Everton made a big breakthrough on Saturday with the win over Fulham, and one goal in particular could mark the start of a new approach from David Moyes and his team.
It was a crucial three points for Everton, who ended a three-game run without a win to finally land a victory at Hill Dickinson Stadium before the international break.
Goals from Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane sealed the win, and it’s the latter whose goal will leave David Moyes with food for thought over the next couple of weeks.
While Marco Silva admitted Fulham struggled with Everton’s aggression, it’s actually their newfound penchant for set-pieces that will be something other teams may struggle with in the future.
Manchester City v Everton - Premier League
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David Moyes puts focus on set-pieces
Speaking after the win over Fulham, Moyes told the club website how pleased he was to see a goal go in as the result of a set-piece, and admitted it’s something he has been pushing on the team for a while.
He said: “For me, the biggest thing was scoring from a set-piece. I talk about it every day. And I think about it every day to try to find ways, how are we going to score? Why are we not scoring? What can we do better to get it?”
Clearly, Moyes has been watching Arsenal and has enjoyed what he’s seen from his former star midfielder, Mikel Arteta. The Gunners have really revolutionised set-pieces this season and used them to their advantage more than any other team, but others are surely going to follow suit now.
That focus on set-pieces is obviously being heard by Moyes’ players, too, as Michael Keane played up the importance of them in his own post-match comments.
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He said: “We work on set-pieces a hell of a lot. We plan everything that we do. We’re trying to get more goals in the team, whether that’s through the strikers, the midfielders, the defenders on set plays. I fancied myself to get a chance today and thankfully when it came, I took it.”
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Everton’s set-piece record this season
Before this weekend, Everton had scored three goals from set-pieces. Keane had scored one of those, with a header against West Ham in September and he’s now doubled his tally and taken Everton up to four set-piece goals for the season.
That still has them trailing plenty of teams when it comes to goals from set-pieces, though. The likes of Spurs (6), Man United (6), Chelsea (8) and Arsenal (10) all have more. Perhaps more worryingly, so too do the likes of Crystal Palace (5) and Bournemouth (5); teams that Everton would surely want to be superior to.
Team Open play goals Set-piece goals
1. Arsenal 7 10
2. Chelsea 11 8
3. Tottenham 11 6
4. Manchester United 10 6
5. Aston Villa 8 5
6. Crystal Palace 6 5
7. Bournemouth 6 5
8. Sunderland 6 4
9. Leeds 5 4
10. Everton 7 4
Data via WhoScored
But, with a higher focus on this type of situation now, there’s every chance we will continue to see Everton exploit set-pieces and with players like Keane and Tarkowski in the box, and the likes of Jack Grealish, James Garner, and Iliman Ndiaye whipping the ball in, they’ve got all the ingredients to succeed.