Prince Rupert's Tower
Fansided

West Ham 0 Everton 2: Blues too good for Hammers

By Matt Townsend

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Issa Diop of West Ham United battles for possession with Gylfi Sigurdsson of Everton during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Everton FC at London Stadium on March 30, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Issa Diop of West Ham United battles for possession with Gylfi Sigurdsson of Everton during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Everton FC at London Stadium on March 30, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Now that is more like it! Everton produced arguably their best performance of the season so far as they comfortably won two nil at West Ham United this afternoon.

In truth the home team didn’t really turn up and were very poor opposition. But all Everton or anyone can do is beat the team in front of them and that’s exactly what they did.

The Toffees first half was perhaps the best they have produced in several seasons and sealed what turned out in the end to be a very well deserved win at the London Stadium.

Perhaps most important of all is the fact that Everton kept a second consecutive clean sheet following on from the 2-0 win over Chelsea in their last Premier League game.

It’s critical if the team want to improve that the Blues string together some really sound defensive performances, which will provide a solid foundation to build on offensively.

Everyone wants to see expansive attacking football and plenty of goals, but it’s crucial that the Toffees eradicate the sloppy goals they have conceded too often this season.

Another really pleasing aspect of the match was the performance of Brazilian forward Bernard.

The diminutive player came with much promise, but despite some good moments has struggled to put together a really good, sustained effort until today.

He was bright, creative and a constant threat. And he capped off his fine work with the Blues second goal, his first for the club in the Premier League.

Overall in attack Everton were very good and just over half of their shots were on target, which is an excellent ratio. But for the woodwork and a fine display from Hammers keeper Lucas Fabianski, there would surely have been more goals although Everton were also occasionally wasteful too.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower

The midfield partnership of Idrissa Geuye and Andre Gomes was also pivotal in enabling the Toffees to dominate the game. This performance underlined again how important it is that the club sign Gomes permanently in the summer.

On a note of caution, it has to be pointed out that we have seen some good performances from the Blues previously this season only for them to fail to follow it up and maintain that form.

And so again that is the challenge. To build on this mini run of wins against London teams as they prepare to welcome another club from the capital in their next match, Arsenal, who visit Goodison Park on the 7th April.