumps again when needed to deny Ivan Toney, Keane Lewis-Potter and Kevin Schade.
With Dominic Calvert-Lewin still dogged by a stomach bug and knee complaint and Beto ruled out by concussion protocols, Sean Dyche handed a first League start to Youssef Chermiti while Ashley Young replaced the injured Vitalii Mykolenko at left-back.
With all the emotion from Wednesday night’s dramatic win in the Merseyside derby, there was always a risk that Everton might struggle to raise their game but there was no shortage of effort in the opening minutes even if the quality in their play was largely lacking.
In general, there was too much reliance on long balls which Chermiti often struggled to win against the likes of Ethan Pinnock and Kristoffer Ajer, but the Blues came close to registering another early goal in this fixture when McNeil flashed a shot across the face of Mark Flekken’s goal with Chermiti stretching to try and get a toe on it.
Jarrad Branthwaite was called into action in the 20th minute to make a terrific block to deny Mathias Jensen after Vitaly Yanelt had found him with a cut-back from the byline and the Dane picked his spot past Pickford.
Back down the Park End, Everton were being frustrated themselves by Bees defenders getting in the way of shots that might have tested Flekken as Jack Harrison and McNeil saw efforts charged down and the former lashed a first-time shot wide from the second opportunity.
The best chances of the first 45 minutes fell to either side late in the half, first when Abdoulaye Doucouré, played in by a very neat touch from Chermiti that put him into space in the box, snatched at a left-foot half-volley and made a complete mess of the connection with just the keeper in front of him.
Then Jensen bent an inviting ball behind the Toffees’ defence for Toney but Pickford did brilliantly again to cover the angle and stop the shot, gathering at the second attempt after it has squirmed under his body.
The contest started to come to life after the interval as Everton’s confidence to move the ball on the deck increased and when Branthwaite made an uncharacteristic error by missing his challenge on Yoane Wissa and Toney was played in, Pickford came to his rescue with a smart save.
McNeil, meanwhile, was enjoying the more roving role that he was given by Dyche against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, picking up space behind the striker, and when he had time to look up and unload from 25 yards, he cracked a tremendous shot off the face of the bar.
The deadlock was broken on the hour mark, though, when Ajer touched the ball behind for a corner. McNeil’s delivery was initially cleared by Brentford but it came back to Gueye who chipped it out to Harrison who squared it to Branthwaite.
He found his route to goal blocked by two defenders but when Ajer shovelled the ball away from the big defender’s feet, it fell invitingly for Gueye to sweep into the top corner and make it 1-0.
McNeil drilled another left-footer across the face of Flekken’s goal before Brentford, amid a flurry of changes from the bench by Thomas Frank, tried to press home an equaliser.
Pickford was alert to save by his feet when Toney flicked the ball on off a corner and Ben Godfrey had to clear the ball behind from Schade’s low centre but, in between, the Toffees’ goalkeeper pulled off his best save of the match, palming aside Lewis-Potter’s fierce drive.
Chermiti, who would end up playing 20 minutes more than the sum total of all his Premier League minutes all season before today, had been growing into his challenging role as the lone striker and his best chance to score his first Everton goal would come six minutes from time but he knocked his shot wide just before the offside flag went up.
It very nearly was 2-0 in the closing stages, however, first when substitute Amadou Onana led a really promising break but delayed his pass too long so that Doucouré strayed offside, with the latter seeing his shot saved regardless.
Then, after Mbeumo had cynically felled McNeil as the winger led another charge down the left, James Garner shuddered the bar with a curling free-kick that just didn’t dip enough to sneak in.
Pickford got down to save a final low drive from Schade as Brentford tried to spoil the afternoon but after six minutes of added time, enough for Michael Keane to come on for Chermiti and play up front, referee Darren England called time to signal Everton’s safety from the drop with three games to spare.
The Club still have an appeal to be heard over the second points deduction which, combined with the six taken away by the first Independent Commission, have prolonged the Toffees’ battle to make sure of top-flight football in Goodison Park’s final season and there is an outside chance that the Appeal Board adds to that second sanction rather than reduces it.
But it’s unlikely to make any difference in the final reckoning. For the second season running, Dyche has steered Everton to safety despite challenging circumstances and lifted the immediate weight off Blues fans’ shoulders, even if, off the pitch, the takeover saga remains of huge concern.