Everton boss David Moyes said his side should have scored more goals in their win over Ipswich Town (Image: Ross Halls)
Everton boss David Moyes said his side should have scored more goals in their win over Ipswich Town (Image: Ross Halls)
Everton boss David Moyes says his side should have beaten Ipswich Town by a wider margin than the 1-0 win they managed yesterday.
Thierno Barry's first half goal, a ricochet off his stomach, proved enough for all three points at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but Moyes said he was disappointed with just one goal after the match.
"I’m actually more disappointed that we’ve not scored more goals," he reflected, talking to the Liverpool Echo.
"I’m rattling them like you couldn’t believe at the moment: ‘Why are we not scoring more goals, getting better crosses in, better finishes, shooting from the edge of the box etc’?
"Because I think that’s one of the things we’re missing from being a half-decent side."
He added: "I think today we had 21 shots, but only two on target, so that's not any good. But the 21 shots is very good because our attempts at goal in all the games have been much, much higher than they had been.
"So we're attempting to play in a way where we can get more chances, try and produce more opportunities, and in the main, I think we have, but we've not been taking them.”
Thierno Barry makes it 2-0 - but the goal was ruled out by VAR
(Image: Ross Halls)
Everton did actually have the ball in the net twice, but Barry's second strike, a fine header, was ruled out by VAR, the verdict being that Brennan Johnson was offside and had impeded Town keeper Christian Walton.
Unsurprisingly, Moyes disagreed.
"I think [the rule is whether] it affects his ability to save it, which I didn't think was the case," he opined. "But look, it's really difficult for the referees. We understand that.
"Do I think we'll get consistency from that decision through all the season? I'll be doubtful of that. The goalkeeper wouldn't have saved it. He got taken a little bit to the front post by the runner, Brennan Johnson.
“But it was nothing like last year, last year they were blocking the goalkeepers and doing all sorts of things. It was nothing like that at all.
"There's no doubt that Brennan was in an offside position, but did he interfere, really? Was the goalkeeper ever going to save it? Ultimately, it didn't make any difference to the result. So, thankfully, that was OK.”
Barry's second goal was ruled out by VAR (Image: Ross Halls)
Moyes concluded: "Look, we had big chances to go further in front today. We didn't. We started quite well, got the goal and looked as if we were going to be fine.
"Ipswich had a period in the middle of the first half and then we came back into it just before the end of the first half.
"They started a bit better in the second half and then, once the player got sent off, I thought we should have gone on and scored more.
"So credit to Ipswich for sticking with it and hanging in, they made it a bit nervy at the end. But overall, we did the job."