LIVERPOOL, England : Ten-man Brentford picked up a first away point of the Premier League season in a 0-0 draw with toothless Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, as the home side wasted numerous opportunities to score.
Brentford were reduced to 10 men on 41 minutes when midfielder Christian Norgaard lunged at Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and was shown a red card after a Video Assistant Referee review.
Everton had 27 attempts on goal and Brentford keeper Mark Flekken made several superb saves but, with only bottom side Southampton having netted fewer than their 10 goals this campaign, the Merseyside club’s wastefulness in front of goal continues.
Brentford are in 10th place in the table with 17 points from 12 games having lost all five of their previous away games this season. Everton are in 15th with 11 points from the same number of matches.
It was the second goalless draw in a row for Everton after a 0-0 stalemate at West Ham United before the international break and getting goals must now be a key concern for manager Sean Dyche.
“We should have got three points,” Everton defender Ashley Young said. “There’s a lot of disappointed heads. It’s one loss in eight, another clean sheet. You’ve got to take the positives.
“We need to score goals and defend at the other end. We’ve got people in the squad who know the Premier League. We know what we’re doing in training.”
With Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City to come between now and Boxing Day, Everton start a horror run of fixtures three points clear of the relegation zone.
Brentford barely troubled Pickford but will be pleased with their defensive effort under pressure.
Flekken made a superb stop low to his left to keep out Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s backheel flick while, at the other end, Pickford saved in a one-on-one chance for Yoane Wissa.
Norgaard narrowly failed to get to a ball to the back post but his stretch saw him clatter his studs into Pickford’s knee. Referee Chris Kavanagh was summoned to the VAR screen and decided it was a red card.
Everton continued to press for the opening goal in the second half and created several half-chances before Vitaliy Mykolenko blazed wide from close range with his less-favoured right foot.
Brentford almost caught Everton on the break as Keane Lewis-Potter was played into space on the left but his shot was weak and went straight at Pickford.
Everton substitute Beto headed over from an Ashley Young cross as they camped around the visitors’ box but, as has been the case for most of the season, could not convert their chances.
“If you look at the second half, they had their chances but we defended well,” Flekken said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get more up front but I’ll take that point.
“It would be more of a concern if we had bad performances away from home but it isn’t the case. We played some good matches against good opponents. If we keep it up then the wins will come.”
