Everton's public enemy number one at Brentford more unpopular after vital win
Brentford fans didn’t much care for James Tarkowski prior to Saturday night.
They still haven’t forgiven him for forcing his way out of their club to join Burnley in 2016. And they’ll like him even less after the 30-year-old headed home Everton ’s crucial second goal in what was their first victory of the season.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin were also on target for the visitors, while Mathias Jensen scoring for Brentford. Everton were deserving of their win in an enjoyable game, a game played out by two sides who’ll be caught out too often if they continue to be as open as they were here at the Gtech Stadium.
That’s one for another day for Sean Dyche’s men, after they finally got lift-off on their campaign. Four defeats and a draw before this fixture hadn’t done much to lift supporters’ spirits after last season.
But there were certainly plenty of positives here as well, with Doucoure looking sharp just behind Beto, who looked lively himself. And not least with Calvert-Lewin finding the back of the net with a tidy finish less than 10 minutes after coming on.
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As for Brentford, they’re lacking the sharpness that has caused so many problems for their opponents these past couple of years.
Although boss Thomas Frank, already without Ben Mee and Rico Henry through injury, and Ivan Toney through suspension, will have been cursing when Kevin Schade was injured in the warm-up, with Keane Lewis-Potter upgraded to starter.
The late change might not have hindered Brentford too much but it certainly didn’t help them and Everton were soon ahead. James Garner, having seen his corner punched clear by Mark Flekken, returned the ball into the Bees box, Tarkowski headed it in Doucoure’s direction and the big midfielder crashed the ball home.
Sean Dyche celebrates after his Everton side won for the first time this seasonIt wasn’t long before Dwight McNeil had an opening to double their lead but his low drive was just wide and when Doucoure threatened again, with another fierce effort, the ball thumped against the bar and rebounded to safety.
That let-off for the home side looked even more costly when Jensen fired the Bees level less than two minutes later with a low drive. It was a nice finish from the midfielder but Everton missed at least two chances to halt the move before the ball reached the Dane.
Both sides were seeing plenty of their opponents’ 18-yard box and Gueye’s pass soon released Beto. The big striker dragged his shot wide, however, after wrapping his right boot too far around the effort.
Despite Everton having the better chances, Brentford ought to have gone in ahead with Bryan Mbeumo’s shot to the far post just needing to be tapped home by Lewis-Potter. Former Brentford player Tarkowski just did enough to put him off, though, and Everton got away with it.
The second half started similarly to the first, with Everton on top, and midway through the period they got their reward when Tarkowski was too strong for Jensen and headed home McNeil’s corner.
Garner then dispossessed Yoane Wissa to release Calvert-Lewin, who provided a neat finish for his first goal of the season.
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