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Sean Dyche would not have recognised Everton on his return to the club he saved from relegation and possible administration not so long ago. The former Everton manager was greeted by plush new surroundings, a contented fanbase and a vibrant, confident opponent as the home team rose to fifth in the Premier League with a comfortable defeat of Nottingham Forest.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall produced another immaculate performance in the heart of Everton’s midfield as a fourth win in five games reinforced the advances made since David Moyes replaced Dyche in January. Dewsbury-Hall forced the first goal and scored the third, with Thierno Barry finally getting off the mark to wild acclaim in-between. Forest were subdued and second-best throughout.
Everton fell behind after 55 seconds of their last home game, against Newcastle. Evidently keen to make amends, they were immediately on the front foot against Forest and ahead with 83 seconds on the clock. Best take your seats early at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The visitors invited problems by making a sluggish start. Nicolo Savona was booked after 24 seconds for tripping Jack Grealish from behind after the attacking midfielder had slipped away from him. Forest initially dealt with James Garner’s free-kick, but Everton kept the pressure on and Dewsbury-Hall cut inside Dan Ndoye to create space on the left. The midfielder’s dangerous cross skimmed off the head of Nikola Milenkovic and nestled in the far corner of the goal.
It was a terrible opening by Forest, who were a model of organisation and focus when beating Liverpool 3-0 on their last visit to Merseyside a fortnight ago. They did improve, as they had to, but it was a scrappy first half. Jordan Pickford was not seriously tested in the Everton goal until stoppage time.
James Tarkowski was fortunate to escape a booking for needlessly barging into Ndoye off the ball. Ndoye, Omari Hutchinson and Morgan Gibbs-White threatened fleetingly but Everton were hungrier, more composed on the ball and more resilient in defence. They timed their second goal perfectly too.
Forest were building as half-time approached and came close to an equaliser when Elliot Anderson broke free of Jake O’Brien in the Everton area and squeezed a shot through the legs of Tarkowski. Pickford saved well, getting down quickly to his left and pushing the ball away from two Forest players lurking at the back post.
Seconds later, with Forest still pushing for a leveller, Hutchinson’s loose touch enabled the previously quiet Iliman Ndiaye to pounce. The Senegal international stole possession and broke from deep inside the Everton area to dance around Morato and lead a three-v-one counterattack. Ndiaye selflessly squared to Barry on his left and the summer signing slotted a clinical first-time finish beyond Matz Sels.
The place erupted in celebration of Barry’s long-awaited and much-needed first Everton goal. The £27m recruit from Villarreal has kept the crowd onside with his admirable work-rate, but his composure in front of goal has been sorely lacking. Not on this occasion, however.
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Dyche responded to Forest’s lethargic display with a triple half-time substitution. Callum Hudson-Odoi, Zach Abbott and Ryan Yates, who would soon depart injured, replaced Ndoye, Savona and Ibrahim Sangaré respectively. The changes did not alter the flow of the game nor Everton’s superiority.
Things might have been different had Yates’s replacement, Nicolás Domínguez, capitalised on Pickford’s poor punch but Tarkowski rescued his keeper by blocking the substitute’s shot on the line. Everton twice went close before the comfort zone finally arrived.
Dewsbury-Hall struck a post after an intelligent one-two with Grealish and Ndiaye forced a fine save from Sels when weaving his way in from the right. The Forest keeper was at fault for Everton’s third, however, connecting weakly with a Garner corner from the left. O’Brien touched the ball out to Dewsbury-Hall and the finest player on show drilled an emphatic finish into the far corner.
