Key events
78 min “Garner (Rockford or Maverick, you choose) has been magnificent all match,” writes Joe Pearson. “That steal to set up the DCL goal was the feather in the cap.”
77 min: Everton substitution Arnaut Danjuma replaces Amadou Onana, so Garner will move into midfield.
77 min Mbeumo is booked for a foul on McNeil, who has a really good second half.
76 min If it stays like this Everton will move up to 16th, a point behind Chelsea and two behind Manchester United. They have Luton at home next weekend.
75 min Pickford miskicks a clearance straight to a Brentford player 35 yards out – but the referee Michael Oliver inadvertently makes a vital interception. That would have been a half-chance because Pickford was out of his goal.
74 min A word on James Garner, who has been very good today. That was such a good pass for the goal, vaguely reminiscent of Eric Cantona the way he suddenly stabbed it with no backlift.
73 min: Brentford substitution Saman Ghoddos replaces Aaron Hickey.
Everton deserve this for their second-half dominance. Nathan Collins was robbed by James Garner, who moved forward and poked a gorgeous pass through to Calvert-Lewin. He opened his body to sidefoot a low shot that hit the leg of Flekken and ricocheted slowly into the net.
GOAL! Brentford 1-3 Everton (Calvert-Lewin 71)
The ball didn’t evade Calvert-Lewin this time!
71 min Pickford’s long pass, and it was a pass, just evades Calvert-Lewin and runs through to Flekken.
70 min “Beto’s end product might need more work than Evertonians would like considering his price tag, but he does so many other things well and his commitment is impressive,” says Eric Peterson. “I, for one, think a top-two pairing of him and Dominic Calvert-Lewin has the potential to be not just productive but sublime.”
Sublime isn’t necessarily the word I’d use but I agree they could be very effective, particularly at Goodison. The problem is that would probably mean leaving out Doucoure, who has become a key player.
69 min: Chance for Brentford! A free-kick from the right leads to an almighty scramble in the six-yard box. At least one shot was desperately blocked on the line, and eventually the ball was smuggled behind for a corner.
68 min Tarkowski, who has been booed today because of the way he left Brentford, put his fingers over his ears when he scored and then ran off in celebration. Balls to that ostentatious non-celebration nonsense!
It came from a corner on the right. McNeil’s curled a superb ball into the six-yard box, where Tarkowski bullied his man (possibly Jensen) and planted a simple header into the net.
GOAL! Brentford 1-2 Everton (Tarkowski 67)
James Tarkowski scores against his old club!
65 min Brentford haven’t had a touch in the opposition area since half-time. Everton have had five.
64 min: Everton substitution Beto has emptied the tank for the cause, so Dominic Calvert-Lewin replaces him up front. Beto missed a good chance but his hold-up/link play was excellent.
63 min McNeil, 20 yards out, drags a tame shot well wide.
61 min: Double substitution for Brentford Kristoffer Ajer and Frank Onyeka replace Mads Roerslev and Vitaly Janelt. That means a switch to a back three with Mbeumo as the right wing-back.
59 min Tarkowski’s curling is headed wide of the far post by Beto, 14 yards out. He’s annoyed with himself but it was a pretty tricky chance, especially as there was no pace on the ball.
57 min McNeil’s long free-kick is nodded back across goal by Tarkowski and headed wide by Onana. The angle was very tight and he was running away from goal; he’d have needed a telescopic neck to get it on target.
56 min Brentford haven’t got going since the break. Apart from a decent 15-minute spell after the equaliser, they’ve been surprisingly poor in attack.
55 min Garner, who has had a good game, nicks the ball off Jensen just inside the Brentford area. Jensen recovers to make an important tackle.
54 min McNeil and Garner, nominally the wide players, have had the freedom to roam all evening. Everton are keeping the ball pretty well at the moment, although their tempo could be better.
52 min Beto tries his luck from 50 yards, and why not. This attempt is comfortably saved by Flekken, as is McNeil’s shot from 20 yards moments later.
49 min Full disclosure: it hasn’t been the most exhilarating start to the second half.
46 min Peep peep! Brentford begin the second half; no changes on either side.
“I’ve stopped for lunch while driving through Oklahoma and I’ve had the game on satellite radio,” writes Matt Burtz, Oklahoma’s biggest Everton fan. “It’s very typical of Everton to concede in such a fashion after starting strong but only scoring the one goal. Here’s hoping they can somehow conjure up another one, or at least hang on for the draw. Beto has to hit the Premier League scoresheet at some point, right?”
I hope so. I really like him and want him to do well. His record in Serie A was decent: 22 in 65 games for a mid-table side in Udinese.
“Based on the evidence of this first half, Idrissa Gueye may just be the most out of confidence player I’ve seen so far this season,” writes Alex Whitney. “Does Dyche have no one else to put on in midfield?”
I don’t think so. You could play Onana there but Sean Dyche likes to have at least two ballwinners. At a push I suppose you could play Garner and Onana as the two No6s.
Half-time reading
Half time: Brentford 1-1 Everton
That’s the end of a flawed but interesting first half. Both goals came against the run of play – Abdoulaye Doucoure for Everton in the sixth minute, Mathias Jensen for Brentford in the 28th.
Brentford were almost bewilderingly bad between the goals but dominated thereafter. Even then, Everton were a threat on the break and the otherwise superb Beto missed a pretty good chance.
See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45+1 min Three minutes of added time.
45 min Beto’s excellent cross-shot on the turn drifts across the six-yard box and behind for a goalkick. That was crying out for a sniffer to charge onto the bat and roof it gleefully from a yard out.
44 min Gueye shoots high and wide from distance. Know your limits, son.
41 min: Chance for Brentford! Wissa releases the speedy Mbeumo on the right side of the area. He slides a low cross that beats Pickford and is pushed just wide by Lewis-Potter, four yards out beyond the far post. That makes it sound like an open goal but it was trickier than that. Tarkowski slid in front of Lewis-Potter, and may have got a slight touch on the ball. Either way, his presence impacted Lewis-Potter’s attempt.
40 min I think Onana twisted his ankle, which is why he fell over. He’s being booed but that’s unfair; he wasn’t trying to buy a penalty.
39 min Beto shows a cracking turn of pace to burst away from Roerslev on the left. He angles a low cross behind Onana, who goes down after a challenge from Hickey. I don’t think anybody appealed for a penalty.
38 min Here’s Mathias Jensen’s equaliser.
36 min: Chance for Beto! Another opportunity goes begging for Everton. Onana (I think) runs 30 yards and slides a good pass down the side of the Brentford defence. Beto runs through on goal but then scoops a slightly weird shot that goes over Flekken and wide of the far post. I think he missed his kick.
35 min Beto again does well to muscle Collins aside and collect a nothing ball forward, but he’s all on his own and the attack peters out.
34 min It’s all Brentford now. Everton are being pinned in their third, never mind their half.
33 min “To my neutral eye Everton look, on paper at least, to have a stronger squad than Brentford today, which seems to go against all received wisdom,” says Richard Hirst. “What am I missing?”
Nothing. On paper their squad is stronger, but football has a million controllables and in recent years Brentford have controlled them a lot better.
31 min Goals change games, and indeed atmospheres. Brentford are suddenly full of the joys.
GOAL GIVEN! Brentford are level.
VAR check! Hang on, Wissa may have been offside in the build-up.
Janelt collected a loose ball 30 yards out and angled a neat, disguised pass across to Jensen on the right of the area. He took a touch and smashed a low shot that the diving Pickford could only push onto the far post and into the net. My first impression was that, having got to the ball, Pickford might have done better.