Everton were unrecognisable to Sean Dyche on his return to the club he saved from relegation and potential administration not so long ago. In plush new surroundings, the former Everton manager encountered a contented fanbase and incisive, confident opponents as David Moyes’s team climbed to fifth in the Premier League with a comfortable win over Nottingham Forest.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall delivered another immaculate performance in the heart of Everton’s midfield as a fourth win in five games reinforced the strides made since Moyes replaced Dyche in January. Dewsbury-Hall engineered a rapid opener and scored the third, while in between Thierno Barry lifted the roof of Hill Dickinson Stadium by scoring his first Everton goal in his 17th appearance. Forest were flat and second best throughout.
“I want us to try to be close to Europe,” said Moyes, who was as content with a fourth clean sheet in five games as he was with Everton’s biggest win of the season. “It doesn’t mean it’s a disaster if we lose to Newcastle, we are not a side that is going to win all the time, but we are making progress.”
Everton had trailed after 55 seconds of their previous home game, against Newcastle. Keen to make amends, they were immediately on the front foot and ahead with 83 seconds on the clock. Best take your seats early here. Forest invited problems. Nicolò Savona was booked after only 24 seconds for tripping Jack Grealish after the attacking midfielder slipped away from him. The visitors initially dealt with James Garner’s free-kick but Everton kept the pressure on and Dewsbury-Hall cut inside Dan Ndoye to create space on the left. The midfielder’s dangerous cross skimmed off the head of Nikola Milenkovic and nestled in the far corner of the goal.
It was a terrible opening by Forest, who were a model of organisation and focus when beating Liverpool 3-0 on their last visit to Merseyside a fortnight ago. They did improve, as they had to, but it was a scrappy first half in which only 18 of the opening 40 minutes were in play. Jordan Pickford was not seriously tested in the Everton goal until stoppage time.
James Tarkowski was fortunate to escape censure for needlessly barging Ndoye off the ball. “How Tarky got away with that I don’t know,” claimed Dyche. “The ref was honest and said he didn’t see it but the VAR did. And for their second goal the ball hits the referee and diverts into Everton’s path. On a day when you are not playing well you don’t need them to go against you but credit to Everton, they showed real desire.” The Forest manager overplayed both incidents.
Everton’s second was perfectly timed. Forest were developing momentum as half-time approached and came close to an equaliser when Elliot Anderson broke free of Jake O’Brien and squeezed a shot through Tarkowski’s legs. Pickford saved well, getting down quickly to his left and pushing the ball away from two Forest players lurking at the back post.
Seconds later, with Forest still pushing, Omari Hutchinson’s loose touch enabled Iliman Ndiaye to pounce. The Senegal international broke from deep – and with no assistance from the referee, Chris Kavanagh – and danced around Morato to lead a three-v-one counter-attack. Ndiaye selflessly squared to Barry and the summer signing slotted a clinical first-time finish beyond Matz Sels. The place erupted in celebration of Barry’s long-awaited and much-needed first Everton goal. The £27m recruit from Villarreal has kept the crowd onside with admirable work-rate but his composure in front of goal has been sorely lacking. Not on this occasion, however.
“I was just as pleased for the supporters as I was for the boy,” said Moyes. “They have shown him incredible backing and that does make a difference.”
Dyche responded to Forest’s lethargic display with a triple half-time substitution. The changes did not alter the flow of the game nor Everton’s superiority. Things might have been different had Tarkowski not blocked on the line from the substitute Nicolás Domínguez after a poor punch by Pickford but Everton twice went close to a third before the comfort zone finally arrived.
Dewsbury-Hall struck a post after an intelligent one-two with Grealish and Ndiaye forced a fine save from Sels. The Forest keeper was culpable for Everton’s third, however, when connecting weakly with a Garner corner. O’Brien touched the ball out to Dewsbury-Hall and the finest player on show drilled an emphatic finish into the far corner.
