It's been another successful weekend for Everton and Sean Dyche after the Blues recorded a much-needed 1-0 win against relegation rivals Leeds United at Goodison Park.
Captain Seamus Coleman was the hero of the day, catching goalkeeper Illan Meslier off his line with a brilliant second-half strike from a tight angle.
The narrow win moves Everton out of the relegation zone and with another home game to come against Aston Villa next weekend, Dyche will have the opportunity to notch up three straight home wins that would get his reign as Everton boss off to a flyer.
The national media have had their say on the Blues' win. Here's a round-up of what they wrote...
VERDICT: What Seamus Coleman did to Everton fans at full-time proved Frank Lampard right
REACTION: Sean Dyche names two Everton players who were 'outstanding' against Leeds
Shamoon Hafez - BBC Sport
Everton supporters left Goodison Park singing, clapping and with smiles on their faces following another priceless home victory.
Saturday's 1-0 triumph over fellow Premier League strugglers Leeds lifted the Toffees out of the relegation zone and dumped the West Yorkshire side into trouble. Stalwart Seamus Coleman's second-half winner sent the home supporters into raptures, backing up their performance and win over Arsenal from two weeks ago. Everton have now won two of their three games under manager Sean Dyche, both on their own turf and both without conceding.
Late on Friday night, an Everton group campaigning against the running of the club released a statement saying the board were "not welcome at Goodison Park this season or ever again".
The group also said peaceful marches will take place before every home game until the end of the season and they stayed true to their word as thousands lined the terraced streets around the ground before facing Leeds. But once the first whistle blew, supporters managed to park their ill-feelings towards the decision-makers to get fully behind the players on the pitch.
Dyche's first game in charge on 4 February provided a raucous atmosphere but it was a much more nervy affair on this occasion, knowing what was at stake. A deserved victory helped Everton escape the bottom three, moving up to 16th place, but just a solitary point clear of the drop zone.
Another home game follows next week against Aston Villa and the results here will undoubtedly be key to deciding where the Merseysiders finish come the end of the campaign.
Joe Bernstein - Daily Mail
When Everton captain Seamus Coleman described Leeds United’ visit as a “six-pointer” in his programme notes, even he couldn’t have guessed he’d end up as the match winner.
Coleman did his core job at right-back extremely well, keeping exciting Leeds winger Wilfred Gnonto quiet, but the bonus was also scoring an outstanding goal, his first since last February against the same opponents.
As a result, Everton climbed out of the relegation and Leeds fell into it. Gnonto wasn’t happy at the end, squaring up to Coleman with Leeds interim Michael Skubala among those to separate them.
Coleman was fired up all afternoon and his club should be grateful for that.
The decisive moment arrived after 64 minutes when the 34-year-old showed plenty of willing, and a decent turn of foot, to chase Alex Iwobi’s long pass down the right.
Coleman got to the ball before defender Robin Koch and kept ploughing forward. With Koch and goalkeeper Illan Meslier anticipating a cross, the Irishman then fired into the net from an acute angle with Meslier helpless having strayed a few yards off his line.
As for Coleman, who kept his record of not losing a game when scoring, he was adamant his ambitious finish was intended and not a misplaced cross.
Andy Hunter - The Guardian
Nine permanent Everton managers have put their faith in Séamus Coleman in the 14 years since his £60,000 arrival from Sligo Rovers. Sean Dyche is the latest to reap the reward of David Moyes’s bargain purchase, and of Coleman’s enduring standards, after the 34-year-old decided a relegation scrap against Leeds with one flash of inspiration.
The Everton captain conjured a stupendous finish from near the touchline to deceive the stranded goalkeeper, Illan Meslier, and lift his club out of the relegation zone at the expense of Leeds.
Coleman was too busy with a post-match altercation with Wilfried Gnonto to immediately celebrate on the final whistle, but the significance of the result was not lost on the veteran defender as he headed down the tunnel. He exited with a clenched-fist salute and a roar to the crowd and Everton, for the second successive home game under Dyche, departed with three precious points.
Victory was slender but merited. Leeds, under the caretaker management of Michael Skubala, look in serious trouble. They lacked urgency, conviction and fight. Everton had the edge but not of the cutting variety until their tireless captain seized responsibility.
“I don’t need to say too much about Séamus,” said Dyche. “But he has had a lot of managers here and every one has played him. They know what a great player he is. I’m not worried about age as long as you’ve got an edge and he has. It was a fantastic finish and a fantastic win.”
Chris Bascombe - The Telegraph
The Bride of Frankenstein enjoyed longer and more satisfying honeymoon periods than recent Everton managers. Sean Dyche hopes his blossoming relationship with Goodison Park will be the exception. They talk about a “new manager bounce”. Under Dyche, the home turf suddenly resembles a trampoline, two wins underlining why the Goodison factor is no myth as Leeds United replaced Everton in the bottom three.
“When a group of players take ownership, the fans see it,” said Dyche, with some humility suggesting his role secondary in the unifying process. “You sense it when a team is giving everything. For most crowds, the Everton crowd in particular, that is where it starts.”
For balance, it should be said there has been an air of deja vu around Dyche’s first two home games. Frank Lampard kept Everton in the Premier League a year ago after galvanising protesting supporters and seeing off Chelsea and Manchester United in the run-in. His predecessor, Rafael Benítez, had few enjoyable moments but still claimed Arsenal’s scalp at Goodison.
Where Lampard and Benítez fatally struggled was eking out wins when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injuries flared up. The importance of Dyche engineering this pivotal win without his striker cannot be overstated. Their set-piece threat aside, it looked like Everton would need something spectacular or freakish to score. The winning goal had a bit of both.
Carl Markham - The Independent
Seamus Coleman’s freakish goal was the stroke of luck Everton needed to lift them out of the relegation zone and plunge managerless Leeds into it following their 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park.
New manager Sean Dyche knew he would need some good fortune after the Premier League’s lowest scorers failed to make a January signing despite the injury-prone striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin struggling for fitness all season.
But even he could not have envisaged winning his second successive home match in the manner they did after the Toffees captain’s attempted cross caught out goalkeeper Ilan Meslier at his near post.
Everton’s long-serving Irishman is the club’s lucky charm as they have never lost in all 28 matches in which he has scored and if they can keep eking out home wins like this – which lifted them a point clear of the bottom three – then survival is a realistic possibility.
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