« I wanted more, » says Moyes after Everton’s draw with Sunderland

Everton manager David Moyes was left disappointed with his side’s second-half performance at Sunderland after the sides drew 1-1 in the Premier League.

Moyes’ visitors were bright in the first 30 minutes and could have gone ahead with a 1-0 lead given them by Iliman Ndiaye.

Jack Grealish hit the post and Tierno Barry missed a sitter – before Sunderland totally dominated the second half and equalized through Granit Xhaka.

Everton have drawn more Premier League games than any other team since Moyes’ return to the club in January last season (10), but only three teams have more away points than their 21 in that time (Arsenal – 28, Crystal Palace – 25, Brentford – 23).
He said: « I thought for 20, 30 minutes I would be disappointed to go home with a point and in the end I was pleased we got a point. We missed a good chance to make it 2-0 and then we relaxed and that gave Sunderland a bit of confidence.

« We didn’t manage the last 15 minutes of the first half very well and we didn’t manage the second half very well. We did all the things we hoped we would do, the question was whether we would score.

« Iliman Ndiaye scored a very good individual goal, Jack (Grealish) hit the post and when we missed (Tierno Barry’s) chance it didn’t reach us, then we conceded straight away. Goals make the difference and can change the way you feel as a manager.

“Coming into Sunderland, a point isn’t a bad result but after 30 minutes I felt ‘we’re good here, we’ve got to get a result’. You could see it was a lucky goal (for Sunderland), it was a deflection, but if you shoot, sometimes you’re a bit lucky and they were a bit lucky.

« I struggle to pick a lot of positives from our football in the second half. The main thing was not to concede a second goal. It summed up the night that we couldn’t find the pass to get that second goal.

« I wanted a lot more and we are capable of that. I think we have a good team, we played quite well for some periods but not long enough. »

In contrast to Everton’s rather rough start to the season, Sunderland are flying and would go second in the table with a win.

Xhaka’s deflected strike instead means they are fourth after 10 games and now look well placed to avoid any relegation fears.

Sunderland have 18 points from their first 10 Premier League games this season (W5 D3 L2), the most by a newly promoted side since Hull City in 2008-09 (20).

Manager Regis Le Bris said: « It’s a good moment. We didn’t start well. They were better than us for 25/30 minutes. We felt they were a good side and had a lot of threats, the ability to exploit our losses and we weren’t consistent enough in that first part of the game to be competitive. But we turned on the latter part of the first half and the second half was much better and we deserved to even score a second goal.

« Sometimes we start well and you really don’t know why. Sometimes we start like we did today and we don’t know why, but we can change the momentum, so we’re still connected to our ideas and that’s the best way to get back into this game. »