Everton 2-0 Huddersfield Town

Sam Allardyce said it was "onwards and upwards" for Everton after they beat Huddersfield 2-0 in his first game in charge.

Allardyce, appointed manager on an 18-month contract on Thursday, oversaw a performance that was strong on effort, if short on quality at times.

Gylfi Sigurdsson had a poor game overall, but finished neatly less than two minutes into the second half after Dominic Calvert-Lewin's lovely angled back-flick played him in.

England youth forward Calvert-Lewin, Everton's outstanding player, added a deserved goal when he ran on to Wayne Rooney's pass and scored via a deflection off Mathias Jorgensen.

"Getting a win in your first game after a fantastic win on Wednesday night, and back-to-back league wins for the first time this season - let's hope it's onwards and upwards, boys," said Allardyce, whose side are now 10th in the table.

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The former England boss is back in management for the first time since leaving Crystal Palace in May after taking them from the relegation zone to a 14th-place finish in five months.

"It took me six games at Palace to get my first win and everybody was telling everybody else I'd come back too soon, I wasn't the man I used to be," the 63-year-old said.

"If I take a job I'm totally, fully, 100% committed and I don't take the job in any other circumstances.

"I turned many a job down before this one. I felt this one was right for me. It's a dream job for me and I'll give it 100%."

Laurent Depoitre nearly scrambled in a first-half goal for Huddersfield following a corner from Tom Ince, who fired into the side-netting after half-time.

But David Wagner's side remain without a goal away from home since the opening day of the season, and have lost four league games in a row for the first time since 2000 as they drop to 15th.

Big Sam goes back to basics

Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal was his second in three games - and his third for Everton overall

Nearly a month before his appointment, Allardyce appeared as a pundit on television in Qatar to suggest that Everton needed to get back to basics to pull away from trouble.

He also emphasised, at the time, the need to keep clean sheets and become difficult to beat - and was as good as his word in his first game in charge.

Allardyce's side looked more solid at the back than they have for much of the campaign, although they were facing opponents with only nine league goals to their name all season.

Everton took a while to get going, and did not even manage a touch inside Huddersfield's penalty area until 25 minutes in, when Cuco Martina's first-time shot was pushed away by Jonas Lossl.

Throughout the game, though, Everton were prepared to get stuck in. Rooney left Scott Malone feeling sore with a bang on the head after a first-half aerial challenge, and that typified the home side's determination.

It was also notable that their heads did not drop when things went against them. Sigurdsson delivered three dreadful set-pieces in the first 45 minutes, yet he shrugged that off to score the opening goal, having been moved further forward by Allardyce at half-time

Everton's new coaching set-up could be an entertaining spectacle on the touchline - Allardyce wore a large earpiece so he could speak to first-team coach Craig Shakespeare in the stand, while assistant Sammy Lee was a bundle of energy in the technical area, whether shouting instructions or making points to the fourth official.

Huddersfield had the better of the first-half possession (top graphic) but Everton got on top after half-time (bottom graphic)

Calvert-Lewin ready to come of age

One great encouragement for Allardyce as he tries to lift Everton up the Premier League was the enthusiastic display of Calvert-Lewin.

The forward, signed from Sheffield United in August 2016, has been working to prove himself at the top level since scoring the goal that won the Under-20 World Cup for England in June.

He has had to learn quickly during a turbulent season, and has understandably found that a tough task.

However, he has a strong work ethic and physical presence and was not shy about throwing himself into challenges - in the air or on the ground.

He was in the right place to clear as Depoitre fought to turn in Ince's corner amid a goalmouth melee, and left both Christopher Schindler and Jorgensen with bumps and bruises after first-half clashes.

Calvert-Lewin has skill, too - his deft flick for Sigurdsson's goal was evidence of that.

He was then denied a goal, as Lossl dived to his left to push away the striker's drive after Rooney's neat touch had played him in.

Calvert-Lewin did get the goal he deserved, though, bursting on to Rooney's pass and getting a break as Jorgensen, diving into the challenge, got a touch that bounced the shot beyond Lossl.

"I'm so pleased Dominic got a goal after his work on the front line," said Allardyce.

"[He's] a young centre-forward learning his trade in the Premier League and to get that goal at that particular time just killed Huddersfield off."

Huddersfield's goal trouble persists

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin's touchmap (left) shows how hard he worked all over the pitch - while Huddersfield forward Laurent Depoitre (right) did not track back as much and saw far less of the ball in key areas

Huddersfield's problem is obvious - they are not scoring enough goals.

Of the nine they have struck in the Premier League this season, three came on the opening day against a Crystal Palace side in turmoil; just six have come in 14 matches since.

Head coach Wagner said on Friday that he was happy with the two centre-forwards in his squad, with Depoitre selected against Everton rather than club-record signing Steve Mounie.

Depoitre is a willing runner with a good touch and power in the air, but has shown little sign of being a prolific scorer since his £3.4m move from Porto in June.

Mounie, meanwhile, has been battling a heel injury for much of the season, and did not look up to speed when he started Wednesday's 5-0 defeat at Arsenal.

Ince - whose father Paul, the former England captain, watched from the stand - has yet to score since his summer move from Derby.

The forward's shot, high into the side-netting on the break as Huddersfield trailed 1-0, was probably as close as they came to a goal at Goodison Park.

The visitors did not create enough, though. And as disciplined as they are defensively, they are likely to be sucked into the bottom three unless they become more of an attacking threat.

"We will keep on fighting and keep on analysing," said Wagner.

"Today we can analyse we were not good enough, especially in the final third. The quality was not good enough but the players have shown they have it."

Man of the match - Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)

A goal and an assist was reward for a display full of effort from the England Under-20 World Cup winner

What next?

Everton bow out of the Europa League against Apollon Limassol in Cyprus on Thursday (18:00 GMT) before facing Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League the following Sunday (14:15). Huddersfield host Brighton next Saturday (15:00).