Calvert-Lewin show of strength

After Everton drew a blank for the ninth time in 11 games in his first match in charge, David Moyes was left bemoaning his side’s lack of cutting edge and while it remains prudent for The Friedkin Group to dip into the transfer market this month if they can to bring in additions to protect their asset, the new Blues boss may have started to coax out some in-house solutions.

Following the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Wednesday night, Moyes lamented: “We’re desperately needing to add some quality in certain areas, mainly to create and craft goals, and it looks like to finish as well, we’re needing to get those levels up.”

READ MORE: What spread around Goodison Park after Everton first goal said it all about David Moyes changes

READ MORE: Everton player ratings as Iliman Ndiaye outstanding and three others excellent vs Tottenham

We’re often told that a week can be a long time in politics and it seems that the same applies to four days at Goodison Park. Moyes could and perhaps should have snatched a share of the spoils against Unai Emery’s side, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin scooped an inviting opportunity over the bar in stoppage time.

The miss summed up how much of this season has been going for Everton’s number nine, yet rather than feel sorry for himself, he dusted himself down here and produced a superb all-round centre-forward’s performance.

The confidence with which he took his chance for the crucial opening goal made a mockery of the fact this was his first strike in 17 Premier League matches and having netted the winner at an empty Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the last time the Blues picked up three points against the north London side, he also exorcised his ghosts in this fixture last season having had an effort disallowed by VAR in the away meeting and seeing his goal-bound effort credited to Jack Harrison during what was a 23-match drought.

Winging it

If Dominic Calvert-Lewin was excellent spearheading Everton’s attack then Iliman Ndiaye was their potent threat from out wide with his all-round play arguably eclipsing even that of his centre-forward. With a goal already to his name, the striker was a viable option for Ndiaye when he surged forwards in the build-up to the Blues’ second but the Senegal international didn’t need him as he knew exactly where he was going.

Following the return of his old pal Moyes, who was also born in Glasgow in 1963, former Everton player Pat Nevin, implored his friend to try and get Ndiaye on the ball more often. The ex-winger told the ECHO: “The few times that I’ve been up to Goodison recently, I’ve thought ‘just get the ball to him in the final third’.

“It won’t always work, it won’t always happen, but it doesn’t matter. It only has to happen two or three times in the game and you could get a goal either scored or created by him.”

Ndiaye only needed one sniff here to open his account but as he’s showed so often already in what has been a difficult season for the team, while he’s a flair player capable of producing those explosive highlight reel moments, he also always puts in a shift trying to win the ball in a manner that Evertonians appreciate.

Like the Bournemouth game that still gives Blues the shivers, his absence as an out ball after he was taken off late on, ended up shredding nerves again, even if the hosts were thankfully able to maintain their lead on this occasion.

Other summer signing step up

If Ndiaye has been far and away Everton’s most impressive summer signing, this was also a day for a couple of other recruits to step up. Although the change in formation and personnel ensured that Jesper Lindstrom was nominally operating as a wing-back on the right, this was the Dane’s best display in a royal blue jersey to date and Moyes namechecked him for his efforts in his post-match press conference.

Far too often this term, loan pair Lindstrom and Jack Harrison have traded places on the right flank because of their respective anonymity, yet having been given the nod on this occasion, the Dane crackled and sparked in a manner you would expect from a player Napoli shelled out €30million on less than 17 months ago.

The 24-year-old has been refreshingly candid about both individual and collective shortcomings this season and while it will take much more for him to earn a permanent switch for when Everton move into their new stadium, this was an overdue step in the right direction.

Lindstrom can’t say he hasn’t been given a chance at the Blues but up until now, the same cannot be said for the club’s biggest signing of the summer, both in financial and physical terms, Jake O’Brien.

Although the hosts ended up conceding twice late on, that was harsh on what was generally a dominant defensive display from a unit that included the Republic of Ireland international impressing on his first Premier League start and regulars James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite both producing crucial interceptions.