LIVERPOOL, Sept 22 — A first-half own goal by Yerry Mina and a late Lys Mousset effort gave Sheffield United a smash-and-grab 2-0 win at Everton in an entertaining Premier League match yesterday.
The result lifted the Blades to eighth place on eight points from six games while Everton slipped to 14th on seven points after they failed to convert several chances at Goodison Park.
United manager Chris Wilder was delighted with the outcome although he acknowledged it flattered his team.
“That’s possibly the worst we’ve played all season,” he told the BBC. “We didn’t play anything like our best today but managed to win the game.
“We won’t be jumping from the ceiling tonight — I might be, but my players won’t be. It’s great for our supporters, who travelled in numbers again today and were unbelievable in their support of the players.”
Colombia defender Mina put the ball past his own goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 40th minute after the first purposeful move by the visitors resulted in a corner.
Everton dominated the opening half and their Brazilian forward Richarlison curled a fine shot inches wide before visiting keeper Dean Henderson kept out a stinging low drive by Lucas Digne.
Everton pressed after the break in search of an equaliser but were caught cold again in the 79th minute when Mousset latched on to a defence-splitting pass and beat Pickford with a clinical finish to delight the away fans.
Sheffield United held out comfortably in the last 10 minutes as Everton manager deployed Theo Walcott in a desperate attempt to salvage something from a disappointing performance.
Everton manager Marco Silva conceded the Toffees paid for their sloppy defending.
“Of course, we didn’t deserve the result but when you make mistakes like we did this afternoon you don’t get what you deserve,” he said.
“Some individual performances were not at the level we expect, but that’s part of the game.
“The key moment for me was the mistake we made for the first goal, but I told them at halftime we shouldn’t panic. We need to show personality to turn these games around.” — Reuters
