Everton 1-1 Swansea City

  • Published
SEAMUS cOLEMANImage source, AFP
Image caption,

Everton have won just once in their past seven games

Seamus Coleman's late goal denied Swansea a first victory under manager Bob Bradley, as their winless streak stretched to 11 games.

Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson had put the visitors ahead at Goodison Park with a penalty in the 41st minute.

But Coleman scored a minute from time, with a looping header to salvage the draw in what had been a poor Everton performance.

Swansea are now bottom of the Premier League after Sunderland's win against Hull moved them two points above Bradley's side.

The Welsh club have not won in the league since the opening day of the season.

They had looked on course to break that drought and give Bradley his first win since succeeding Francesco Guidolin at the beginning of October, until Coleman's 89th-minute equaliser.

Bradley has now made the worst start by a Swansea manager in the Premier League, going five games without a win.

Everton, beaten 5-0 at Chelsea in their previous game, have now won just once in the past seven games and there were boos at full-time from the home supporters.

Bradley's wait goes on

Media caption,

Bob Bradley wants to see more commitment from Swans

Former USA manager Bradley made eight changes from the Swansea side that lost 3-1 to Manchester United on 6 November as he desperately searched for that elusive win.

One of those to survive the cull was Sigurdsson, who was his side's main attacking threat, as Bradley chose to start without a recognised striker.

Record signing Borja Bastón was dropped to the bench, with Modou Barrow the most advanced player and Sigurdsson in the number 10 role behind him.

Bradley had called for leaders before the game and Sigurdsson was one of those to heed his call.

The 27-year-old was a constant threat and won the penalty when he was dragged down by Everton captain Phil Jagielka, who conceded two spot-kicks at Manchester City on 15 October.

Sigurdsson, who got up and coolly placed his spot-kick in the top-right corner, has now been directly involved in six of Swansea's 11 goals in the Premier League this season, with three goals and three assists.

Bradley will be encouraged by his side's performance, particularly in defence, he will just have wished they had stood firm for a few more minutes.

The American also showed that his does not hold grudges, as he sent on Ki Sung-yueng in the second-half, despite the South Korean saying the club were 'in crisis', earlier in the week.

Boos and groans

Image source, Opta
Image caption,

Everton's delivery was poor - these were all their unsuccessful open-play crosses

Image source, Opta
Image caption,

They only made two successful open-play crosses in the game, illustrated in green here

Everton's early season optimism, when they won four of their first five games, seems to have worn off.

There were audible groans and boos from the crowd during some of their play.

"Everton are going through a sticky time," said former Spurs striker Garth Crooks on Final Score. "Can they get over this period? Yannick Bolasie and Romelu Lukaku have gone off the boil. Maybe the defeat at Chelsea has had a bigger effect than we thought."

Top scorer Romelu Lukaku's best chance was a ricochet off his thigh in the first half, while Ross Barkley should have scored but could only scuff his shot wide.

Bolasie was lively on the wings but some of his crosses were poor, while the team's delivery from set pieces, especially corners, was also below par.

Ronald Koeman decided to gamble, sending on Gerard Deulofeu for the woeful Aaron Lennon, and substituted centre-back Jagielka for Enner Valencia in a very attacking move.

The gamble paid off with the equaliser, as Coleman reacted quickly to a loose ball and headed past Lukasz Fabianski into the top-right corner.

Man of the match - Gylfi Sigurdsson

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Sigurdsson topped his team's shots and crosses stats and won and then scored the first-half penalty. His side's and the game's best attacking threat

What they said

Media caption,

Koeman disappointed with the Toffees' first-half display

Everton boss Ronald Koeman: "I agree with our fans when after half-time they whistled the team. They did not play how we can play football, we missed our aggression, we did not win second balls and we changed everything in the second half and that was at least how we need to play at home."

Swansea manager Bob Bradley: "It feels like a defeat when you give up a late one, it doesn't go away fast, there are some positives but we keep going. We still have moments when we don't clear balls well enough and are second best to plays.

"Even though we are angry with ourselves, we look at it as a step in the right direction."

Everton's home draw

  • No team has drawn more home games in the Premier League than Everton this season with three

  • Everton remain unbeaten at Goodison Park since March (won five, drawn four), but have now drawn two of their last three there

  • Bradley is the first Swansea manager to not win any of his opening five games as a Premier League boss (drawn two, lost three)

  • Sigurdsson has been directly involved in three of Swansea's last four away goals in the league (two goals, one assist)

  • Jagielka has conceded all of the three penalties given against Everton in the Premier League this season; the most of any player in the competition

Sorry, we can't display this part of the article any more.