Everton moved four points clear of the relegation zone by beating Tottenham 3-2 and Iliman Ndiaye says David Moyes has already brought this one quality back to the Blues
David Moyes has given Everton licence to thrill by making the goal-shy Blues more attacking.
That’s according to top scorer Iliman Ndiaye as Everton banged in three first-half goals, after failing to score in nine of their previous 11 games, in their vital 3-2 home win over Tottenham. Ndiaye scored a fine second to take his tally to six and says Moyes has told him and his fellow forwards to get further up the pitch.
The Senegal international says Everton are already “clicking” in Moyes’ second game back. “The strikers need to go more forward when we regain the ball,” he said. “We’re closer to the goal and closer to each other, which is what we want.
“I don’t know if it’s freedom as such, but the whole team is just clicking. I feel like that’s what’s most important. We haven’t been getting too many wins recently and this feels good.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was transformed as he scored his first goal in 17 games to give Everton the lead and Ndiaye joked he was “shocked”. “What a goal by Dom!” he said. “I was shocked. We need goals to win games and for confidence, it’s very good. Hopefully there will be more.”
Moyes has already made progress and Jesper Lindstrom produced his best display for Everton as the on-loan Danish winger delivered great service from the right. Jake O’Brien was solid on his Premier League debut at right-back and the Republic of Ireland defender gives the Blues even more height and physicality.
Moyes has also reconnected with the fans, who had given up on Sean Dyche long ago, and Evertonians actually sang for the first time in months at Goodison Park. Everton were hanging on after Tottenham pulled back a second goal in stoppage time and Ndiaye is conscious it is just one win.
“Everything was different,” he said. “We brought energy, the fans were behind us and everyone knows what each other is doing. The new manager has come in and it’s clearer what we want to do. Everyone is on the same page, the fans are behind us and everything just clicked.
“We just need to climb up the table now and get more wins. We can’t let one game determine the rest of the season. We just got to repeat what we did here.”
Ndiaye, 24, is mindful the hard work has only just begun for Everton, even though they have climbed four points clear of the drop zone. The Blues’ new-found confidence drained away when Spurs scored their late second and he says they need to play well for 90 minutes.
“We can’t go from a first half like that to obviously go a bit down in the second half,” he said. “We need to play like this every week. We were nervous when they scored because it’s happened too many times and obviously it’s all about concentration. But we got the three points in the end.”
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