Blood and thunder
Rooney is furious after being elbowed – and then his replacement Niasse raises the roof at Goodison with two late goals to turn match
A cult hero is born at Goodison Park. When Everton opt for a nickname for striker Oumar Niasse, they cannot look beyond ‘Lazarus’. A Premier League career that looked dead soon after his arrival has been resuscitated along with his club’s morale.
Niasse had been written off on Merseyside, Ronald Koeman initially declaring he did not possess enough quality. Others worried he would be one of the club’s worst signings, so the Dutchman’s decision to send on Niasse for Wayne Rooney in the 55th minute against Bournemouth with Everton a goal down reeked of desperation. Yet the Senegal striker responded with two goals to secure victory, his previous history at the club erased, his future suddenly full of promise.
Niasse was already being showered in goodwill before he struck. He is one of those curious players acquiring favouritism on Gwladys Street by virtue of being deemed hopeless by those who saw his cameos in the latter stages of the Roberto Martinez era. He arrived for £13.5million from Lokomotiv Moscow not only lacking fitness, but balance and a first touch.
Yet plenty felt he deserved another chance. A loan spell at Hull last season hinted that a footballer could be in hiding beneath a clumsy exterior, even if an experienced excavation team would be required to find it.
Yet here he is, back from exile courtesy of Everton’s inability to find a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, running around enthusiastically and scoring to turn deflation into elation.
What a first goal it was, too. Niasse stole possession, exchanged passes with Tom Davies and then slammed ferociously past Asmir Begovic.
Davies, whose own influence as substitute must not be overlooked, also played his part in the 82nd-minute winner. The midfielder’s shot was deflected and looped towards goal where Niasse headed over the line, making sure before the goal-line technology was required to judge if Begovic had saved the first attempt.
“Oumar,” was the chant, a combination of disbelief as well as acclaim.
“Oumar was incredible,” said Koeman. “He hasn’t surprised me because I know him.
“Last season was a total different situation with Lukaku. We did not sign a striker and we have two strikers, Sandro [Ramirez], who is 22 and Dominic [Calvert-Lewin], who is 20.
“That gave Oumar a chance to be closer to the first team. The boy has the kind of qualities when we are struggling, with his aggression and his direct play, he can create a lot of problems. For the first goal, he won the ball defensively, he made the one-two and it was a great goal. Nobody can stop him at the moment.”
Before the late charge, the blood and fury in Everton’s football was not what Koeman had in mind.
Rooney’s timer was set on 35 minutes when he felt that Simon Francis’s erratic elbow to his face carried more intent than replays suggest. Only Francis can answer to that, but Rooney’s eye was evidence of the damage, and his remonstration with referee Martin Atkinson was his testimony on the Bournemouth captain’s cynicism.
“Simon had eyes on the ball. When you jump like that there is no intention whatsoever,” Eddie Howe, the Bournemouth manager, insisted.
Koeman agreed. Rooney played for another 20 minutes, but was clearly impeded by the injury – possibly more emotionally than physically. When he was eventually subbed, he made his displeasure known to the officials.
“It’s not really with intent. Above his eye was totally open. The doctor said at half-time we would have to change him at some point so we decided not to wait,” said Koeman.
By the time Rooney exited Everton were behind, Josh King found in space by Charlie Daniels to take advantage of an absent home midfield, running unimpeded towards the back four before striking with his right foot on 49 minutes. Jordan Pickford stopped Jermain Defoe adding a second minutes later in a game-changing intervention.
That was Howe’s major frustration after a display he claimed was Bournemouth’s “best performance of the season”.
As Bournemouth failed to take their opportunity, Niasse intervened. It felt like Everton’s season, along with Naisse’s prospects, had taken a major upturn.