Everton left it late to salvage a point against David Moyes’ former side West Ham and ensure that the manager’s unbeaten league run stretched to a ninth game.
Tomas Soucek appeared to have clinched the points for a dogged Hammers side, but a stoppage time equaliser from Jake O’Brien ensured a share of the spoils.
It was the right-back’s second goal in three games, after he hit the leveller at Brentford, and was just desserts for the home side who pressed relentlessly for a route back into the contest after Soucek’s smart opener.
It looked like Everton might have been frustrated by VAR’s reversal of a penalty decision for the second home game in succession. A point was the least they deserved, with Carlos Alcaraz then going agonisingly close to nicking a 95th-minute winner.
Moyes, who had two spells in charge of the Hammers and helped them break a 43-year trophy drought with Europa Conference League glory in 2023, predicted before the game that it would be a “difficult situation” to face his old side. The Scot has made Everton hard to beat since his appointment in January and they never threw the towel in.
During a stodgy opening to the game, the hosts’ fierce press forced West Ham into numerous possession errors. Yet it took an impressive reaction save from Jordan Pickford to prevent a Jarrad Branthwaite own goal that came from the game’s first corner on 12 minutes.
West Ham were otherwise restricted to counterattacking opportunities in the first half, with Pickford again springing into action after a sharp turn and volley by the dangerous Jarrod Bowen.
Tomas Soucek celebrates after opening the scoring for West Ham. Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters
The key moment of the first half came when Konstantinos Mavropanos was initially judged by referee Darren Bond to have tripped Beto in the box, before the VAR Chris Kavanagh stepped in. No penalty was his instruction, amid boos from the Toffees fans. The same supporters had, three weeks ago, seen a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester United wiped away after a VAR check.
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Perhaps buoyed by that decision, West Ham emerged energised for the restart, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka combining with the hard running of Mohammed Kudus to give Vitalii Mykolenko and Branthwaite a problem. Bowen nearly squeezed a shot past Pickford from a tight angle, before the deadlock was broken by Soucek. The Czech had been quiet until then but on 67 minutes he was well found by Bowen, before a fine step and shot into the bottom corner.
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Everton wobbled for a moment, with Pickford scrambling to stop from Bowen and Soucek again. The late onslaught from Moyes’ men, however, felt inevitable with O’Brien finishing cutely to level, before Alcaraz’s near-miss at the death.
