MATCH REPORT: WEST BROM 0-1 EVERTON

Photo credit: Nick Potts (PA)

Everton strengthened their bid for Champions League football next season with a hard-fought win away to West Brom.

Richarlison’s 65^th minute header proved decisive as Carlo Ancelotti’s side made it nine games on the road without defeat.

It was the Baggies who made the stronger start as Jordan Pickford clawed away Mbaye Diagne’s close-range header.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture, had a golden opportunity when Bernard’s pass deflected straight into his path, but he struck his shot straight at Sam Johnstone.

The breakthrough came twenty minutes after the break as Gylfi Sigurdsson, just on as a substitute, swung in a cross that was met by the Brazilian for his fourth goal in as many games.

Sam Allardyce’s men searched for an equaliser against the team he briefly managed in 2017-18 and the 66-year-old must have thought it had come in the dying stages when Diagne scored with a fierce shot, but the Senegalese was offside.

The defeat ends West Brom’s three-game unbeaten run and leaves them nine points adrift of Newcastle United.

Meanwhile, Everton’s European aspirations look more attainable than ever as the victory boosts them up to fifth in the table, a point behind Chelsea, who they face on Monday, and with a game on hand.