Everton vs West Ham match report: Romelu Lukaku haunts Hammers as lack of striker bites Slaven Bilic

Everton 2 West Ham 0: After last weekend's chastening defeat at Turf Moor, Ronald Koeman's men got back on track with victory over Slaven Bilic's listless side

Lukaku celebrates opening the scoring at Goodison Park (Getty)

There was a moment during this hard-earned Everton victory which illustrated what Ronald Koeman has brought to Goodison Park since replacing Roberto Martinez in the summer.

It came in the 83rd minute when, with Everton leading through goals by Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley, Koeman took off an attacking player, Yannick Bolasie, and replaced him with centre-back Phil Jagielka.

It brought to mind at once this same fixture last season when the home side collapsed to a 3-2 defeat by conceding three goals in the final 12 minutes after Martinez had sent on an additional striker, Oumar Niasse, to help defend a lead despite his team being down to ten men.

Koeman is a more pragmatic manager, a man more interested in results than philosophies. Under him, sixth-placed Everton have the division’s second-best defensive record and they needed this rediscovered resilience to withstand spells of West Ham pressure in both halves before producing the necessary ruthlessness to earn a first victory in six matches – and in the process halt West Ham’s mini-revival.

Antonio comes under the tackle of Funes Mori (Getty)

The least surprising aspect of their victory was that Lukaku should have struck their first goal, the Belgian scoring for the ninth game running against West Ham in Everton colours. It came five minutes after half-time and was a goal curious in its conception, Yannick Bolasie actually teeing it up with a sliding tackle on Winston Reid down by the dead-ball line. The West Ham defender had looked poised to clear after Adrian’s low save from Seamus Coleman’s near-post shot but Bolasie flew in to divert the ball across goal where Lukaku headed it into the empty net.

Slaven Bilic, the disappointed West Ham manager said: “The first goal was cheap. It was the wrong decision in a situation when we had the ball. It was a crucial moment.”

For an Everton side without a victory since mid-September, it was certainly that though after Barkley had curled a shot narrowly over, they still had defending to do as West Ham chased an equaliser. Joel Robles, deputising for the injured Maarten Stekelenburg, stood tall to deny Michail Antonio after he had powered past Funes Mori. Bryan Oviedo then produced a goal-saving block on substitute Andre Ayew and instead Everton clinched the points through Barkley after 76 minutes.

Barkley must have endured moments of self-doubt during a campaign in which he has lost his England place and, briefly, found himself dropped to the bench by Koeman. Yet this was Barkley at his best: direct and powerful, rather than dawdling in possession as happened too often under Martinez. After sending Lukaku away with a ball spun out wide to the right, he surged into the box and was in the perfect place at the far post to apply the killer touch with a precise half-volley.

There was a standing ovation when Barkley was substituted near the end, and Koeman praised the 22-year-old’s performance, saying: “It was one of his best of this season. He was working hard, he was tackling offensively he was important in the game and Adrian made an incredible save in the first half and then he scored the second goal.”

Reflecting on the contest overall, Koeman added: “The start was nervous because of the last few results. We had a lack of confidence. The second half was good, really different.”

Barkley was delighted with his first league goal since the opening day of the season (Getty)

As for West Ham, they headed back to London ruing the opportunities they missed during that first half.

“They were more lethal,” lamented Bilic. “When they were offered something from us they took it straight away, which we didn’t do when we created or when they made mistakes. There is a bitter taste because we should have taken something out of this game.”

West Ham had arrived on Merseyside buoyed by a three-game winning run which included an EFL Cup victory over Chelsea last Wednesday and Pedro Obiang should have put them in front after the 11th minute after Manuel Lanzini and Dmitri Payet combined to play him in. Instead he blazed the ball over.

Payet and Manuel Lanzini missed chances too, the latter after ghosting brilliantly past Funes Mori. At the other end, Everton’s only serious first-half threat came when Barkley sidestepped Reid and drew a terrific one-handed save from Adrian. The Spaniard punched the air then, but it was Barkley, and Everton, celebrating at the end.

Teams

Everton (4-2-3-1): Robles; Coleman, Funes Mori, Jagielka, Oviedo; Gana, Barry; Bolasie (Jagielka, 83), Barkley (Lennon 87), Mirallas (Cleverley 72); Lukaku.

Subs not used: Hewelt, Deulofeu, Calvert-Lewin, Holgate.

West Ham (3-4-3): Adrian; Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna; Fernandes (Zaza 71), Noble, Obiang (Ayew 60), Cresswell; Lanzini, Antonio, Payet.

Subs not used: Randolph, Nordtveit, Feghouli, Collins, Fletcher.

Referee: A Taylor (Greater Manchester)

Attendance: 39,574

Match rating: 6/10

Man of the match: Barkley