Everton 1 West Ham 3: Soucek’s late thunderbolt earns Moyes all three points as he returns to dent Toffees’ survival bid

TOMAS SOUCEK and Edson Alvarez produced the late double that left Sean Dyche shell-shocked.

Although if anyone within the Everton camp felt worse than the manager after those goals in added time, it can only have been Beto.

Reuters

West Ham scored twice in added time to seal three points[/caption]

Reuters

Tomas Soucek smashed in a sensational goal[/caption]

Reuters

Edson Alvarez netted his first Prem goal in style[/caption]

For, while he put the Toffees ahead, the £26million striker also wasted a first–half penalty when West Ham were there for the taking.

Ex-Everton boss David Moyes can hardly have fathomed how it was he left his old home with three points.

Apart from saving that Beto spot kick, goalkeeper Alphonse Areola also pulled off two worldies.

Soon, however, another former Toffee Kurt Zouma found a leveller… and his Hammers somehow found the rhythm and killer instinct that their opponents just don’t have.

A minute into added-time, Soucek controlled a Mohammed Kudus cross with his chest before zipping a brilliant strike with the outside of his right boot to claim an unlikely lead.

There were still seconds remaining of the five minutes that had been added when Alvarez scored his first Prem goal since last summer’s £35m entrance from Ajax, thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s sharp breakaway.

The most maddening aspect of it all for Dyche is that he left out No 1 striker Calvert-Lewin, without a goal in 20 games, for the Portuguese back–up man.

Yet ultimately that huge call blew up in his face.

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And if he believed that getting four points back from the Prem would give his side a bounce, he was sadly mistaken.

His players started brightly enough, but it didn’t last.

Dwight McNeill, Amadou Onana, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Jarrad Branthwaite – surely one of watching England boss Gareth Southgate’s subjects of interest – were all guilty of sloppy passing.

The victim mentality that had gripped Goodison in the wake of the original ten–point deduction over profit and sustainability breaches had, in fact, been replaced by anxiety and nerves.

It was as if the ruling added pressure, not lessened it, despite a two-place jump up the table.

Not that the Hammers were exactly bossing it, even if in the end they somehow climbed into seventh in the table.

The Toffees finally put a decent move together in the 25th minute, as James Tarkowski found McNeill and the winger’s flick into Beto’s path was a cute one.

The finish wasn’t, however, with the bustling Portuguese front man firing straight at Areola.

The Hammers reaction wouldn’t have been what Moyes expected either, given that five days earlier Jarrod Bowen had scored a hat–trick as the Hammers beat Brentford 4-2 for their first victory of the year.

They had made themselves sitting ducks by the time Beto slashed at a 42nd minute shot and the ball hit Zouma – arm slightly out-stretched.

It took almost three minutes of VAR indecision, including a TV monitor check by referee Craig Pawson, to determine that Everton should be awarded a penalty.

It was, in fact, their first of the season and upped stepped Beto.

But Areola guessed right to go low and left although the goalkeeper would have been bitterly disappointed had he not kept the score level for he was dealing with an indecisive effort.

Beto looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up at that point but by the second half – as the game suddenly opened up – he had dusted himself down.

James Garner charged along the right flank before sweeping in a brilliant cross and Beto soared to meet it.

His header was pure Duncan Ferguson, a tremendous effort that marked only his second goal in 22 appearances since signing from Udinese at the start of the season.

Garner could easily have killed the game off less than 12- seconds later but his flying, close – range volley was sensationally parried by Areola.

Everton’s lead would last only six minutes ,James Ward-Prowse producing a signature delivery from a corner and Zouma climbed high to power home.

Beto was then back in cursing mode, this time to meet McNeill’s high cross, but Areola once reacted, arching backwards to tip away from his top right – hand corner.

From which point the roof fell in on Dyche while Moyes celebrated a sensational smash and grab victory.

It was Soucek’s fourth 90th minute winner of the season.

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