Everton manager Sean Dyche was delighted with the way his side managed the game as they came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 for their first Premier League win of the season.
Having twice squandered two-goal leads to lose in the last month Dwight McNeil’s double just after half-time turned things around after Marc Guehi’s 10th-minute opener.
It was the first time since October 2022 Everton had won a league match having gone behind and after recent chastening experiences Dyche was pleased to get an important victory on the board against a team who are still searching for their first victory.
“I think it’s good the players have earned the right (to celebrate) because of previous results and the question marks about seeing the game through,” said Dyche.
“I thought we handled the second half very well. Two great moments from and after that I felt we managed the game well, which had come into question this season.
“We debrief games and you learn, showing them ways of killing the game off, professional things.
“I appreciate the fans want glorious football constantly but it’s hard to deliver that. Do the professional things, turn the game around and defend resolutely.
“Do the absolute basics: head it, clear it, kick it. We kept them to a minimum in terms of clear-cut chances.”
Boos at half-time were replaced by celebrations at the final whistle as relief was the over-riding emotion sweeping through Goodison Park after taking just one point from their first five matches.
But Dyche knows he cannot consider it a corner turned.
“It just means it’s a step forward. The work is never done here,” he added.
“The reality is the expectation is to win again, win again. We have to park it very quickly and build up to the next game.”
On the plus side Jarrad Branthwaite came through his first appearance of the campaign unscathed as his successful centre-back partnership with James Tarkowski from last season was rekindled.
“That back five played together quite a lot last season and had 13 clean sheets, which is a pretty good measure of a back five working well,” said the Everton boss.
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner, whose side remain winless, rued the period after the restart when they were caught cold.
“I think we controlled most of the first half and then had a bad 15 minutes straight after the kick-off where we lost the game,” he said.
“Many parts of the game we didn’t look like we’d lose it, that makes it more disappointing.
“At the end of the first half the crowd was booing and not pleased with the home team and we gave them the momentum with the easy goal from a long ball from (Jordan) Pickford and giving them a stupid foul.
“They got their belief and the second goal was also a second-phase situation and we were not ready.
“We tried everything but we got nervous and could not find the right spaces.
“We are not pleased with the start (to the season). Now we need to stick together and to deal with the situation.”
