Everton kept their hopes for European football alive with a 1-0 win at West Ham United thanks to a goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The Blues have been in eighth place in the Premier League football for some time now but know that with four games remaining, they need to climb at least one more position if they’re to be competing in continental competition next term and the victory over David Moyes’ side saw them move within three points of the Hammers, two of Liverpool and one of Tottenham Hotspur.
Here’s how the national media reported on the game.
Everton might be top four hopefuls if they defended this heroically every week
Darren Lewis, The Mirror
It isn't over - not by a long way - but David Moyes’ Champions League hopes took a huge hit here.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 16th Premier League goal of the season gave Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton a first-half lead they never surrendered.
If only the Toffees could defend as heroically as they did here every week.
Maybe they and not West Ham would be the ones still checking the pulse of their top four hopes.
Everton possibly even provided a blueprint for the Hammers’ last three opponents to squeeze the life out of Moyes’ side.
Towering Keane display for a win based on Everton's exceptional defence
Sam Mokbel, Daily Mail
The bubbles are fading and dying. West Ham require more than fortune to fulfil their Champions League dream now.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal dealt the Hammers’ top-four hopes a crushing blow as Everton kept their European aspirations alive with this narrow win.
Five points adrift of fourth-placed Leicester with three games to play means qualification for top-tier European football is not impossible — but even the staunchest West Ham supporter knows it is a tall order.
By the time their team travel to Brighton on Saturday, Liverpool could be above them in fifth and Everton level on points.
This defeat was West Ham’s third in four games. David Moyes’s team are running out of steam at the wrong time. By the end here, they had run out of ideas.
Defensively, Everton were exceptional and Michael Keane, in particular, proved a point in front of England assistant coach Steve Holland with a towering display. But the onus was on West Ham to force the issue — their dreams depended on it — and it is hard to argue they did that with no shots on target.
This was Carlo Ancelotti’s first win over Moyes — and his team were deserving of their victory.
Measured in midfield, defiant at the back and sharper up front - Ancelotti gives Everton the edge
Jacob Steinberg, The Guardian
The Everton striker’s clinical finish summed up the difference between the sides.
The pressure was too much for West Ham and although it was impossible to fault them for effort, they could not match Everton’s greater conviction in the final third.
Everton deserved a win that keeps their hopes of European football alive. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were measured in midfield, defiant at the back and sharper up front, earning the points thanks to Calvert-Lewin’s 21st goal of the season.
Everton had the tactical edge thanks to Ancelotti’s 3-5-2 system. Tom Davies and Allan offered bite in midfield, snuffing out West Ham’s creative talents, and provided the visitors with a platform to push forward. Gylfi Sigurdsson was lively and Richarlison threatened up front, repeatedly spinning away from Issa Diop.
While they huffed and puffed, West Ham did not create another chance. Everton got their blocks in and their defence headed everything away, even though Mina had to make way for Mason Holgate. They even could have added another on the break, only for Joshua King to head against the left post after replacing Richarlison.
When it was over Calvert-Lewin fell to the turf out of sheer exhaustion. The striker had given everything to the cause. It was West Ham who had run out of steam.
Demigod of a manager uses underdog tactics to deny Moyes
James Gheerbrant, The Times
Having never led Everton, Manchester United or Real Sociedad into the promised land of the group stage of the Champions League during a 23-year managerial career, it was always asking a lot for David Moyes to guide a hammer through the eye of the needle.
But on this Sunday afternoon the opportunity was there: West Ham United had the chance to close to within two points of a faltering Leicester City team and bring fourth place within their grasp.
Ninety minutes of pure, painful frustration later they had wrung not a single shot on target from 69% possession against Everton and Moyes’s dream of entering that hallowed kingdom had receded a little further into the distance.
This was a bad time for Moyes to suffer his first Premier League defeat by Carlo Ancelotti. He has enjoyed a superb record against his more illustrious rival, winning three and drawing three of their previous meetings in the English top flight, and this season he has done a superior job of coaching a team of similar resources.
It felt almost cruel for Moyes that, at this potentially pivotal moment of career redemption, the universe had put in his path not only his former club, but a decorated demigod of a manager prepared to use the tactics of the underdog.
Ancelotti will hope Everton can still have a say in European race
Matt Law, Daily Telegraph
David Moyes did not want to go quite as far as giving up on West Ham United’s Champions League qualification hopes, but this felt like the day when their top-four dream started to slip away.
Not only did Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal stop West Ham from moving two points behind fourth-placed Leicester City, but manager Moyes also saw Manuel Lanzini and Aaron Cresswell forced off with injuries against his former club.
Just when the Hammers needed a slice of luck, Vladimir Coufal’s shot hit the inside of the post instead of the inside of the net and Moyes may now have to hope Leicester’s wobble turns into a full-on collapse if they are to do better than qualify for next season’s Europa League.
The defeat meant another of Moyes' old clubs, Manchester United, qualified for the Champions League, raising question marks over the strength of the teams Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will field against two of West Ham’s rivals for a top-four finish, Leicester and Liverpool.
Carlo Ancelotti still hopes his Everton side can have a say in the race for European places, following an 11th Premier League victory on the road that could have been more comfortable if substitute Josh King had scored with a late header that hit the post.
Effective Everton on track for successful campaign as they close in on West Ham
Vithushan Ehantharajah, Independent
Everton boosted their hopes for European football with a 1-0 win at the London Stadium, in turn puncturing a hole in West Ham’s ambitions of joining the continent’s elite via the most honourable route.
David Moyes’s side remain in the hunt for the Champions League, but the opportunity to profit from Leicester City’s 4-2 defeat to Newcastle United on Friday was scuppered by a Dominic Calvert-Lewin strike midway through the first half.
They remain five points adrift of fourth spot, still in possession of the Europa League placing in fifth, though have played a game more and are one point ahead of sixth-place Liverpool.
Everton also have a game in hand but defeat here would have ended any realistic hopes of a top-six finish given how reliant it would have been on other results.
Nevertheless, Calvert-Lewin’s 16th goal of the season – joint-third most for an Everton striker in the Premier League era – keeps them on track for a successful campaign.
It was by no means a convincing performance, and you could argue West Ham were the better side in a pretty low quality affair that only served to highlight how tired the players are as a gruelling season reaches its conclusion.
