{"id":23534,"date":"2021-10-17T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T16:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23534"},"modified":"2021-10-18T10:27:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T14:27:09","slug":"moyes-returns-to-goodison-and-ends-benitezs-perfect-home-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23534","title":{"rendered":"Moyes Returns To Goodison And Ends Benitez’s Perfect Home Record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Angelo Ogbonna celebrates scoring his side’s first goal at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon (PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna\u2019s header ended Everton manager Rafael Benitez\u2019s 100 per cent home record as David Moyes got the better of his old Merseyside adversary in a 1-0 Premier League victory at Goodison Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair had previously met 15 times \u2013 12 of those as managers on opposing sides of Stanley Park with the Spaniard then Liverpool boss \u2013 and Moyes had won just twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this was a satisfying return to his old stomping ground for the Scot with Ogbonna\u2019s 74th-minute goal denying Benitez the chance to record Everton\u2019s best start to a season since 1978-79.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nature of the goal was somewhat familiar to all inside the ground as, much like during his 11 years with the Toffees, it came from a set-piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since his first game back in charge at West Ham, his side have earned a reputation as dead-ball specialists \u2013 and they have scored more (29), excluding penalties \u2013 than any other Premier League side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a whiff of controversy as referee Stuart Atwell ruled Michail Antonio\u2019s awkward challenge on goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had earned a corner despite protests from the home team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having wasted a good start to the game, Moyes would have been relieved to have left with three points, which lifted West Ham back into the top six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everton, still without their two biggest attacking threats Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison due to injury, barely had a kick for 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were pinned back by the visitors\u2019 flying start, propelled forward by Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma with England midfielder Declan Rice knitting things together from deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, bizarrely, it was Benitez\u2019s side who squandered the best opportunity of the half when Demarai Gray beat Ogbonna by the corner flag and crossed the ball to the near post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proximity of Salomon Rondon may have put off team-mate Alex Iwobi at the near post, but his swing and a miss from six yards was inexcusable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdoulaye Doucoure headed another good chance wide, this time from an Andros Townsend cross, while a Tomas Soucek goal at the other end was chalked out for offside after he converted a rebound from Jarrod Bowen\u2019s shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moyes would have gone in at half-time wondering how his side were not ahead, Benitez would have been grateful they were not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spaniard\u2019s tactical switching of Gray to the left and Iwobi centrally \u2013 late in the first half \u2013 had the two-fold effect of giving the former more freedom to attack 21-year-old right-back Ben Johnson, standing in for the injured Vladimir Coufal, while also reducing Rice\u2019s influence in the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everton enjoyed more control after the break with Iwobi\u2019s shot on the turn deflected behind and Rondon glancing a header just wide from Townsend\u2019s in-swinging cross as West Ham started to lose their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the match turned on Antonio\u2019s challenge on England\u2019s number one: Ogbonna glanced home Rice\u2019s cross and with it went Benitez\u2019s unbeaten home record.<\/p>\n

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