LONDON: Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his 50th Premier League goal to give his side a 1-0 win at West Ham United on Sunday (Oct 29) and open some daylight between the Merseyside club and the relegation zone.
Calvert-Lewin netted in the 51st minute when he turned on the edge of the box and fired low into the corner, the ball skipping off the wet London Stadium pitch to beat Alphonse Areola in the home goal.
Everton move up to 15th in the table with 10 points from 10 games, five points clear of the drop zone, while West Ham, who have now lost three games in a row in all competitions, are in ninth with 14 points.
In the week when Everton chairman Bill Kenwright died at the age of 78, Calvert-Lewin said it was a team performance he would have been proud of.
“No-one was prepared for what happened this week and it has saddened everyone at the club. That one was for Bill,” he told SkySports.
“He would have been proud of us and proud of how we won – to get the lead, dig in and work so hard. It was a very good day.”
Everton ceded possession to their hosts but defended manfully, with Jarrad Branthwaite outstanding at centre-back and Amadou Onana a powerhouse in the midfield.
West Ham looked flat having lost 2-1 in Greece against Olympiakos on Thursday.
Jarrod Bowen might have given them the lead midway through the first half when he found space in the box, but he scuffed his shot wide.
Jack Harrison wasted a huge chance when Everton had a three-on-one break as he chose to shoot but his effort was weak and straight at Areola.
Bowen then headed over the crossbar from a free kick and three minutes later Everton were ahead.
A one-two between Harrison and Calvert-Lewin saw the latter turn brilliantly on the edge of the box, take a touch and fire low into the net.
Areola made a superb save to deny Abdoulaye Doucoure, before Everton had to defend for the remaining 30 minutes as West Ham failed to score for the first time this season.
Frustrated manager David Moyes felt his side had deserved more.
“There was very, very little in the game,” he said. “The one chance which came, they scored it. We missed two or three opportunities to score and you don’t get loads. We didn’t finish them off.
“We’ve scored in every other game this season but today we couldn’t get through.”