IDRISSA GUEYE made himself the unlikeliest of goal heroes for the second time in a week to guarantee Goodison Park Prem football next season.
Sean Dyche’s side were all but safe, anyway, going into this clash – while Thomas Frank and his players already knew they were secure.
Hence some of the dullest football you could imagine.
Yet Gueye’s effort was glorious as Everton clinched a third successive win as well as their fourth in a row at home without conceding a goal as they overtook Brentford.
The fervour and fury of Wednesday night’s life–giving Merseyside derby win was very much missing this time
But still, there was a wink from Gueye, a huge grin on Dyche’s face, and after all the trials and tribulations of this campaign and eight points deducted, the Grand Old Lady had finally become a place of sanctuary.
Not that most of the action was very pretty. Not at all.
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s awful effort as the seconds ticked down on a first-half yawn-fest summed up so much of it.
He was granted a very clear opportunity thanks to a brilliant flick from Youssef Chermiti, making his first Premier League start with Everton’s No1 striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin sidelined due to illness.
But unmarked a fifteen yards out he smashed the ball three yards wide.
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The highly ambitious Ivan Toney, meanwhile, was all but anonymous at the other end.
The Bees’ biggest star will almost certainly be out of there this summer and has made no secret of his desire to play in a more glamourous, higher profile side.
Yet in that first period he was never a threat, back after four games out with a hip problem.
He looked like he was merely going through the motions, as opposed to enhancing either his reputation or his value for a club certain to cash in on him.
Everton had a dozen attempts at goal, the opposition four.
But for only the fourth time in a Prem this season before the break there were zero shots on target, although Jarrad Branthwaite did his own growing reputation no harm at all in the 20th minute.
His tremendous challenge on Mathias Jensen to block the Dane’s shot only underlined why Manchester United, among others, are deeply interested in signing him.
Mercifully things began to improve. Maybe someone reminded both sets of players that they had some sort of duty to entertain.
Five minutes after the interval Jensen broke forward and delivered a delicious low cross that Ben Godrey stranded.
Finally, Toney had his moment as he ghosted behind the right back at the far post but his new England team-mate Jordan Pickford had his, too, spreading himself brilliantly to save.
Dwight McNeil then moved forward to produce a fine shot, swerving and dipping that slammed off the bar.
The game had now officially returned from the dead and Gueye made sure of that with a real rip-snorter of a winner.
Until he hit the net a week ago in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest the Senegalese holding midfielder had only ever scored once for the Toffees in 165 appearances over two spells.
Yet now has two in three games and if his strike against Forest was a tad scruffy, this 61st-minute effort was a belter.
Jack Harrison forced the ball into the Bees box, Branthwaite got a touch on it before it landed in the 34-year-old’s path and his right–footer flew into Flekken’s right-hand corner like a rocket.
A VAR check cleared three Everton players of being offside as they ran back towards their own goal and as referee Darren England pointed to the centre spot a cheeky wink to team-mates said it all.
For this was the goal, and from someone who normally misses barn doors by miles, that put an end to all the agony – for this season at least.
Here is how the action unfolded at Goodison Park…
