Everton have moved back level on points with Liverpool after a narrow victory over Southampton in the Premier League on Monday night.

Everton took an early lead just 9 minutes in, when a long ball caused confusion amongst Saints defenders leading to Dominic Calvert-Lewin winning his duel. From this the ball dropped to Sigurdsson who slid a well-weighted through ball into the path of Richarlison who rounded Fraser Fprster before smashing the ball into an empty net.

It was an energetic start from the Blues who were pressing Southampton well, especially Calvert-Lewin who was exerting himself physically on the likes of Salisu with his aerial presence.

Everton though they had doubled their lead when Michael Keane nodded in his fifth of the season, only for it to be ruled out by VAR as Mason Holgate was deemed to be in an offside position.

Southampton seemed to take confidence from this as they grew into the game, showing a level of composure in midfield before attacking fluently down the wings. Ralph Hasenhuttl would have been pleased with the response.

The Toffees would feel that they needed to improve their performance in the second half to avoid dropping two points despite the early goal.

Everton kept receiving set piece opportunities thanks to clumsy Southampton fouls at the start of the second half, and looked dangerous every time with Keane the main target.

Although the second forty five was largely uneventful, it was Jordan Pickford who continued his heroics from last week’s derby win by making a great save to deny Vestergaard at the very end of the game.

In terms of an overall performance, it wasn’t the best that Carlo’s men have produced this season but the simple fact is, it didn’t have to be. Southampton finished the night having failed to have a shot on target, and this result means they have now gone nine Premier League matches without winning.

The saints were subdued throughout the whole game meaning Everton could coast, applying relatively minimal effort, avoiding any injuries and not making a substitution until the 87th minute.

Whilst fans may want to see a bit more conviction and a killer mentality when it comes to finishing teams off, that simply isn’t the case with this Everton team. Ancelotti has built a defensively solid team that has instilled confidence over recent weeks that is more likely to grind out a 1-0 win rather than smash five past a team.

A player who has received his fair share of criticism when it comes to underperforming and his attitude is Richarlison, however the Brazilian has rediscovered his old form. Carlo Ancelotti himself said his best position is playing off DCL, coming in off the left, and that’s exactly where he has been playing recently, scoring in his last three games. That takes his total to 11 in all competitions, a number that seemed unrealistic a month or two ago when he was bereft of any confidence in front of goal.

The win will come as a welcome one, snapping a three game losing streak at home whilst also providing a four point gap on Tottenham in eighth and the Blues are now only two points off the top four.

Player Ratings:
Jordan Pickford – 8
Lucas Digne – 7
Michael Keane – 8
Ben Godfrey – 7
Mason Holgate – 7.5
Andre Gomes – 8
Abdoulaye Doucouré – 6
Allan – 7
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 6
Richarlison – 8.5 (MOTM)
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 7

Subs:
Alex Iwobi – N/A
Joshua King – N/A