Huddersfield Town 0-2 Everton

Idrissa Gueye's strike was just his third goal of the season

Everton left Huddersfield Town with lingering relegation worries as goals in each half from Cenk Tosun and Idrissa Gueye gave the Toffees a comfortable win at the John Smith's Stadium.

David Wagner's side could have taken a giant stride towards safety with victory, but paid the price for conceding possession cheaply when Theo Walcott set up Tosun for the opener six minutes before the interval.

Huddersfield - who are just three points above the relegation zone and face Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in their last three games - struggled to create chances and Everton wrapped up the win in the 77th minute when Leighton Baines set up Gueye for a low drive past Jonas Lossl.

It still did not bring respite for Sam Allardyce - visiting Everton fans hoisted a protest banner and aimed abusive chants in the direction of their manager.

• Relive Everton's win at Huddersfield

• 'I'm trying as hard as I can' - Allardyce

• What else happened in the Premier League on Saturday?

Allardyce criticised in victory

Allardyce (left) has lost just one of his last seven games

Everton comfortably secured their second victory of the week - but any thoughts that this would switch opinion in Allardyce's favour can be dismissed.

Allardyce met Everton owner Farhad Moshiri in London on Thursday and said 24 hours later that he was in the process of making plans for next season.

But that has failed to dispel the question marks over his future, with Marco Silva - Moshiri's top target when Ronald Koeman was sacked in October - now available and Shakhtar Donetsk's highly rated coach Paulo Fonseca also linked with Goodison Park.

Here, Evertonians registered their disapproval by unfurling a large banner reading "Our Survey Says Get Out Of Our Club" in reference to the recent fans' panel survey that asked supporters to rate Allardyce's performance out of 10. He was also the target of less-than-complimentary chants.

Allardyce, in his defence, can point to a Premier League table that shows Everton lying in a comfortable eighth place after another three points, and a joyless season will end without anxiety.

He will regard this as the successful completion of the task he was recruited to perform - but it is increasingly hard to see how Allardyce's pragmatic style will win over the cynics among Everton supporters.

Fan scepticism is something Allardyce has lived with at various stages in his career and it shows no sign of changing any time soon.

Huddersfield face anxious finale

This was a potentially crucial game for Huddersfield Town, and the mood of anticipation around the atmospheric John Smith's Stadium reflected the fact that victory here would have virtually assured Premier League safety.

Huddersfield's supporters delivered their usual magnificent backing and the work-rate of Wagner's players was prodigious - but they simply could not find the composure and quality required at the vital times when they had periods of supremacy.

Indeed, Tosun's opener came at the end of Huddersfield's best spell and switched the entire emphasis of a game in which moments of class were in short supply.

And now, from a position where this one win could have given them relative comfort, they face a potentially anxious end to the season, with a hazardous final three games away to Manchester City and Chelsea, and at home to Arsenal.

Schneiderlin's upturn in fortunes

Morgan Schneiderlin's season of misery hit a nadir shortly after Allardyce's arrival, when he became the butt of fierce criticism from Everton's supporters.

It was all in stark contrast to the manner in which he distinguished himself after his £24m move from Manchester United in the January transfer window last season.

Schneiderlin, to his credit, has worked hard to rehabilitate himself and was outstanding again here. It must have been sweet for the talented France midfielder to hear his name being chanted loudly by Everton's fans.

It is hardly enough to salvage a miserable season at Goodison Park, but at least he is ending the season on an upward curve.

Man of the match - Morgan Schneiderlin

Only Seamus Coleman (78 touches) saw more of the ball than Morgan Schneiderlin on 73. Schneiderlin (right) played 58 passes - the most in the Everton team. He also won possession back nine times in an impressive display.

'It's still match point' - Manager reaction

Huddersfield boss David Wagner: "The support from the stands was great. We gave everything but we were beaten by quality in the end.

"We missed opportunities and they scored with their first effort on goal and then in the second half we were not at the same level.

"We have to deal with it and we will deal with it. We had four match points before this game and now we have three left."

Everton boss Sam Allardyce: "Confidence grows and performances are getting better and better. That's 14 points from the last seven games.

"Let's see if we can go to the end of the season undefeated. I have every respect for every club I have worked at and am trying my very best.

"I'm sure the fans have gone home happy today and so they should. They haven't seen many results and performances away from home in the last two and a half years."

Huddersfield's goal problems - the stats

Tosun fired low into the corner before the interval to score his fifth Everton goal

• Everton have won two of their past three Premier League away games (W2 D1 L0), more than they had in their previous 23 on the road (W1 D9 L13).

• Huddersfield have failed to score in 19 different Premier League games this season, the joint-most by a promoted side in their debut season in the competition (level with Cardiff in 2013-14).

• This was Everton's first away win in the league by more than one goal since 26 December 2016, when they won 2-0 at Leicester.

• Cenk Tosun scored his fourth away Premier League goal of the season - no Everton player has scored more on the road in 2017-18 (level with Wayne Rooney).

• Baines has been involved in 82 Premier League goals for Everton (29 goals, 53 assists), behind only Romelu Lukaku (91) and Duncan Ferguson (83) for the Toffees in the competition.

What's next?

Everton host relegation-threatened Southampton on Saturday, 5 May (17:30 BST), while Huddersfield travel to Premier League champions Manchester City a day later for a 13:30 kick-off.