Everton continued their push for European football by beating struggling West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.
Richarlison scored for the fourth Premier League game in a row, heading past home goalkeeper Sam Johnstone after a cross from substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson, who had only been on the pitch for 43 seconds.
West Brom had been the better team in the first half but England keeper Jordan Pickford made an excellent save to keep out Mbaye Diagne’s second-minute header.
Diagne thought he had grabbed a 93rd-minute equaliser when he controlled a pass and shot into the net, but he was denied because he was narrowly offside, with the video assistant referee (VAR) confirming the on-field decision.
This win takes Everton up from seventh to fourth – the last Champions League qualifying place – although the Toffees will drop back to fifth if there is a winner in Thursday’s late game between Liverpool and Chelsea.
West Brom are 19th, in the relegation zone and nine points behind 17th-placed Newcastle United, who they host on Sunday.
Ancelotti’s Everton continue to get results
Everton have been English champions on nine occasions but since the launch of the Premier League for the 1992-93 season, have only finished in the top four once – in 2004-05.
Indeed, they have never played in the group stage of the Champions League, missing out in 2005-06 after a 4-2 aggregate loss to Spanish side Villarreal in the third qualifying round.
However, with 12 league games to go, Carlo Ancelotti’s team have a great chance to be playing alongside the continent’s elite next season.
Thursday’s win continues a remarkable turnaround for the Toffees, who were in the Premier League relegation zone under Marco Silva in December 2019, before he was sacked and caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson lifted them out of the bottom three, with Ancelotti then continuing that progress.
Instrumental in Everton’s revival has been Dominic Calvert-Lewin and the England striker, who scored a hat-trick in the Toffees’ 5-2 win over West Brom at Goodison Park in September, had their best chance of the first half.
A fortunate deflection took the ball into his path but he shot against Johnstone’s legs from 12 yards with only the keeper to beat.
Richarlison also had a first-half chance but a superb challenge from Darnell Furlong denied the Brazilian, as the deflection took the shot narrowly over the top.
But the forward was not to be denied later on when he got in front of Johnstone to meet Sigurdsson’s cross from the left and powerfully head home from close range.
The result also continues Everton’s fine away record – they have now won nine of 13 league games on the road this season.
Baggies perform well, but fail to pick up a point
West Brom had come into this game on an unbeaten run of three games, with clean sheets in their past two, and they will surely feel they deserved something from this game.
They thought they had got a point in injury time, when Diagne superbly controlled the ball and fired past Pickford – but the assistant referee raised his flag and the VAR footage showed he was offside by under a foot.
Manager Sam Allardyce has managed seven other clubs in the Premier League – including Everton – but never been relegated from the top flight, although this will surely be one of the best achievements of his career if he can keep the Baggies up.
He replaced the sacked Slaven Bilic after West Brom had picked up seven points from their opening 13 games, but they have now only gained an additional 10 points in Allardyce’s 14 games in charge.
However, he should be pleased with his side’s performance on Thursday.
Diagne was their main threat but he was denied by Pickford in the second minute, then later shot over on the turn and also headed just off target following Furlong’s long throw.
Those missed chances proved costly as Richarlison’s goal proved the difference and gave Everton the three points.
Allardyce was unhappy a penalty was not awarded for Mason Holgate’s challenge on Diagne, a decision which referee Darren England was not asked to review on the pitchside monitor.
“I’ve seen 50 or 60 penalties given for less than that and I don’t know why it wasn’t given,” Allardyce told BBC Match of the Day.
“Holgate went straight across his standing leg and when you slow it down it looks even worse.
“Why Michael Oliver has not asked to have a look at it and just dismissed it, I don’t know.”
Everton do the double over West Brom again – the stats
- This was Everton’s fifth Premier League double over West Brom – more than they have managed against any other side.
- The Toffees have won nine away league games this season, their joint-most on the road in a campaign in the competition (also 2008-09).
- Everton have scored more headed goals than any other Premier League side this season, with Richarlison’s winner their 11th.
- No team has failed to score in more different home Premier League games this season than West Brom (eight), with the Baggies also conceding a league-high 33 goals in home games.
- Richarlison scored in his fourth consecutive Premier League game for Everton, becoming the first Brazilian player to score in four matches in a row in the competition.
‘Best 90 minutes since I’ve been here’ – what they said
West Brom manager Allardyce, speaking to Match of the Day, said: “When you start well and play as well as we did, we only have ourselves to blame.
“We got a good finish at the end but it was probably two millimetres offside.
“I thought we had the better opportunities and am very satisfied with the performance, but it does not mean a lot when you don’t get the points.
“You have to defend crosses and Richarlison made it his own. I would’ve been satisfied with a point – but that’s the best 90 minutes since I’ve been here.”
Everton boss Ancelotti told Match of the Day: “It was really hard, really difficult, but the Premier League is like this. West Brom has a lot of strength, fight, long balls and a lot of spirit. We needed to be ready and we were ready.
“Defensively we are strong and we have quality at set-pieces and on the counter-attack.
“We’re doing well and now we’re in the fight at the top of the table. The season is still long but we are there and pleased to be there.
“I would like to say the season has been a fantastic one at the end of the season.”
What’s next?
West Brom face a big match next as they entertain 17th-placed Newcastle on Sunday (12:00 GMT) before an away game at Crystal Palace on Saturday, 13 March (15:00).
Everton travel to Chelsea on Monday (18:00) and then host Burnley on 13 March (17:30).
Player of the match
G SigurdssonGylfi Sigurdsson
West Bromwich Albion
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Squad number27Player nameO’Shea
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Squad number30Player nameMaitland-Niles
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Squad number17Player nameDiagne
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Squad number35Player nameYokuslu
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Squad number18Player nameGallagher
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Squad number12Player nameMatheus Pereira
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Squad number1Player nameJohnstone
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Squad number10Player namePhillips
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Squad number14Player nameTownsend
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Squad number2Player nameFurlong
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Squad number5Player nameBartley
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Squad number23Player nameSnodgrass
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Squad number4Player nameRobson-Kanu
Everton
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Squad number10Player nameG Sigurdsson
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Squad number7Player nameRicharlison
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Squad number22Player nameGodfrey
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Squad number6Player nameAllan
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Squad number5Player nameKeane
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Squad number9Player nameCalvert-Lewin
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Squad number12Player nameDigne
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Squad number1Player namePickford
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Squad number11Player nameKing
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Squad number4Player nameHolgate
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Squad number16Player nameDoucouré
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Squad number20Player nameBernard
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Squad number21Player nameAndré Gomes
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Squad number17Player nameIwobi
Line-ups
West Brom
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1Johnstone
- 2FurlongBooked at 68mins
- 27O’SheaBooked at 60mins
- 5Bartley
- 14Townsend
- 35YokusluBooked at 82mins
- 12Costa Pereira
- 18GallagherSubstituted forRobson-Kanuat 78′minutes
- 30Maitland-Niles
- 10PhillipsSubstituted forSnodgrassat 78′minutes
- 17Diagne
Substitutes
- 4Robson-Kanu
- 6Ajayi
- 7Robinson
- 8Livermore
- 19Sawyers
- 22Peltier
- 23Snodgrass
- 25Button
- 29Grant
Everton
Formation 3-4-1-2
- 1Pickford
- 4HolgateBooked at 37mins
- 5Keane
- 22Godfrey
- 17IwobiSubstituted forAllanat 58′minutes
- 16DoucouréSubstituted forG Sigurdssonat 64′minutes
- 21André Gomes
- 12Digne
- 20BernardSubstituted forKingat 84′minutes
- 9Calvert-Lewin
- 7Richarlison
Substitutes
- 6Allan
- 10G Sigurdsson
- 11King
- 18Nkounkou
- 31Neves VirgÃnia
- 34Broadhead
- 53Tyrer
- 62Onyango
Live Text
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Match ends, West Bromwich Albion 0, Everton 1.
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Second Half ends, West Bromwich Albion 0, Everton 1.
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VAR Decision: No Goal West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Everton.
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Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Ainsley Maitland-Niles tries a through ball, but Mbaye Diagne is caught offside.
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Foul by André Gomes (Everton).
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Okay Yokuslu (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Attempt blocked. Matheus Pereira (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Okay Yokuslu.
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Attempt blocked. Matheus Pereira (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Hal Robson-Kanu.
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Substitution, Everton. Joshua King replaces Bernard.
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Michael Keane (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Mbaye Diagne (West Bromwich Albion).
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Okay Yokuslu (West Bromwich Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Bernard (Everton) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Okay Yokuslu (West Bromwich Albion).
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Attempt blocked. Robert Snodgrass (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
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Corner, West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Mason Holgate.
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Foul by Richarlison (Everton).
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Matheus Pereira (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Robert Snodgrass replaces Matt Phillips.
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Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Hal Robson-Kanu replaces Conor Gallagher.