Everton 1 West Ham 0: Toffees grab first three points at Goodison

Finally Everton have done it and after five matches without a win the Blues’ beat a lacklustre Hammers side 1-0 at Goodison Park this afternoon.

It has been a frustrating start to the season for Everton supporters up to now, as while performances have been generally solid and steady, the results haven’t yeilded the deserved points tally and that first win was still elusive.

But, this afternoon at the Grand Old Lady the Toffees’ finally broke their duck and secured that important opening win of the campaign.

This was a game I thought did represent a great opportunity to get those three points and so it proved as the home side were the better team, especially in the second half.

As we’ve become accustomed to this season Everton were strong and compact at the back, apart from a uncharateristic wobble from Conor coady, and Frank Lampard rightly stuck to his midfield three with Idrissa Gueye coming in to start alongside Amadou Onana and Alex Iwobi.

Gueye offered that calm, experienced quality screening the defence and his presence will surely help Onana keep producing his best and grow in confidence even more quickly.

Up front not surprisingly there was still no Dominic Calvert-Lewin as his returning in time for this fixture always looked unlikely.

So, Neal Maupay was the central striker in a front three with Anthony Gordon and Demarai Gray either side of him.

Gray in particular looked dangerous early on and could have scored himself soon after Maupay had found the net for his first goal in a royal blue shirt.

The assist for the goal came from the once again excellent Iwobi who produced another strong all-round midfield effort.

While this past summer was a often crazy mix of media-induced drama and uncertainty with talk of a takeover that came to nothing and then the usual endless rumours linking the Blues to one player and then another, the transformation of Iwboi has largely gone under the radar.

Since the start of the season he has been the Toffees’ most consistent performer and once more he was terrific producing another assist to add to his hard work.

This increased offensive productivity from the former Arsenal man is something that would be of great benefit to Everton going forward as more creativity and goals from midfield is necessary.

Although the home side were worth the points at times they laboured a bit and West Ham certanly had their moments.

Reserve goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was called into action several times and he didn’t disappoint with some good handling and stops.

While the visitors might feel a little agreived they didn’t come away with a point, I think overall Everton certainly deserved this critical first win.

Now, comes an international break and that gives further time for this still developing squad to work together and for other injured players to return to full fitness.

The challenge is to build on this increased attacking threat while maintaining that resolute defensive solidity.

This team isn’t going to start blowing opponents away I don’t think. However, if such a combination can be consistently found the Blues’ might well be looking at a considerably better season than perhaps many of us felt when the campaign kicked-off.