Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall celebrates after scoring Everton's second against Burnley
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall celebrates after scoring Everton's second against Burnley
Everton recorded their first win in eight matches at Hill Dickinson Stadium to defeat relegation-threatened Burnley 2-0 on a comfortable evening for men. Captain put the Blues on their way with his first goal of the season, coming against his previous team, when heading in at the back post from a
The home side were always in control and doubled their advantage on the hour mark as the impressive Dwight McNeil – producing his best display of the campaign against the club where he started his career – did well to win possession back, picking out Iliman Ndiaye, who in turn fed , with the midfielder dinking the ball coolly into the net.
And this is how we rated the Blues...
Jordan Pickford 7
It wasn’t quite the level of his Sandro Tonali stop, but saved his best until last with an instinctive save to deny Lyle Foster in the dying seconds, with little to do for long periods he tried to pick his passes to start attacks from deep.
Jake O’Brien 6
Plenty of scope for him to get forwards, but for all his strong running, he’s still a natural centre-half finding himself deep into opposition territory on the flank.
Vitalii Mykolenko 6
Continuing to benefit from having Branthwaite alongside him, he looked steady enough other than a heavy back pass that almost played Pickford into trouble.
James Tarkowski 8
The captain headed in his first goal of the season with a dominant back post header against his previous club and the home fans also appreciated his strong challenge on Hannibal was in the wars in what was a dominant display.
Jarrad Branthwaite 8
Denied a second headed goal in four days by Martin Dubravka’s save in first half stoppage time, he tried to get things going from deep by carrying the ball and playing through the lines.
Idrissa Gueye 7
Hit the corner of the post and crossbar with a curling shot from the edge of the area after robbing Kyle Walker of possession, the nature of the game saw him deployed further forwards than usual and he carried the ball well for Ndiaye’s disallowed goal but should have realised his team-mate was offside when making the pass.
James Garner 7
Plenty of bite all night, he looked a threat with his deliveries from out wide, including set-pieces as displayed by his free-kick which found Tarkowski’s head for the goal.
Dwight McNeil 8
A big redemption story as he produced arguably his best performance of the season so far in his first home game since his move to Crystal Palace collapsed, he was neat and tidy in possession while also showing great grit and determination to win the ball back in the build-up to Everton’s second goal before picking out Ndiaye.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 8
Deft finish to double Everton’s advantage as he dinked the ball past Dubravka after being played through by Ndiaye, he’d earlier fired a shot over the bar when Burnley failed to clear a James Garner corner and got in the faces of Burnley’s players, always trying to keep things moving.
Iliman Ndiaye 7
Gliding around on the left wing, he appears to have got some of his swagger back after his tricky display at Newcastle and despite clearly being offside when he put the ball in the net himself from Gueye’s pass, he laid on a lovely-weighted delivery to pick out Dewsbury-Hall for his goal.
Beto 6
Provided a focal point to the attack again like at St James’ Park as a bustling physical presence but he didn’t really test Dubravka in the Burnley goal with a header that went over the bar early in the second half the closest he came to scoring again.
Substitutes
Michael Keane (on 83 for Branthwaite)
Late outing against his former club.
Thierno Barry (on 83 for Beto)
Fresh legs up front in the latter stages.
Tyrique George (on 86 for McNeil)
His introduction enabled the impressive McNeil to be given a standing ovation.
Tim Iroegbunam (on 86 for Gueye)
Got a run-out with the win in the bag.
Tyler Dibling (on 93 for Ndiaye)
Stoppage time cameo.
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