A wonderful win for Burnley. They defended brilliantly after a slightly concerning start and scored a cracking goal to win the game in the first half, Jeff Hendrick sweeping home after a flowing move. They never looked like conceding after taking the lead, restricting Everton to nothing in the second half. It helped, of course, that Everton are utterly useless. I won’t bother running through why again – no point going over old ground, everyone knows the problem by now. Ronald Koeman is under huge pressure now. Burnley rise to sixth place, having taken 12 points from their first seven matches and maintained their unbeaten away record, but Everton stay 16th, two points above the bottom three.
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Full-time: Everton 0-1 Burnley
Huge cheers in the away end, loud boos from the home fans. For the second time in the space of three days, Everton walk off the pitch to the sound of jeers from the Goodison Park crowd.
90 min+4: Koeman is telling the fourth official that chestball is a penalty. Look it up, you fool!
90 min+3: Williams heads a cross on, Calvert-Lewin heads it goalwards and again Lowton deflects it wide, the ball going just past the post. Everton wail for a penalty again, but it clearly came off Lowton’s chest.
90 min+1: There will be four minutes of this swill for Everton fans to enjoy.
90 min: Sandro’s pass inside is cut out by Barnes, who buys a foul off Rooney. Burnley are eating up time.
88 min: Ashley Barnes replaces Jeff Hendrick, the Burnley goalscorer. Ronald Koeman, meanwhile, has sought an explanation from Jon Moss about his refusal to award Everton a penalty. It’s because it wasn’t an intentional handball.
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87 min: Baines and Sigurdsson combine to release Calvert-Lewin, who scuffs a shot straight at Pope.
85 min: The corner’s cleared. Everton are camped in Burnley’s half now, though, and Davies winds up for a shot from the edge of the area. It looks to be heading towards the top left corner, but Wood heads it away.
84 min: Sigurdsson chips a cross to the far post from right. Rooney’s header hits Lowton’s outstretched arm and goes behind. Everton scream for a penalty, but it wasn’t intentional.
82 min: Sandro Ramirez replaces Oumar Niasse. Ronald was right! Moments later, Rooney shoots from 30 yards, but it isn’t 2003.
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81 min: Gueye blams another shot over the bar. This is execrable from Everton.
79 min: Davies is furious after another potential award of a corner goes against Everton.
77 min: Strange to think Manchester City lost 4-0 to Everton in January.
74 min: Mee misses a cross from the right. The ball falls to Rooney, whose shot’s deflected wide by Tarkowski. Burnley deal with the corner, although they’re just starting to fall back a little and invite Everton on.
71 min: Arfield goes on a powerful surge down the right, a run that’s only stopped by a clumsy foul by Niasse, who’s lucky not to get booked.
70 min: Wood nods down a long free-kick and almost finds Hendrick in the Everton area. Pickford’s there.
69 min: Martina crosses, Calvert-Lewin heads wide. Tom Davies replaces Nikola Vlasic.
68 min: Baines’s cross causes a moment of uncertainty in the Burnley defence. Mee wallops his clearance straight into the unwitting Hendrick, who’s relieved to see the ball loop back to Pope.
67 min: Burnley counter for the first time in a while and the clever Arfield plays Brady through on the left. Williams is playing him onside. He wants to find Wood at the far post, but Pickford smartly gets in the way of his cross.
64 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson sends a shot well over the bar. He was worth £50m to Swansea. I’m not sure he’s worth that much to Everton.
63 min: This is Everton’s first good move of the half. Baines’s cross finds Niasse, who nods wide. At which point, enter Wayne. The disappointing Schneiderling departs, Rooney comes on.
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61 min: What is Everton’s plan here? What are they trying to do? On the touchline, Wayne Rooney is readying himself.
60 min: Defour’s down. The physio’s on. I’m not sure what the problem is.
58 min: Niasse’s pressure on Mee seems to have done enough to win a corner for Everton, but not for the first time a goal-kick’s incorrectly awarded. Up the other end, Baines is harshly booked for a late tackle on Brady, who was sharper than the left-back to a loose ball.
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55 min: Calvert-Lewin’s tame shot from 25 yards drifts straight into Pope’s clutches.
54 min: Baines hoicks a cross out for a goal-kick.
52 min: Williams pings a straight pass out for a goal-kick. This is grim.
51 min: After Burnley clear the corner, Gueye wafts a shot miles over from 25 yards.
50 min: Sigurdsson sprays a pass out to Martina on the right. He wins a corner.
49 min: Calvert-Lewin’s booked for a late tackle on Arfield.
48 min: A loose ball runs to Vlasic, whose shot’s blocked by Tarkowski.
46 min: Burnley get the second half underway. There were suggestions that Tom Davies was going to come on for Everton, but he’s still got his tracksuit top on. “I think that Arfield’s ‘dive’ falls into the category where it’s not a penalty, but it’s not a booking either,” says Matt Loten. “A lot of pundits and, seemingly, referees appear to think that it has to be one or the other, but sometimes it’s just a coming together. Penalty? Nah. Dive? Not for me, Clive.”
Half-time: Everton 0-1 Burnley
Jon Moss’s whistle is greeted by boos from the Everton fans, but don’t let that obscure the fact that Burnley, in front thanks to a lovely goal from Jeff Hendrick, are 45 minutes plus stoppage time away from going sixth in the Premier League.
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45 min: There will be one added minute.
44 min: Burnley are pressing strongly as the half draws to a close. A loose clearance falls to Cork on the edge of the area, but Schneiderlin deflects his shot over. Keane heads Brady’s corner away. “I think we may be witnessing the first game in a brand new derby,” says JR in Illinois. “With Everton’s sleeves adorned with “Angry Birds” and Burnley’s sporting “Play Golf Clash” I believe we have the first “Crap Mobile Phone Game App Sleeve Sponsor Derby”. Amazing world we live in, innit?”
42 min: Ashley Williams, who’s always good for one howler a game, smashes a clearance straight into a Burnley player and the ball runs back into the area for Arfield. Williams almost compounds the error when he tries to tackle Arfield, who collapses to the ground after minimal contact from the Everton defender. Penalty? No, Jon Moss rules it was a dive and books Arfield. A tight call.
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41 min: Ward dashes down the left and knocks in a very good cross that’s just too high for the unmarked Wood in the middle.
40 min: Niasse’s shot from the left bobbles well wide of the far post.
39 min: Defour picks up a booking for dissent.
36 min: Vlasic’s cross drifts out for a goal-kick. He isn’t finding it easy.
34 min: Wood heads the corner away.
33 min: Niasse scoots to the byline on the left and wins a corner.
32 min: “WHY ARE YOU SO DEEP?!” an Everton fan shouts.
31 min: Hendrick slides a low ball across the Everton area from the left. This time, there’s no one there, but Burnley are making hay down the left.
30 min: Gueye’s long-range effort swerves wide.
28 min: This is good from Wood, who chases a long clearance and forces Williams to concede a corner.
27 min: The first howls from the home fans.
23 min: This is going to be a huge test of character for Everton now. They had been looking fairly impressive, but there’s a danger that the mood inside Goodison Park could turn if they’re behind for long.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Burnley (Hendrick, 21 min)
This is a brilliant goal! After patient passing from Burnley, who keep the ball for a long stretch, Ward hoicks a cross into the middle. It’s not a great delivery, but Wood does well to head it back to Hendrick on the edge of the area. He moves it to Arfield, who proceeds to slice Everton open up with a pass through to Ward, who’s got away from Vlasic again. Ward gets his head up this time and finds Hendrick with a low cutback. His first touch, combined with a drop of the shoulder, sees off Schneiderlin and sets him up to stroke a low finish past Pickford with his right foot. That was beautifully constructed!
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19 min: Calvert-Lewin does well to reach a punt from Keane down the right. He holds off Mee before slipping the ball to Vlasic, who wins a corner. The Everton fans behind the goal appreciated Calvert-Lewin’s scampering there. It was nothing special, but it’s the kind of urgency Everton have been missing.
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16 min: Everton counter, Sigurdsson charging through the middle and finding Niasse on the right. The best striker in the world cleverly prods a pass back to Sigurdsson, who gets the ball stuck under his feet before he can shoot and surely score from six yards out, allowing Jack Cork to make a superb saving challenge. Everton are playing quite well here.
13 min: Wood rumbles down the right channel, making the most of a hopeful long ball. He turns to find Brady arriving in support. The Irishman rather selfishly shoots from a tight angle. Blocked. Burnley continue to press, though, and Lowton’s low fizzing cross takes a deflection and forces the diving Pickford to make an important intervention. That was better from the visitors, who have looked shaky at the back so far.
10 min: Sean Dyche looks displeased with Ben Mee.
9 min: Sigurdsson heads Gueye’s pass over the Burnley defence, more in hope than expectation, but Niasse almost makes something of it, getting there before the dozing Pope and lofting it over the Burnley goalkeeper but away from goal. Everton continue to turn the screw, Baines crossing from the left, but Schneiderlin’s header hits Tarkowski and goes wide. Everton are annoyed to see a goal-kick awarded.
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6 min: A mistake by Ben Mee, who fails to deal with a long punt, allows Calvert-Lewin to charge down the right. Here’s what Koeman was looking for. The young striker’s held up the recovering Mee, but he manages to find Sigurdsson, who plays a pass to Vlasic in the area. The young Croatian knocks it back to Sigurdsson, who’s got space for a shot, only to place a careful low side-footer too close to Pope.
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5 min: Williams heads the corner away. Defour puts it back in the area, but Keane heads it out for a throw on the left.
4 min: Burnley mount their first attack, Vlasic allowing Ward to run unhindered down the left to send a lovely cross into the six yard-box, forcing Baines to shovel the ball behind for a corner.
3 min: Oumar Niasse, who may well be even better than Kylian Mbappe, has an early sighter, a shot hit with little backlift from 20 yards. It’s powerful, but it’s straight at Pope.
2 min: The good news is that Goodison Park is slightly louder than it was on Thursday.
Peep! Everton, kicking from left to right, get the game underway. They go on the attack straight away, but Baines’s deep cross is well watched by Pope in the Burnley goal.
Here come the teams. Everton are in their blue shirts, Burnley are in claret and blue.
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Ronald Koeman speaks! “The team is in a different situation than maybe expected. They have changed the style of playing for today. The way our opponent will approach the game today, two strikers in front. Niasse gives us more aggression. Maybe he is the player who is not struggling at the moment and it gives some freshness to the team. We played on Thursday. It is difficult to have the same line-up because we need fresh legs. I spoke with Wayne about this yesterday. He took this really good. Okay, he is not happy, everyone wants to start, but it is about the whole squad. Michael Keane is ready. He trained yesterday. He is okay to play and start and it is a big boost.”
It’s Alan Ball Day at Goodison Park today.
🙌 Today we recognise one of our Goodison greats, Alan Ball. 🙌#NothingWillBeTheSame pic.twitter.com/OATTGAu2zf
— Everton (@Everton) October 1, 2017
Everton make five changes from the side that drew with Apollon Limassol. Cuco Martina replaces Jonjoe Kenny at right-back and Michael Keane is fit to return in place of Mason Holgate against his old side, while further forward Ronald Koeman has introduced some youthful mobility in an attempt to give his team more vibrancy. Nikola Vlasic replaces Tom Davies after scoring his first Everton goal against Apollon, while Wayne Rooney and Sandro Ramirez have dropped to the bench. Oumar Niasse, ineligible in the Europa League (well in, Ron), and Dominic Calvert-Lewin start up front instead.
Burnley are unchanged from last week’s goalless draw with Huddersfield. Expect them to focus primarily on being tough to break down and to look to counterattack as the game wears on.
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Team news
Everton: Pickford; Martina, Keane, Williams, Baines; Vlasic, Schneiderlin, Gueye, Sigurdsson; Calvert-Lewin, Niasse. Subs: Stekelenburg, Holgate, Davies, Klaassen, Lookman, Rooney, Sandro.
Burnley: Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward; Arfield, Cork, Hendrick, Defour, Brady; Wood. Subs: Lindegaard, Vokes, Barnes, Gudmundsson, Westwood, Bardsley, Long.
Referee: Jon Moss.
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Preamble
Hello. Sometimes a manager can come up with so many convoluted ideas that he ends up looking like he doesn’t have any at all. Ronald Koeman, for instance, reckoned that Everton were too scared to play in their limp draw with 10-man Apollon Limassol at an eerily quiet Goodison Park on Thursday night. To those watching, however, it simply looked like Everton don’t have a way of playing - unless ponderous sideways football with no genuine width and as many No10s crammed into the side as possible counts as a way of playing.
Into the third month of the season we go and still it remains unclear what Koeman wants Everton to do. He’s been given a lot of money to construct a team so slow it could be a Canadian kid who’s been put in the remedial class in his new school and the pressure will grow if they fail to win this one against Burnley. This, presumably, wasn’t what Koeman had in mind after the summer splurge. This, however, is what Evertonians are seeing at the moment. It’s difficult to know which have been more disappointing, results or performances, while it doesn’t exactly reflect well on Koeman’s judgement that it was down to the discarded Oumar Niasse to drag Everton out of the bottom three with a heroic substitute appearance against Bournemouth last weekend.
While Koeman searches for the right balance, Burnley are reaping the benefits of the absence of any high-falutin’ ideas. There’s no talk of a philosophy, a project, a process at Turf Moor. But Sean Dyche’s instructions are understood and implemented by his players and we know what to expect from Burnley at Goodison Park this afternoon. A no-frills, ego-free approach has them in eighth place. Everton, two points behind Burnley, are 16th. It might not be that exciting, it might not be revolutionary, but it is a reminder that simplicity is underrated.
Kick-off: 2.15pm.
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