Marco Silva had acknowledged that he was in effect on trial as head coach given Everton’s alarming recent slide and, while his side did not exactly pass this test with flying colours, in the end they comfortably ousted Cardiff courtesy of an ice-cool double by Gylfi Sigurdsson and a stoppage-time strike by Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
It is almost three years since the majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, acquired his first stake and, though a first victory in four matches lifts the immediate doom and gloom around Silva, the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Sunday will provide a clearer marker of the progress of a team into which the British-Iranian billionaire has pumped in excess of £300m.
The reality is that Everton have still only beaten Lincoln, Bournemouth, Huddersfield and now Cardiff since the turn of the year. But there were a few encouraging signs here, namely the grace with which Sigurdsson performed throughout. Is the tide turning? “We hope, we hope,” said Silva. “It’s a really important game, it was important that we won the game to get that confidence that we need as a team.
“It will be a different game at home with our fans [against Liverpool] and we expect a fantastic atmosphere in our stadium to push us on. One of the problems we have had this season was missing some consistency. We had two or three months very, very good and then after some bad results we are losing confidence. We have been up and down many times and it was an important win with a clean sheet.”
Sigurdsson left the field to a standing ovation from the away supporters, though perhaps a little disappointed at failing to register the perfect hat-trick after hitting sweet strikes with his left and right feet. In doing so, he became the leading Icelandic goalscorer in Premier League history, surpassing Eidur Gudjohnsen’s tally of 55.
“You are seeing a different Gylfi Sigurdsson this season – he deserved his goals,” Silva added. “I’m sure next match we will see Gylfi playing with more confidence, apart from his qualities he is always giving everything to the team. This season we have given him a different role.”
Cardiff remain one place and one point above the relegation zone. Their starting lineup consisted of 11 footballers who played in the second tier last season and the side badly lacked bite. “We had a great opportunity to take the lead and then we made elementary mistakes to concede the goals,” said Neil Warnock. “I know he’s cost £50m but Sigurdsson does not need more than one chance to score, whereas we huffed and puffed around goal. That is the difference, isn’t it? As disappointing as it was, we are not going to throw the towel in now.”
Silva said victory here was non-negotiable after they had lost eight of their previous 11 league games. Everton travelled to south Wales on the back of a 17-day break from their last match, a defeat to Watford, but did not showcase any noticeable strides made on the training ground until four minutes before the interval. It had the whiff of a simple training-ground move, from an incisive pass by Morgan Schneiderlin – impressive on his first start since October and one of five changes made by Silva – to slip in Séamus Coleman down the right flank, to Sigurdsson’s sweeping finish beyond Neil Etheridge in the Cardiff goal.
Strangled by expectation in recent weeks, Everton found some refreshing freedom after Sigurdsson’s opener and, when Silva introduced Bernard on the hour mark, they quickly set about doubling their lead.
Idrissa Gueye, an authoritative figure again in midfield, fed the Brazilian, who drove down the left flank with purpose, forcing Etheridge to palm away. The ball fell at the feet of Sigurdsson, who lashed the ball home with his left foot. By that point, Cardiff supporters had seen enough, though Everton were not finished, with Calvert-Lewin striking as any clouds hovering over Silva evaporated.
