Jack Grealish’s late, deflected strike gave Everton a 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium, ending Bournemouth’s unbeaten run there. The only goal arrived in the 78th minute when the Manchester City loanee cut in from the left, slipped as he shot from outside the area, and saw the effort take a heavy deflection off Bafode Diakite before looping into the far corner.
The game was scrappy and lacked clear quality in the final third, and it ultimately needed a slice of fortune to be settled. Grealish, who was named Player of the Match, joked to Sky Sports about his contribution: ‘I’ve scored two goals now here this season. One was a tackle and then one was a deflection, but I got hammered for years for not scoring, so I’m taking both of the goals.’
Bournemouth might have gone ahead earlier when Eli Junior Kroupi thought he had scored in the first half, only for a tight offside decision to rule the strike out. The result extended Bournemouth’s winless Premier League run to five matches, following the recent collapse at Sunderland where they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2.
For Everton the victory lifts them into the top half of the table and level on points with local rivals Liverpool. It is Everton’s first league win at the Vitality and their third win in four top-flight outings.
Team news
– Evanilson was left on the bench in favour of Eli Junior Kroupi but later came on as a substitute.
– Michael Keane missed the match-day squad through injury.
Player ratings
Bournemouth: Petrovic 7, Truffert 6, Milosavljevic 6, Diakite 6, Jimenez 6, Adams 5, Scott 5, Adli 5, Kluivert 5, Semenyo 5, Kroupi Jr 7. Subs: Tavernier 5, Evanilson 6, Soler 6, Unal 5.
Everton: Pickford 6, Garner 6, Tarkowski 6, O’Brien 6, Mykolenko 6, Alcaraz 6, Iroegbunam 7, Ndiaye 6, Dewsbury-Hall 6, Grealish 7, Barry 4. Subs: Beto 6, McNeil 6.
Manager and player reaction
Grealish praised David Moyes after the match: ‘It’s good just to be contributing. It’s a brilliant team. I love the manager to pieces… I can’t speak highly enough of him as a person and how he makes me feel and how he makes me want to go there and play for him.’
Moyes reflected on the result: ‘Brilliant effort, considering what we had available to us. Our record here has never been great. Maybe we caught Bournemouth at the right time as well. I knew if we didn’t concede, we’d have a great chance of winning the game… Whoever got the first goal would be crucial.’
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was critical of his side’s display: ‘We have played the game Everton wanted to play. Not a lot of chances for either of the teams and we have not been good enough… On the ball, we have been very poor in the build-up. We have not played well at all. This can’t happen, they have quality players to make the difference. We have not been brave enough on the ball and it makes you look worse defensively. I am concerned, now we have Chelsea and Man Utd.’
Verdict and issues
Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe highlighted that Everton are winning despite inconsistent goal returns from their leading striker. Thierno Barry squandered two big chances inside the box and, as Moyes acknowledged, a No.9 will ultimately be judged on goals. While Everton’s recent form is encouraging, relying on deflections and luck is not a sustainable route; the summer or January transfer window may need to produce an experienced Premier League striker to sustain this progress.
What’s next
Bournemouth face a tricky run of fixtures that includes Chelsea and Manchester United, increasing the pressure on Iraola. Everton will look to build on this momentum as they push into the top half of the table and chase further positive results in the Premier League.