Everton’s winless run is extended following their disappointing defeat at the hands of Brentford

Everton’s winless run continued at the Brentford Community Stadium as the Bees claimed three vital points.

Ivan Toney’s calmly taken first half penalty separated the sides as the travelling Everton support voiced their frustrations at their team who haven’t won in their last seven Premier League matches.

Everton’s last league win against Norwich City at the end of September saw the Toffees go joint second in the table, only a point off Merseyside rivals Liverpool who sat top of the table.

However, after picking up two points from their last 21, Rafael Benitez’s side find themselves worryingly looking over their shoulders at Burnley in 18th who are six points behind the Toffees with a game in hand.

A small section of Everton fans unveiled a banner pre-match that read “We demand Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, it’s about time our club did too.”

The club’s Latin motto translating to ‘nothing but the best is good enough’ has been something supporters haven’t seen in months as they start to grow restless with what is happening both on and off the pitch.

Whilst some Evertonians clapped the efforts of the players who went over to the away end at full-time, others booed and jeered at those in blue who apologetically raised their hands in return.

The reaction from the away end at Full Time todaypic.twitter.com/Ju0QiFjzTY

— The Toffee Blues (@EvertonNewsFeed) November 28, 2021

From the first whistle, Brentford, who hadn’t won in five league matches, showed they wanted the three points more than the visitors.

The Toffees were slow to react, second to most balls and found it difficult to cope with the physicality of Toney who was named Man of the Match for his domination in leading the line.

Despite Benitez praising his players’ efforts post-match, and saying Evertonians cannot complain about a lack of intensity, the performance for large parts in the capital didn’t justify the words.

An occurring and unsolved issue this season has been Everton’s inability to defend set-pieces. Only Aston Villa (10) have conceded more than Benitez’s side (7) this season, and it was no shock that Brentford’s goal came following a corner.

Sergi Canos’ dangerous delivery was initially punched to the edge of the box by Jordan Pickford before Andros Townsend, in an attempt to clear the ball, connected with Frank Onyeka’s face.

Play continued though as Pickford released Anthony Gordon and the winger’s driving run from halfway to the Brentford area almost resulted in a goal, however, Salomon Rondon saw his shot blocked by Pontus Jansson.

With Onyeka still down in the area holding his face, referee Darren England was asked to check the incident on the pitchside monitor, and after one look, the official correctly awarded Brentford their second penalty of the season.

Toney stepped up and calmly waited for the England goalkeeper to make the first move before rolling the ball into the opposite corner to convert his 15th consecutive spot-kick after 24 minutes.

11 – Since the start of last season, Brentford's Ivan Toney has scored more penalties in league games than any other player in the top four tiers of English football (11/11 – 100%). Master.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 28, 2021

Everton’s best chance of the half fell to Rondon two minutes later, however, the striker this time saw the leg of Alvaro Fernandez deny him his first goal for the club.

Lucas Digne’s neat exchange with Alex Iwobi saw the left-back cross the ball into Rondon who took a touch away from the defender before firing a strike which was saved well by the Spaniard.

The hosts continued to put Everton under pressure and Toney’s through ball to Vitaly Janelt needed a last-ditch tackle from the returning Abdoulaye Doucoure before Pickford was called into action to deny Bryan Mbeumo from the edge of the box five minutes before the interval.

Everton had a strong claim for a penalty in added time when Charlie Goode almost ripped Rondon’s shirt off as a cross came into the box. Despite a lack of shouts from Everton players, it was a surprise that VAR never intervened.

Benitez’s side hadn’t led at half-time since their win against Norwich, and in each outing since, had failed to turn a contest around when trailing. The last time they achieved this feat was against Southampton on the opening day of the season.

Brentford began sitting back in order to protect their lead, and in the final half an hour, they were made to work hard for the three points and their first clean sheet in eight matches.

Iwobi couldn’t find a way past Fernandez on the hour mark before Demarai Gray came off the bench. The forward, whose abductor injury sustained in Everton’s defeat to Manchester City last time out wasn’t as serious as first feared, put the Bees under even more pressure.

Tempers flared with 15 minutes remaining when Rico Henry was down following a collision with a teammate. Everton came forward multiple times whilst the left-back was down before Canos, who was already on a yellow card, decided to take matters into his own hands when deliberately fouling Digne to stop play.

Darren England decided against showing the winger a second yellow but instead a yellow was shown to Rondon and Jansson for their involvement in the altercation that followed.

Gray’s dangerous ball across the face of goal saw no blue shirts attacking the six-yard box, and Everton’s final attempt at equalising was wasted when Rondon was unable to direct Seamus Coleman’s cross towards goal.

As the final whistle blew and ‘Hey Jude’ was played out, Evertonians were left travelling back to the northwest having watched an all too familiar disappointing showing.

The Toffees have now failed to score in their last three Premier League matches, a first since September 2019, as their league position starts to become a major concern.

Benitez prepares to host former employers Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday as Everton aim to win back-to-back derbies for the first time since the 1984/85 season.

However and most importantly, three points will be vital in stopping Everton’s rot with the return of key players providing a pinch of positivity ahead of a congested and difficult winter schedule for the Goodison Park faithful.

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