MATCH REPORT: EVERTON 0-2 SHEFFIELD UNITED

The chorus of boos that rang out at the final whistle at Goodison Park will have stung the ears of Blues boss Marco Silva this afternoon. This game was supposed to be an opportunity for redemption for the Blues following last Sunday’s capitulation at Bournemouth but Everton were simply not up to the task.

Sheffield United were resilient, well organised, and generally looked fitter than their hosts and inflicted Everton’s first home defeat since February 6th and in doing so they registered their first away win of the season quite comfortably. Perhaps a more worrying statistic for Marco Silva is that his have now lost to two of the three promoted sides already this season.

Everton were ineffective from the start of this game, they enjoyed plenty of possession but struggled to make anything happen in the final third. In fact Everton’s only real ‘chances’ in the opening 30 minutes were an optimistic hook over the bar from Richarlison and a wild effort from Moise Kean that had people ducking in the Park End stand.

Sheffield United too had not created anything and bizarrely took the lead without having a single attempt on goal. Oliver Norwood’s delivery from the Blades’ first corner seemed to be harmless enough but Pickford came for the ball and missed, it deflected off Yerry Mina and ended up in the net. Pickford protested furiously that he had been pushed but VAR took the view that he had not. Seeing it again after the game, England’s number one may well have had a point but it mattered not here.

Everton responded and Moise Kean, who had been isolated for most of the half, produced a strong run to the line and put in a cross but Richarlison’s header did not have enough power in it to trouble Dean Henderson in the Blades’ goal.

The half-time whistle brought groans more so than boos, as United had the impressive stat of having zero attempts at goal but led 1-0.

The second half started slowly and Blues boss Silva made a couple of early changes. He introduced Alex Iwobi and Cenk Tosun but the pattern of the game did not really change as Everton could not find any space.

Wilder responded by withdrawing Norwood and sending on former Blues skipper Phil Jagielka, who received a warm welcome from Everton fans despite their side being behind in the game.

Everton continued to toil but were kept at bay without too many alarms for the visitors. And from that base United broke out and put the game to bed with an incisive counter-attack. John Lundstram, a former Everton U23 player,  played a perfectly weighted pass through the heart of the home defence to pick up Lys Mousset’s run through the middle, as he raced on Pickford should have reacted quicker but hesitated and that was all Mousset needed as he slotted the ball into the Park End net to secure the points.

Final Score: Everton 0-2 Sheffield United

How They Lined Up: 

Barry Cass