Everton 1-0 Brentford

A game that could be best described as not a classic was illuminated just past the hour mark as Idrissa Gana Gueye smote a shot from about 12 yards that nearly broke the net to end the tension and send Goodison into raptures.

Three home wins on the bounce, all of them without conceding a goal… ten points from the last possible fifteen on offer… relegation threat all but eradicated… the RS well and truly humbled… April’s not been too bad after all… and you know why? Because the manager and the players lived up to the Spirit of the Blues and remembered, it’s a Grand Old Team to play for.

And now Sean Dyche and his boys in the Royal Blues had the chance to end the month on a high with another home win if they could overcome the Bees from Brentford in Saturday’s tea-time kick-off at the Grandest of Grand Old Ladies – the much-loved Goodison Park.

Fans can get carried away with a few good results, especially the manner in which Wednesday’s Derby victory was achieved but, managers tend to live by a mantra of ‘don’t get too high on a win or too low on a loss.’​

Blues boss Sean Dyche summed up his reaction to the recent run of games saying, “We are sticking to task, whatever comes at us, I am certainly proud of that because we have had some ups and down ourselves. I think the challenge from the outside has been with the points [deduction], that hasn’t been helpful, I think everyone agrees with that.”

He expanded adding, “We’ve been sticking to task so far but, there is more to come. I said to the players last night, they have got to enjoy that because it means a lot to the fans and this locality – and to me, of course, by the way. But it has to be parked because the next one comes around.”

And switching tack slightly, he looked forward to today saying, “Brentford is another important game and another chance to play at Goodison and get three points. There is a lot on the next game but, the players did have to have a window to enjoy that last night. That’s the challenge, and that’s why I nipped it in the bud last night. I said, ‘Enjoy it, enjoy the moment but let’s go and do it again’.”

The nasty fall taken by Vitalii Mykolenko late in the first half on Wednesday meant the Ukrainian missed out on facing Brentford leaving Ashley Young to deputise at left back. And we waited till an hour before kick-off to see if the boss made other changes to the side that performed so effectively against them… and he did, with a first start on the team sheet that read: Jordan Pickford, Ben Godfrey, James Tarkowski (c), Jarrad Branthwaite, Ashley Young, Jack Harrison, Idrissa Gana Gueye, James Garner, Dwight McNeil, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Youssef Chermiti.

The Bees major injury concerns for the trip to Goodison centred on striker Ivan Toney and defender Aaron Hickey with Danish head coach Thomas Frank advising on Thursday that, “Toney is progressing, it is better, and I hope he is available for Saturday. Ivan just loves to play football. He just wants to get out there and play. All footballers have that same feeling, and of course the Euros are coming up and that’s important. But he’s also aware that it’s important to be fit to go out and perform.”

And on Hickey he added, “He is progressing. Because he’s been out for so long, I’m not counting on it. Let’s see what happens during the next couple of weeks but I’m not expecting him to play at the weekend.” Elsewhere in the Bees squad, Rico Henry (knee), Josh Dasilva (knee) and Ben Mee (ankle) are out for the remainder of the season.

And the Brentford boss admitted he was impressed with the Blues win over Liverpool saying, “I thought Everton were good. Very impressive, they’ve been consistently quite good throughout the season. They are very good at defending and such a threat at set-pieces and on the counters. They bring great intensity into every game, so it’s going to be difficult. I know Sean very well; I’ve met him quite a few times. He’s a great person. He’s a very experienced Premier League manager and he’s done a top job.”

Aiming to bring the Blues recent run of good home form to a halt, Frank named his starting line-up: Flekken, Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Reguilon, Jensen, Norgaard (c), Janelt, Mbeumo, Toney and Wissa.

On a cool late afternoon, our referee was Darren England.

With Burnley drawing and Luton having lost at Wolves, the Blues only needed a point to ensure Premier League status for next season but, it was a win that was uppermost in the mind of Sean Dyche, even with DCL missing through illness.

A long ball from Pickford gave Chermiti the chance to pressure Pinnock into clearing into touch and Brentford responded with Jensen pressuring Branthwaite into conceding the first corner that was nervously defended with a VAR review for a possible handball against Doucoure rightly adjudged unworthy of punishment.

Everton responded with Godfrey crossing just too high for Chermiti and then McNeil thrashed the ball through the six yard area with Chermiti unfortunate not to get on the end of it. Understandably, there wasn’t quite the frenetic atmosphere of Wednesday night through the early exchanges and the opening ten minutes went by without too much excitement for yet another full house crowd.

Garner with a cross from the left wing cross that Brentford hurriedly cleared. A long ball towards Wissa was headed behind by Ben Godfrey for a second Brantford corner that Tarkowski headed clear with Branthwaite heading the follow-up cross away for a throw-in. Pickford then punched a Reguilon cross out to McNeil to se the Blues going forward again with Tarkowski then looking long for McNeil who took a tumble in the area with referee England immediately waving away his half-hearted appeal.

Everton were looking a little tentative and giving Brentford time and space to play in, the home crowd realising this and raising the volume to encourage the team. Janelt into the Everton area pulled the ball back to Jensen, Branthwaite with a vital block to deny the visitors at the expense of another corner that Chermiti initially cleared with Brentford crossing deep twice more, the first cleared by Tarkowski and Pickford the second to try and calm things down a bit.

Twenty minutes gone and whilst no goals, Everton were behind on the possession and attempts statistics, as another long ball for Chermiti sailed harmlessly through to Flekken in the visitors goal. Tarkowski cleared a cross from Toney aimed towards Wissa and another long ball from Pickford towards McNeil failed to trouble the Brentford rear guard. Maybe Everton needed to think of an alternative approach than just launching the ball long – it doesn’t work against every team or every time.

Everton took their time in building an attack but, the final ball into the area for Chermiti was easily gathered by Flekken. Harrison played a short one-two with Godfrey before seeing a shot blocked and a ball from Godfrey for Chermiti saw him win the Blues first corner off Pinnock, that the same player then defended at the back post. Passing the half hour mark, Everton enjoyed some possession before a poor ball from Gana Gueye brought the move to a disappointing end.

Garner to Gana Gueye and out to McNeil for a cross that Collins cleared as Evertn finally began to get on top and the next attack saw a McNeil shot charged down before Garner won a corner from the left that was partially cleared and when McNeil crossed again, Godfrey got the header but couldn’t direct it on target. Toney caught Gana Gueye after seeing a long range shot blocked by Tarkowski, and a ball from Gartner was laid back by Doucoure for Chermiti, his shot being blocked.

Pickford punched a deep cross clear and a collision in midfield saw Chermiti and Janelt both go down, the young Everton striker clearly coming off the worst and needing some attention with Brentford being awarded the free kick and eventually, Chermiti was waved back onto the field as McNeil was fouled.

Five minutes plus whatever added-on time to play and the game was desperately in need of a goal or at least something for the crowd to get excited about. Harrison exchanged passes with McNeil to see a shot blocked out for a corner off Collins that came out to Young and his instant ball forward found McNeil for a shot that was blocked and Tarkowski with a shot that went wide.

Reguilon was yellow carded for a rash tackle on James Garner with the free kick leading to a ball from Young that Chermiti sweetly found Doucoure with, the shot being disappointingly blazed wide and a minimum of two added-on minutes were announced. Everton appealed in vain for a foul on Chermiti trying to get to a cross from McNeil and the referee called time on a decidedly average first forty-five minutes.

After the excitement and fireworks of Wednesday night, this first half was very much a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ as neither goalie had had a save to make as there hadn’t been a shot on target from either side.

Half Time: 0-0

No changes by either manager for the start of the second half that saw Pickford play a free kick from just inside the Everton half for McNeil that nearly took Brentford by surprise before Jensen cleared. Both sides were struggling to find anything really creative and punishing the the opposition defence before a nice touch by Wissa found Jensen and his quick ball to the back post found Toney with Jordan Pickford spreading himself magnificently to block the shot and then gather the loose ball.

Everton built a decent move that ended with McNeil exchanging passes with Garner before striking a fierce shot that beat Flekken but, not the crossbar. Godfrey then found Harrison and he was bundled over by Wissa to give the Blues a free kick five yards in from the right wing corner flag. McNeil sent it long to wards Godfrey and Branthwaite with Flekken getting a telling punch to send the ball out for a left wing corner that failed to produce.

Everton again built a measured approach that led to a deep cross from Godfrey being put behind by Collins, a safety first measure that led to the Blues taking the lead. Brentford failed to adequately clear their lines and when the ball fell loose in the area, Idrissa Gana Gueye arrived to smash a shot into the Gwladys Street goal and break the deadlock emphatically. Incredibly, VAR reviewed for two possible offsides before common sense prevailed and the goal was confirmed.

A diving headed clearance by Tarkowski as Brentford tried to respond instantly while the Blues went in search of a second with McNeil taking a flick-on from Branthwaite to send a low shot across the face of goal and wide.

Brentford made their first changes as Lewis-Potter and Damsgaard replaced Wissa and Janelt respectively on 67 minutes. Reguilon – why was he wearing gloves? – won a corner off Harrison that was defended and passing the 70-minute mark, Brentford aimlessly wasted a free kick conceded by Gana Gueye. Flekken raced quickly off his line to deny Chermiti getting to a long ball over the top. Two balls on the pitch nearly caused some confusion that saw Brentford awarded a corner and I’m not quite sure why Tarkowski was shown a yellow car, and Pickford easily held the deflected corner set piece.

Brentford prepared another double substitution as Pickford palmed away a shot from Lewis-Potter and the changes came on 77 minutes as Reguilon and Norgaard were replaced by Schade and Yarmoliuk while Sean Dyche withdrew Idrissa Gana Gueye for Amadou Onana – all on 77 minutes. Schade almost immediately made an impact forcing Godfrey into conceding a corner that was taken quickly but well defended.

Chermiti took a long ball from Young to feed Doucoure, his cross though was too close to Flekken and easily held. Good work defensively by Harrison won the ball and a free kick as the visitors prepared their fifth and final change. A fine ball through the middle by McNeil found Chermiti but, he was marginally offside and Brentford made their final change, Roerslev for Ajer on 84 minutes. Onana burst forward with McNeil to his left and Doucoure to his right who strayed offside before Onana released the pass.

Everton were now looking to run down the clock with Onana striding forward and then recycling the ball back to Young on the halfway line. Mbeumo fouled Doucoure to eat up a few more seconds as Pickford strolled forward to send the ball long that Brentford cleared. McNeil burst down the left flank to be brought down by Mbeumo who was booked and the fourth official indicated a minimum of six added minutes.

The free kick saw Garner hit the crossbar with Flekken not really sure whether to go for it, and Brentford pushed forward for a late equaliser with Pickford saving well from Schade with Toney looking to make the most of a rebound that the England keeper gathered in time. Chermiti did well to take a ball and win a corner and Michael Keane appeared for a cameo role to allow Youseff Chermiti to enjoy the deserved round of applause, and the corner failed to produce.

A final attack by the visitors saw a weak ball from Jensen fail to find Toney and at the final whistle, the relief around Goodison was clear to hear as the crowd celebrated that the final season at Goodison will be played in the top flight – where Everton should always be !!

Full Time: 1-0