Everton warm to task as Dwight delivers
But Cooper’s woes mount after Forest are frozen out
TALK of anything sub-zero is enough to put Everton on edge. Minus 10 already and even Sean Dyche opted for a light jacket on a day when the icy mists really did roll over the River Trent.
But Dyche’s men are warming to the challenge, collecting their first points since the club’s punishment for breaking financial rules. In doing so, they hauled Nottingham Forest a little closer to peril and nudged Steve Cooper a little closer to the exit.
Dwight McNeil scored the only goal, a wonderfully sweet half-volley midway through the second half, and Everton were worth the win, having created and squandered two glorious chances in the first half.
Forest did not manage a shot on target until they were behind and when they did rally late in the game they found Dyche’s team primed to resist. Central defenders James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite were strong, James Garner excelled in midfield and Jordan Pickford was alert to danger when it finally came his way.
Everton have not lost at the City Ground since September 1995 when Dyche’s assistant Ian Woan scored Forest’s decisive third in a 3-2 win.
Problems mount for Cooper, under pressure on a miserable run of one win in 10 games and devoid of a goal threat without injured centre-forward Taiwo Awoniyi.
There was a scrappy opening phase littered with stoppages and off-field distractions. Everton fans held up their pink protest cards in the 10th minute and found sympathy in short supply among supporters of the home team.
Forest came into the fixture with mood music from the boardroom to suggest popular boss Cooper was safe but not that safe. And presumably even less safe after this.
The cycle of uncertainty appears central to the ownership model of Evangelos Marinakis, who was not at the game. Maybe he thinks it dispels complacency.
Forest fans unfurled a pre-match banner featuring a “Super Cooper” quote, “This Place Got Football Soul” and sang the manager’s name but their team were slow to find any rhythm.
Early flickers from Morgan Gibbs-White were eclipsed by a series of short spells of pressure from Everton, who tested goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos with aerial delivery from wide areas.
Garner volleyed one straight at Vlachodimos from distance, then Beto side-footed a chance over an open goal on the half-volley when the ball spilled out from the Forest keeper.
All eyes turned to referee Paul Tierney who ruled no foul on the keeper and restarted play with a goal kick. Dyche threw his hands up and over his head.
It was a big miss by Beto, starting up front because Dominic CalvertLewin was out with a calf injury.
Another wonderful chance escaped Everton before half-time. Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure seized on a mistimed header by Harry Toffolo and combined to release McNeil into space on the left. He beat Vlachodimos and must have thought that was enough, only to find Murillo had raced back to rescue Forest, his clearance clipping a post on its way out.
Forest did not muster an effort at goal for more than half an hour and produced little of note before the interval.
They came out with more purpose at the start of the second half, although they lost Boly to an injury. Felipe came on to replace him and almost scored.
He was only six yards out, but the ball came to him unexpectedly and he could not find the target.
Boss Cooper claimed there had been a shirt pull worthy of a penalty in the preceding scramble, based on a decision that went against his team in the defeat by Brighton.
It was McNeil who found the breakthrough in the 67th minute. Pickford launched a long diagonal free-kick forward from halfway. Everton picked up the clearance and Jack Harrison’s cross from the right eluded everyone until it reached McNeil, beyond the back post.
He brought the ball under control with one excellent touch and, with his second, fired it back across goal on the bounce, into the opposite top corner.