Everton gained vital three points to buy manager Marco Silva more time as they convincingly beat an abysmal West Ham side 2-0 at Goodison Park.
The Toffees took the lead 17 minutes in, Bernard strolling past the West Ham defence before slotting home at Roberto's near post, one that the keeper won't want to look at again.
West Ham put in a terrible performance, and were lucky not to concede more, with Everton hitting the woodwork twice as well as having a perfectly good Yerry Mina goal chalked off for a very soft 'foul' by Andre Gomes.
West Ham were somehow still in the game, and Angelo Ogbonna forced a fantastic reaction save from Pickford, which ended up being the only time the Everton stopper was called into action.
Everton sealed the points in injury time when substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson found the top corner from outside the box, with what was the Iceland international's first goal from open play this season.
EVERTON
Key Talking Point
Everton put in their best performance of the season, and dominated West Ham in every area of the pitch. The all-round performance is what will please Silva the most, after so many poor displays so far this season.
They looked dangerous whenever they went forward and if it wasn't for Roberto they might've conceded five or six.
In what was their first clean sheet in two months, this could be the match that kick-starts the Toffees' season.
Player Ratings
Starting XI:
Substitutes: Kean (6), Sigurdsson (7), Holgate (N/A).
STAR PLAYER -
Everton have lost every game Andre Gomes has been absent recently. He was a midfield dynamo today superb.
— John Merro (@johnmerro1) October 19, 2019
Superb display today
— Doddy EFC (@tsdoddy) October 19, 2019
Andre Gomes is a Rolls Royce
Swear Andre Gomes has one good game a season and it’s always against us
— West Ham Transfers (@westhamtransfer) October 19, 2019
WEST HAM
Key Talking Point
West Ham put in a terrible display, and have now only won one of their last six games. They looked sluggish from the word go, and were deservedly beaten.
The front four were almost non-existent, with their best chance coming from a set-piece in the 87th minute through centre-half Angelo Ogbonna.
This was a real wake-up call for the Hammers, who haven't looked themselves recently, falling to a second successive defeat and losing their unbeaten away record.
Player Ratings
Starting XI: Roberto (6); Fredericks (6), Diop (5), Ogbonna (5), Masuaku (5); Noble (5), Rice (5); Fornals (3), Lanzini (5), Anderson (4); Haller (5).
Substitutes: Yarmolenko (6), Wilshere (5), Ajeti (5).
STAR PLAYER -
Roberto is the reason this is 1-0, but he’s also the reason this isn’t 4-0 pic.twitter.com/KE414oKCsS
— ⚒ Jack Himself ⚒ (@jackgambardella) October 19, 2019
1 win in our last 6 games and we seem to be getting worse. Diop, Ogbonna and Roberto were the only players who were not awful. We look clueless going forward, is Pellegrini to blame? #WHUFC pic.twitter.com/F0VdvYF65F
— ⚒ COYIrons ⚒ (@COYIrons_com) October 19, 2019
Player Ratings
Everton travel to Brighton next weekend, in what looks like a winnable game for the Toffees, with their next game at Goodison being a Carabao Cup tie against Watford.
West Ham host Sheffield United in what is now a must win game to keep their season on track. The Hammers have won once in six games, and their European aspirations seem to be slipping away from them.
Source : 90min