Everton 0-2 Sheffield United: Blades hold firm to stun Toffees
Sheffield United won away for the first time on their return to the Premier League as a Yerry Mina own goal and a late Lys Mousset strike condemned Everton to defeat at Goodison Park.
The Toffees had won their first two games on home soil this season and dominated for large periods of this game as they looked to bounce back from defeat at Bournemouth last time out.
However, they fell behind five minutes before the break when a ball from an Oliver Norwood corner deflected off Mina to land in the back of the net.
The Blades withstood huge pressure as the home side looked to rescue something from the game and, although Bernard had a penalty appeal waved away, Everton struggled to find a way through a resolute defence.
Chris Wilder’s side made certain of a superb away victory when substitute Mousset raced through before calmly slotting beyond Jordan Pickford for his first Sheffield United goal.
The win means Sheffield United move up to eighth with eight points, four clear of the relegation zone. Everton, who were booed at the final whistle, are 14th with six points.
Resolute Blades enjoying life on the road
Sheffield United made a strong start to life back in the Premier League, with four points from their first two games. But home defeats to Leicester and Southampton suggested the early momentum was on the wane.
The Blades have, however, been a tough side to defeat on the road, with Chris Wilder’s side unbeaten away from home since the middle of January.
They showed great resilience to come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Chelsea in their last away game, and they executed their game plan superbly against an Everton side that until Saturday had a 100% record on home soil this season.
The visitors’ back three of John Egan, Jack O’Connell and Chris Basham were superb throughout, limiting Everton to mostly half-chances. On the few occasions the home side did get through, Dean Henderson put in a commanding performance in the Sheffield United goal.
Home form is always key to a side’s hopes of avoiding relegation, but the South Yorkshire club’s strong away displays will stand them in good stead to avoid an immediate drop back to the Championship.
Consistency key for up-and-down Everton
Inconsistency has been a concern for Everton this season, with the Blues following up good performances with disappointing ones.
They have collected just one point from a possible nine on the road, but at Goodison the Toffees had been strong, and this game presented an opportunity for Marco Silva’s side to make it three wins from three.
Everton dominated from the outset with their attacking quartet of Richarlison, Moise Kean, Bernard and Gylfi Sigurdsson at times linking up excellently.
However, their defence had shipped seven goals in their previous three games and they were once again suspect at the back on the rare occasions Sheffield United got into the Everton half. Passes often went astray while they dithered on the ball inside their own box for far longer than the home fans were comfortable with.
Under Silva, Everton have conceded more goals from set pieces than any other side in the Premier League, so for Sheffield United’s goal to have come from a corner perhaps came as little surprise.
But a concerning statistic for Everton fans is that their side has never come from behind to win during Silva’s tenure, and as this game wore on they became increasingly desperate in their search for an equaliser.
Man of the match – John Egan (Sheffield United)
Blades maintain impressive away run – the stats
- Everton have conceded at least two goals in each of their last five games, something Silva will need to rectify soon, particularly with free-scoring Manchester City their next opponents at Goodison Park.
- Everton have lost four of their last five Premier League games against promoted sides (W1), as many as they had in their previous 45 in the competition (W25 D16).
- Sheffield United are unbeaten in 12 away league games, stretching back to last season (W5 D7). Only once before have they enjoyed a longer run on the road without defeat in the league (a 15-game streak ending in April 2009).
- Everton’s defeat ended a run of six straight Premier League home victories, with the Toffees conceding at Goodison Park in consecutive league games for the first time since February.
- Since the start of last season, only Wycombe Wanderers (6) have benefited from more own-goals in English league football than Sheffield United (5).
- Sheffield United had to wait until the 73rd minute for their first shot of the game, courtesy of an off-target effort from Chris Basham.
- Lys Mousset’s goal was just his fourth in his 61 Premier League appearances and his first for Sheffield United (3 appearances).
‘Not good enough’ – what the managers said
Everton manager Marco Silva, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “It was a tough game for us. Of course we didn’t deserve the result but when you make mistakes like we did this afternoon you don’t get what you deserve.
“For the second goal it should have been easy for our defenders to clear the ball. The second half was bad – not good enough. We need to show more and try new things.
“Some individual performances were not at the level we expect, but that’s part of the game. The key moment for me was the mistake we made in the first goal.”
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, speaking to MOTD: “We’re delighted. It was just a ridiculous game. That’s possibly the worst we’ve played all season. We didn’t play anything like our best today but managed to win the game.
“Everton put a lot of balls in our box, which opened us up a bit in the first half. Out of possession we were really good. The goalkeeper and our three defenders did really well. I think they had a million corners today.
“We rode our luck a little bit – we certainly didn’t have any last week. Everybody says that to stay in the Premier League, your home form has to be spot on. We’ve reversed that thought process.”
What’s next?
Everton travel to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup on Tuesday (19:45 BST), while Sheffield United are at home to Sunderland in the same competition on Wednesday (19:45 BST).
Line-ups
Everton
Substitutes
Sheff Utd
Substitutes
Match Stats
Live Text
Match ends, Everton 0, Sheffield United 2.
Full Time
Second Half ends, Everton 0, Sheffield United 2.
Attempt blocked. Theo Walcott (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Richarlison (Everton) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Chris Basham (Sheffield United).
Foul by Lucas Digne (Everton).
Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Yerry Mina (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lys Mousset (Sheffield United).
Foul by Moise Kean (Everton).
Enda Stevens (Sheffield United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Sheffield United. Ben Osborn replaces Oliver McBurnie.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by Phil Jagielka.
Attempt blocked. Theo Walcott (Everton) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Cenk Tosun.
Goal!
Goal! Everton 0, Sheffield United 2. Lys Mousset (Sheffield United) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by John Lundstram with a through ball following a fast break.
Corner, Sheffield United. Conceded by Fabian Delph.
Foul by Moise Kean (Everton).
Enda Stevens (Sheffield United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Cenk Tosun (Everton) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Moise Kean (Everton) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alex Iwobi.
Attempt missed. Chris Basham (Sheffield United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by John Fleck with a cross.
Substitution
Substitution, Everton. Theo Walcott replaces Séamus Coleman.
Hand ball by Michael Keane (Everton).
Séamus Coleman (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lys Mousset (Sheffield United).
Substitution
Substitution, Sheffield United. Phil Jagielka replaces Oliver Norwood.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by John Fleck (Sheffield United).
Substitution
Substitution, Sheffield United. Lys Mousset replaces Callum Robinson.
Attempt missed. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by Enda Stevens.
Offside, Everton. Yerry Mina tries a through ball, but Cenk Tosun is caught offside.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by John Egan.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by Dean Henderson.
Attempt saved. Moise Kean (Everton) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Richarlison.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by John Egan.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by George Baldock.
Substitution
Substitution, Everton. Cenk Tosun replaces Bernard.
Substitution
Substitution, Everton. Alex Iwobi replaces Morgan Schneiderlin.
Corner, Sheffield United. Conceded by Michael Keane.
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