Everton boss Koeman claims Toffees ‘really deserved’ win

Oli Fisher
Ronald Koeman: Happy with response

Everton boss Ronald Koeman was pleased with his side’s second-half performance as they ended their four-match winless run in the Premier League with a 2-0 win against West Ham.

Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring five minutes after the break, with Ross Barkley adding Everton’s second in the 76th minute to make sure of the points.

After the match, Koeman told Sky Sports News HQ: “I think the key was what we didn’t do well in the first half, we did good in the second half.

“I think we were struggling a little bit maybe after the last few results.

“The second half was different. From the start in the second half it was higher tempo, we did better pressing and really we deserved the win.

“And of course, the first goal gave us that confidence which you need to play good football and that was the important moment.”

Barkley was delighted to get on the scoresheet and said: “It meant a lot to me. I haven’t scored for a few games now.

“I’ve just been working hard and today it paid off.”

A frustrated Slaven Bilic thought West Ham should have taken something from the match.

He said: “You are always not happy after a defeat, of course, but especially I am disappointed today because we should have taken something from this game.

“We should have done better – especially after the kind of start we had against them. For the first 20-25 minutes we were much better and we should have built on that.”