Everton 1-1 Huddersfield: Toffees maintain unbeaten start with comeback draw

Huddersfield players celebrate opening the scoring at Goodison Park

Everton came from behind against Huddersfield to maintain their unbeaten start to the season in a disappointing game at Goodison Park.

The hosts enjoyed most of the possession, but failed to register a shot on target, before Philip Billing gave the Terriers a surprise lead in the 33rd minute when he headed past Jordan Pickford from a corner.

Huddersfield's lead lasted just 87 seconds as Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised by the same method, diverting a Lucas Digne cross past the diving Jonas Lossl.

Toffees boss Marcos Silva introduced Ademola Lookman off the bench in the second period, and the 20-year-old created the best chance of the half when he produced a tantalising cross that just eluded Calvert-Lewin and Gylfi Sigurdsson with the goal at their mercy.

The result lifts David Wagner's side out of the relegation zone into 17th, while Everton climb one place into seventh.

Everton struggle to break down resilient Terriers

Huddersfield came to Goodison Park with a gameplan, and they executed it perfectly.

Wagner's men sat deep with 10 men behind the ball straight from kick-off, inviting pressure from the hosts as they tried to break them down.

Everton had 59% of the possession in the first half, but they failed to create anything of note, and defenders Seamus Coleman and Kurt Zouma had the best opportunities.

Calvert-Lewin was brought in to replace their suspended top-scorer Richarlison, and although the youngster got off the mark for the season with the equaliser, Everton lacked the trickery and guile to break through their organised opponents.

In fact, the hosts, who lost Theo Walcott to injury in the second half, only managed a single shot on goal in the whole game.

Richarlison will still be missing for the meeting with West Ham but Silva could turn to Lookman, who impressed off the bench.

Huddersfield attack remains a concern

Huddersfield avoided relegation by four points last season - and the objective for the new campaign will be to retain their Premier League status once more.

A battling point at Goodison Park is exactly the type of result the Terriers will need. The visitors were set up to limit their opponents' success between the lines, and as Wagner acknowledged afterwards: "Our formation worked."

But while they took the lead from a set piece, they posed very little threat from open play.

Coming into the game, the Terriers had failed to score in 23 of their 41 Premier League games - more than any other team in this period.

Billing's header was only his side's second goal of the season, and Wagner admitted not "creating more opportunities" was his one concern about the day.

Man of the match - Kurt Zouma (Everton)

The summer loan signing from Chelsea consistently brought the ball out of defence to help start attacks as well as having the composure to deal with the pacy Adama Diakhaby

'Everton don't look the strongest on set-pieces' - what they said

Huddersfield manager David Wagner said: "I'm happy with the effort, performance and attitude from the players. We limited Everton - everyone knows how difficult it can be here - they only had shots from distance and headers.

"I'm fine with this point, although with a bit more relaxation on the ball, we could have created more opportunities.

"We've discussed before that Everton don't look the strongest on defending set-pieces. We've scored a great goal - we had worked on it and it paid off. Defensively our shape worked, our formation worked - we wanted to close the inside gaps and overload the wings. You have to show the passion and desire. "

Everton manager Marcos Silva said: "We didn't perform well. It wasn't a good game.

"They had nine players behind the ball. When we play against that type of team, we have to play faster in certain moments of the game to disorganise them. We didn't create enough chances to score.

"As well as Richarlison, Theo [Walcott] with a problem in his hips is another problem for us.

"It was important to score fast and react well after their goal. The second half was difficult as they just waited for our mistakes."

Huddersfield's 81-year wait for a Goodison win goes on - match stats

• Huddersfield have won none of their past 15 away games against Everton in all competitions (D3 L12), last winning there 2-1 in the top flight in September 1937.

• Everton recorded their 200th score draw in the Premier League, more than any other team in the competition.

• Yorkshire teams have won none of their past 16 Premier League visits to Goodison Park (D6 L10) since Sheffield Wednesday won 2-1 there in April 1999.

• Since the start of last season, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been directly involved in more goals for Everton in all competitions than any other player (11 goals, six assists).

• Huddersfield's Philip Billing scored his first league goal since February 2017 vs Reading, ending a run of 31 appearances without a goal (including play-offs).

What's next?

Everton resume their Premier League campaign at home to West Ham on Sunday, 16 September (16:00 BST), while Huddersfield host Crystal Palace on Saturday, 15 September (15:00).