West Bromwich Albion remain bottom of the Premier League after falling short in their thrilling 5-2 loss to Everton at Goodison Park.

Grady Diangana opened the scoring for the Baggies with a brilliant solo goal, but goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Rodriguez sent Everton into the half-time break with a 2-1 lead.

Albion’s Matheus Pereira levelled the scoring with a wonderful free-kick, however, 10-man West Brom couldn’t handle the Everton pressure as Calvert-Lewin scored another two to complete his hat-trick after Michael Keane's goal to send Everton top of the league.

Story of the game

West Brom winger Diangana opened the scoring 10 minutes in with a brilliant solo goal.

The summer signing picked up the ball inside his own half and charged towards the Everton goal unchallenged – selected his spot and fired past Jordan Pickford with ease.

Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti had his hands in the air wondering what his defence were doing – and rightly so. No one pressured the Baggies forward leaving him with too much time and space, and Pickford will be disappointed with his attempt to stop the goal.  

Jake Livermore came agonisingly close to doubling the Baggies lead when he brought down a wonderful cross from Pereira – however, his fierce strike struck the post. The shot had evaded Pickford who was thankful to see the Albion’s captain’s effort hit the woodwork.

Everton then found the equaliser through Calvert-Lewin after a lengthy VAR check saw the original offside call overruled.

Seamus Coleman’s cross aimed for Richarlison was headed back into the box and smartly backheeled in by Calvert-Lewin from close range, however, the flag on the far side was raised for an offside call on the goal scorer.

After a detailed VAR check, it was deemed that the ball came off Darnell Furlong rather than Richarlison, meaning Calvert-Lewin was onside and the goal stood.

Everton turned the game around on the stroke of half-time when their marquee summer signing Rodriguez hammered home from the edge of the box.

Richarlison weaved his way forward through the Albion midfield and laid the ball off to the Colombian international who drilled his effort across goal into the bottom corner from range, leaving Sam Johnstone with no chance.

It’s his first goal for his new club after his transfer from Real Madrid in the summer.

It only got worse before the half-time whistle for the Baggies when a moment of stupidity from Kieran Gibbs saw him see red.

The ex-Arsenal fullback was slightly nudged by Rodriguez as the Colombian pressed to win back possession, then prompting Gibbs to push the Everton midfielder in the face and to the floor, leaving referee Mike Dean with no choice but to show the red card.

He then showed West Brom manager Slaven Bilic red as he protested Gibbs’ red card after the half time whistle, leaving West Brom in a mess going into the half time break.

West Brom got off to the perfect start in the second half with a moment of magic from their player of the year. Pereira curled a wonderful kick into the top corner to level the game.

The Brazilian stepped up to take free-kick from around 30-yards out, sending his effort over the wall and curling away from Pickford into the far corner.

Frustratingly for Albion fans, the lead only lasted a mere seven minutes after Keane tapped in from close-range to retain the lead for the Toffees.

Lucas Digne's wide free-kick was met powerfully by Richarlison whose header was well saved by Johnstone, however, the 'keeper could only parry it into the path of Keane who had the easy job of tapping the ball into an empty net.

Calvert-Lewin got Everton’s fourth after Rodriguez brilliantly played through Richarlison whose wayward shot was slid in by the English striker for his second of the game.

The 23-year-old striker then got his hat-trick and made it 5-2 to the Toffees when Rodriguez’s cross landed at an unmarked Calvert-Lewin who turned his back to the ball but managed to direct it in.

The rest of the game played out in Everton's favour as they dominated possession and saw out a comfortable 5-2 victory.

Man of the match: James Rodriguez.

 

A close call for Man of the match between Rodriguez and hat-trick hero Calvert-Lewin, but the Colombian international edges it today.

A goal and an assist for the Toffees' new signing today, however, his contribution extended beyond that. The passing range and raw skill from the ex-Real Madrid player was a different level from anyone else on the pitch.

He played a wonderful looping pass through to Richarlison who set up Calvert-Lewin for the fourth goal, and he was a constant threat when on the ball, with his attacking prowess infecting the rest of the Everton team who looked dangerous on every attack. The Everton strikers must be over the moon having a player like James to provide for them this season.

New look Everton impress again.

In the run-in to the end of 2019/20 season, Everton lacked creativity going forward and their ageing midfield were struggling to consistently perform to the level Ancelotti wanted, so a rebuild was on the cards. 

The signatures of Allan, Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucouré reinvented the midfield options for the Toffee's and how they played.

A dominant display in their win against Tottenham Hotspur last week showed what was to come from the new Everton midfield, but playing against a deep-sitting West Brom allowed more freedom for the likes of Rodriguez to show what he can do, and the 29-year-old midfielder had a field day, picking up his first goal and assist in blue as well as dropping a man of the match display. 

The addition of Rodriguez has noticeably given both Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin more to feed off this season - and the stats prove that with the latter scoring four goals in his first two league games. 

Promising signs for Everton fans.

Defensive woes continue for Albion.

Two games played, eight goals conceded. It's been far from a decent start for Slaven Bilic's men. 

Their attacking presence doesn't need any introduction - both Pereira and Diangana showed their talent today and were very promising going forward, but defensively the Baggies were nothing short of woeful. 

The sending-off of Gibbs Kieran Gibbs didn't help Bilic's side and his three-match suspension won't help their problems, however, it could give the West-Midlands side a chance to rotate the back-line and attempt to solve their defensive issues before it's too late.

West Brom have Chelsea up next in the Premier League, so Albion fans will be hoping for a better performance than today. 

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