This should ease some of the Evertonian nerves for a while. Sean Dyche has won his first game in charge of Everton as he guided them to a 1-0 victory over 1st place Arsenal in the biggest upset of the season to date.
Everton BADLY needed this win considering everything that is going on with the club.
From losing promising youth talents (aka: Anthony Gordon) in the transfer market to not signing any replacements or reinforcements despite sitting in the relegation zone this January, Everton has been an utter mess all season long.
Owner Farhad Moshiri and his sycophantic board have been nothing but a curse for a club that was once one of the best run in all of European football as he’s overseen Everton go from being European spot challengers to relegation fodder in a little under 7 years in charge.
The transfer policy of spending hundreds of millions on has-beens, washed up players, and busts has obviously been a failure and lead to the decline of the squad, while the firing of managers has ensured chaos’ firm grip over the club. Simply put, Farhad Moshiri has been one of the worst ever owners in Premier League history during his brief tenure.
And the loyal, diehard fans were sick of him and his board.
Forming a massive protest all around the stadium before kickoff, the Everton fans loudly and proudly protested Moshiri and his board, demanding that all of them leave the club immediately. Now, I know many in the English media have denounced such protests as unhelpful for Everton’s recruitment process and attractiveness on the global scale, but I have to disagree.
These sorts of demonstrations are necessary for fans to get their viewpoints across, and this game proved it.
Under normal circumstances, Everton should have been absolutely smashed by a high-flying Arsenal team that not only on top of the league, but also had won its previous Premier League game against archrivals Man United to cement their place on top. Plus, the Gunners proved they can compete with title rival Man City in their heroic 1-0 defeat against the Citizens in the FA Cup a few days ago.
So, in other words, Everton came into this game with negative momentum, while Arsenal had all the momentum in the world. Yet the support of the fans and the tactics of Sean Dyche cancelled out that factor as soon as the match started.
Sure, Arsenal dominated possession all throughout the game with their 71% control of the ball to Everton’s 29%, but it was the Evertonians that dictated the play.
Aside from a horrible Eddie Nketiah miss (you should go see it on YouTube, it’s really bad), Everton had all of the chances in the opening 60ish minutes. There were at least 4-5 times where Everton should have scored before James Tarkowski (of course, it had to be a former Burnley player) found the back of the net with his header at the 60th minute.
And it was honestly a really well taken goal as he had to navigate his way through the traffic of players defending the ensuing corner, while also keeping an eye on the ball and directing it on target when it fell to his good ol’ Burnley noggin.
Arsenal was able to control the final 15 minutes of play and get a few half chances on Jordan Pickford’s net (especially the Oleksandr Zinchenko one in the stoppage time), but the Everton backline of James Tarkowski, Conor Coady, Seamus Coleman, and Vitalii Mykolenko was superb in shutting down one of the hottest attacking lineups in European football.
Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli never even had a sight of goal, while Eddie Nketiah sent his through the window of a Liverpool apartment complex. That’s the hallmark of an old-fashioned, hard-earned win that Sean Dyche made his reputation on as Burnley’s most successful manager.
It’s going to take a lot more of these types of wins, but if Everton can defeat their relegation rivals consistently (i.e.: Nottingham Forrest, Southampton, West Ham United, Leeds United, Bournemouth, and Wolves), then they will stay up for another season in the Premier League and keep their top-flight active streak alive.
As for Arsenal, this was a devastating loss for their title hopes.
Losing to this version of Everton is unacceptable if they want to remain in the race against teams like Manchester City (2nd: 45 PTS) and Manchester United (3rd: 42 PTS).
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