MATCH REPORT : EVERTON 0-2 NORWICH CITY

Evertonians arrived at Goodison Park buoyed by last week’s 2-1 away win at Southampton and looking forward to facing the Premier League’s bottom side without an away win all season. Straightforward? Well you would have thought so but this Everton side is one that would give Jekyl and Hide a run for their money.

The stark truth for Everton was that quite unexpectedly Jordan Pickford was the busier goalkeeper throughout as Norwich played with a fluency that belied their league position.  Sam Byram, Kenny McLean and Onel Hernández all tested the England international before he produced a superb stop to prevent Hernandez breaking the deadlock. McLean released Hernández clear of the Everton defence and he drove a hard and low strike towards the bottom corner but Pickford reacted expertly to save low to his right to ensure it remained 0-0 at the break.

Everton upped their intensity at the start of the second half as they tried to take the initiative that the crowd demanded but Norwich responded by showing resilience and good organisation. Ben Godfrey needed to be on his mettle by throwing himself in the way of a goal-bound shot by Cenk Tosun. As Everton were just in the ascendancy they were undone by weak defending and Norwich’s quicker reactions.

Zimmermann hit a long ball out of defence that broke into the path of Teemu Pukki, as  Mason Holgate and Yerry Mina closed in on the Norwich striker he was able to thread the ball into the gap left by Everton’s central defenders. Cantwell burst through the middle and beat Pickford with a low, measured finish.

Everton responded briefly and Tim Krul denied the anonymous Gylfi Sigurdsson as well as  Tosun and Tom Davies but in truth it was all too easy for Norwich.

In stoppage time Dennis Srbeny brushed aside Holgate inside the area to scramble the ball past Pickford to make it 2-0 and score his first goal for Norwich in the process.

As well as condemning Everton to an unexpected home defeat it sparked an outpouring of dissent against Marco Silva with the home fans joining in singing “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” which had been started by the jubilant Norwich fans. The question is will he? Time certainly appears to be ticking down on Marco Silva’s reign at Goodison Park.

How they lined up : 

Barry Cass