David Moyes was proud of his Everton side after the Toffees fought back from a goal down on two occasions to secure a point at Brentford.
Everton snatched a crucial point in the battle for European football thanks to a strike from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 91st minute, but it looked set to be a tough afternoon after Igor Thiago put the Bees ahead after just three minutes.
James Tarkowski was largely at fault as the England international allowed Kevin Schade to easily run away in the build-up, and David Moyes has also been critical of Jarrad Branthwaite for the sloppy defending on show for Brentford’s opener.
Who was your Man of the Match in that crunch game? 💪
Brentford v Everton - Premier League
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David Moyes says he “could hardly believe” the standard of defending from Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, the Glaswegian revealed Everton had discussed dealing with aerial duels against Brentford in training at Finch Farm for “most of the week” – and was left shocked to see his central defenders undone by a long ball just seconds into the game.
When asked about the opening goal, Moyes said: “Oh my goodness. I think (it’s) even worse when you’re a centre-half and I see what my centre-halves were like… we probably practiced it for an hour, because Brentford do, they get it up to Thiago… it was really disappointing.
“In fact it was terrible. I could hardly believe that would have happened as we’ve been talking about it for most of the week.”
We even believe Michael Keane could replace Tarkowski for the Merseyside derby next Sunday after how poorly the Everton No.6 defended for the opening goal.
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In fairness to Branthwaite, he had pushed up to try and beat Thiago to the initial header, and was largely out of the game after the ball soared beyond the pair of them.
However, Tarkowski was completely oblivious to what his partner had left behind when going in for the header, jogging around aimlessly as Schade made a simple run through on goal and drew a foul from Jordan Pickford to win the penalty.
Sum that one up for us, Blues! 🤩
Beto of Everton scores his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Brentford and Everton.
Credit: Getty Images/Alex Broadway
Moyes has every right to be angered by the incident, and it could well see the 33-year-old lose his spot to Keane for the Merseyside derby.
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