Coleman fires up Goodison crowd as Everton breeze past Brighton
Goodison purred over Richarlison. There are some goals so beautifully constructed they deserve double the applause. So it was when Richarlison opened the scoring.
As the replay was broadcast on the giant screen there was a murmur of approval as the build-up was played in full, with Gylfi Sigurdsson picking up possession gliding forward before exchanging passes with Bernard and weighting his through ball perfectly for Richarlison who thumped in his first. It should have been Everton’s third of the game after just 26 minutes, but Sigurdsson was guilty of missing two easier opportunities from close range.
This was the kind of football Everton crave under Silva. It must have been his most satisfying afternoon since being appointed, full of South American flair and Scandinavian endeavour.
But clubs undergoing this type of transition tend to display as many blemishes as beauty spots. Everton fell asleep at a 33rd minute corner, Lewis Dunk met Solly March’s cross, and suddenly Chris Hughton was reconsidering the afternoon’s possibilities.
But Everton would not be contained. Idrissa Gueye hit the post and Theo Walcott volleyed over from six yards before Coleman struck.
Victory was secured when Dunk gifted Richarlison possession. There was still plenty for the striker to do, but his composure in front of goal, for his sixth of the season, is further evidence he could be a special player. He was dubbed “this charming man” by supporters during his tenure at Manchester City. Now Manuel Pellegrini is at it again, spreading goodwill and happiness just months into his reign at West Ham.
Burnley’s last visit to east London, in March, was scarred by toxic scenes as some home fans staged multiple pitch invasions, others tried to storm the directors’ box and a number of distressed young spectators were given sanctuary in the visitors’ dugout. To complete the implosion, West Ham lost 3-0 that chaotic afternoon. Eight months on the contrast could not have been starker. All was harmony around the London Stadium as Pellegrini’s men quelled a brave Burnley side in a richly entertaining encounter. Pellegrini’s latest masterstroke appears to have been to unlock the genius of £42 million summer arrival Felipe Anderson, who put a subdued start to the season behind him to score twice at crucial stages of the game.
With opening scorer Marko Arnautovic again the mainspring for so many good things in attack, and substitute Javier Hernandez’s late fourth giving a realistic look to the final scoreline, this was just the kind of swashbuckling display the home support crave.
“It was a very good performance, a very good result. I liked the mentality of the team to score