Everton vs Norwich City. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,241.
Report and highlights as goals from Todd Cantwell and Dennis Srbeny sink Toffees
Saturday 23 November 2019 19:50, UK
Norwich scored their first away goals since the opening weekend of the season as they produced an impressive performance to beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park.
Both sides played high lines in a combative first half that produced few chances as they prioritised possession over attack, with Onel Hernandez going closest for the Canaries when he forced an outstanding save by Jordan Pickford.
But the visitors broke the deadlock when Todd Cantwell (55) was played clean through on goal by a tireless Teemu Pukki, before Dennis Srbeny doubled their lead in stoppage time and secured all three points.
The Canaries climb off the bottom into 18th, while Everton were suffering their seventh loss of the season and are now only four points clear of the relegation zone in 15th.
Everton started aggressively as they tried to capitalise on a usually leaky Norwich defence, but struggled to create chances up against a well-drilled backline that stifled the likes of Richarlison and Cenk Tosun.
Norwich grew into the game, with Hernandez having the best chance of the half, slipped through by Cantwell only to have his rifled effort excellently saved by a diving Pickford's right arm.
The visitors were eventually rewarded for their resilience with the opener in the second half, when both Mason Holgate and Yerry Mina left a huge gap in the Toffees' backline as they chased Pukki around the pitch, letting Cantwell through in acres of space to slide home to give his side the lead.
Everton hit back, bombarding the Norwich goal with corners and giving Tim Krul plenty to do as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tosun forced fine saves from the goalkeeper, but as they sought an equaliser they once again left themselves vulnerable at the back.
Substitutes Emiliano Buendia and Srbeny combined brilliantly, the former weaving into the box before feeding Srbeny six yards out, the forward finding the corner and putting the game to bed.
Everton boss Marco Silva: "It is a very disappointing result. It was not a good performance at all. Big frustration.
"It is up to us to create, we needed to create more with intensity and mobility but we didn't do enough to disorganise them.
"I respect the feelings and it is not the first time that [fans] have felt like they did this afternoon. We need to work really hard to change."
Norwich boss Daniel Farke: "It's a great day for our club. The dressing room is buzzing. We deserved that win.
"It made a big difference having a stable defence today but the all-round performance showed we are competitive at this level. We are still favourites for position 20 but we showed today we have the mentality and quality to stay in this league."
Sky Sports' Charlie Nicolas on Soccer Saturday:
"There's a lot of anger from fans. We've been here before, and often you say home form is the one that kept going, kept [Silva] in the position he's in, but I last saw Everton when they lost at home to Sheffield United, and this is worse.
"[Silva] finally picked the same starting XI, but the defence is all over the place. He doesn't know how to change things.
"I thought [Norwich] deserved it, I don't think Everton had any fluency or rhythm. Silva doesn't know his best XI, he doesn't know what the pattern is."
Sky Sports' Frederick Clayton:
You leak goals all season and can't get a look-in away from home, before scoring twice at Goodison Park with a clean sheet to boot.
The Canaries have a valuable three points that lift them off the bottom, and they have a fine defensive display to thank for it. They kept shape, looked desperate to throw themselves in the way of anything and everything, and cleared corners all afternoon.
In attack, Pukki left Goodison Park without a goal but he worked tirelessly to drag the defenders this way and that, giving others the freedom to wander forward in space. A valuable goalscorer but an even more important team player.
As for Everton, boss Marcos Silva has suffered yet another setback. Fans can barely keep track of their form which can be described as sporadic at best. The midfield is creating so little and that has to change, with good forwards making good runs ahead of them.
No goals today, but the work he does off the ball caused chaos for the Everton defence and they were simply forced to leave the gaps that allowed Cantwell the space for the opener. A big round of applause as he came off was well deserved.
Everton host Leicester City next Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm. Norwich host Arsenal the same day, with kick-off at 2pm.
