Everton vs Sheffield United. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,354.
Report and highlights as pressure grows on Everton boss Marco Silva following a third league defeat in four games
Saturday 21 September 2019 21:47, UK
Sheffield United recorded their first away Premier League win of the season as they beat an abject Everton side 2-0 at Goodison Park.
Marco Silva's side slumped to a third defeat in four league games as Yerry Mina's own goal (40) was followed by a second from Blades substitute Lys Mousset (79).
Moise Kean had a good chance to level when his shot was saved by Dean Henderson, but Everton were second best all afternoon against their spirited, determined and talented opponents.
The Yorkshire side leapfrog the Toffees into eighth with the win; Chris Wilder's men are unbeaten on the road since mid-January - a run of 12 away league games - with Everton dropping to 14th.Everton have now lost four of their last five games against promoted sides in a worrying trend that sees the pressure mounting on head coach Silva.
His side produced 10 attempts on goal and had 67 per cent possession in the opening 45 minutes, but they rarely looked like converting their dominance into a lead.
A lack of cutting edge preserved the visitors' clean sheet as Dean Henderson was largely untroubled, with John Fleck making a good block to deny Morgan Schneiderlin after 11 minutes.
Henderson kept out a low shot from Lucas Digne while Richarlison hooked a shot wide from Gylfi Sigurdsson's cross as Everton's corner count rose to six - but they fell behind when failing to defend Sheffield United's first set piece in the game five minutes before half-time.
Oliver Norwood's near post delivery was attacked by Callum Robinson, and the defender's presence was enough to distract Jordan Pickford as the ball deflected into the net off the back of Mina.
Silva had seen little improvement from the opening 10 minutes of the second period as he made a double change - hauling off Schneiderlin and Bernard to bring on Cenk Tosun and Alex Iwobi, and the hosts nearly levelled moments later as Kean met Richarlison's flick to force Henderson into a smart save with his feet.
Former Everton defender Phil Jagielka brought the loudest cheer from the home fans all afternoon as he entered the fray with half an hour to go, but the veteran centre-half nullified an increasingly desperate Toffees attack with relative ease before seeing his new team extend their lead.
John Lundstram failed to make a single first-team appearance during three years as an academy player at Goodison, but his excellent probing pass behind Michael Keane was slotted home by Mousset to silence the home crowd with his first goal for the newly-promoted side.
Marco Silva: "It was a bad result and in the second half it was a bad performance. Today again the mistakes we made had a real impact on the result.
"They were winning without a single shot when they made it 2-0. At that moment, we were in the game and commanding it. Their first goal came from our two centre backs going for the same ball and conceding the corner.
"I didn't like the second half at all, and when you make mistakes at this level it's difficult to turn the result. We were too nervous and didn't make the right decisions."
Chris Wilder: "It's just a crackers game that we're involved in. I was delighted with my team last week, and we got beat, while I'm not so sure I'm delighted with the performance today but the result is an outstanding one.
"I don't think you get a result like that away to Everton if you haven't got a committed group of players. We rode our luck as we weren't great today, but thankfully we got a result and we'll gladly take the three points.
"Everton have got a fantastic home record and we've nicked a win. It's possibly our poorest performance of the season so far."
Charlie Nicholas: "There was no fluke about it. This is a team with total commitment, nice organisation and shape. We all know they like their wing-backs high up to press. But when they don't have the ball, there's a lot of energy in this team.
"John Fleck always looked like he wanted the ball, he's fitting into the system and is a team player. They didn't pepper the Everton goal, but set pieces are important and they're a real unit. I was really impressed with them."
The travelling Sheffield United supporters joyously celebrated a first away top-flight win since beating Wigan 1-0 nearly 13 years ago, and while this was a collective resolute performance, Egan stood out with his crucial interventions to keep Everton at bay.
It was his block that denied Schneiderlin when well placed in the opening period, and no player made more interceptions than his three during a very encouraging display.
Charlie Nicholas added: "The centre of the back three Egan was absolutely amazing today. He's not the tallest as the other two like to go and win the ball, but he reacted to the players running off him, put his head in and was breathtakingly good."
Everton travel to face Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday before hosting Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday, live on Sky Sports - kick-off at 5.30pm.
Sheffield United host Sunderland on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup before Liverpool visit Bramall Lane on Saturday - kick-off at 12.30pm.
