West Ham 0 Everton 0: Toffees´ poor away form continues

Everton’s disappointing away form continued as they struggled to a 0-0 Premier League draw against West Ham at London Stadium.

Ronald Koeman’s men had won their previous two matches, both at Goodison Park, but failed to produce an attempt on goal in a quiet first half against the Hammers.

And they did not improve after the break, failing to register a shot on target, with Maarten Stekelenburg saving from Manuel Lanzini in one of the few moments Everton’s goalkeeper was tested.

Premier League top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku was particularly subdued as Everton made it six away Premier League games without a win, a stark contrast with their current seven-match winning streak at Goodison.

The draw is a blow to Koeman’s hopes of finishing fifth above Manchester United and Arsenal to secure the most favourable entry into next season’s Europa League. 

The Toffees edge above Arsenal into sixth with the point and now sit two behind United, but they have played three games more than the Gunners and Jose Mourinho’s side.

West Ham, meanwhile, stay 13th and move on to 38 points as they edge closer to making mathematically sure of safety. The Hammers have only won one of their last 10 league matches.

@Jocalleri takes on Ashley Williams on his first @premierleague start for the Club

[0-0] #COYI #WHUEVE pic.twitter.com/LG19Dp00vD

— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) April 22, 2017

Adrian, back in goal for West Ham as one of four Slaven Bilic changes, avoided a calamitous early moment when he made a hash of controlling Edimilson Fernandes’ throw-in before pouncing on the ball at the second attempt with Lukaku lurking.

Havard Nordtveit’s deflected shot was well saved by Maarten Stekelenburg – in for Joel Robles in Everton’s only change – at the other end, while Cheikhou Kouyate and James Collins were both narrowly off target with efforts as the hosts finished the first half strongly.

Despite being in control of possession, Everton did not muster a single shot in the first half, prompting Koeman to make a double change at the break, Gareth Barry and Ademola Lookman replacing Tom Davies and Idrissa Gueye.

Lanzini saw his powerful shot bravely blocked by Phil Jagielka as West Ham continued to look the more likely team to score, before the hosts brought on Diafra Sakho for Jonathan Calleri, who had been ineffective in his first league start of the campaign.

Lookman collected Ross Barkley’s pass and fired wide for Everton from outside the penalty area, with Koeman bringing on Dominic Calvert-Lewin for Kevin Mirallas in his final change soon after.

The match remained in the balance going into the closing stages, Lanzini cutting inside from the left and testing Stekelenburg from 25 yards, while Lookman’s dipping strike had Adrian worried at the other end before flying just over.

Everton had a late claim for a penalty turned down when Collins tugged Ashley Williams’ shirt as they challenged for a corner, while Jose Fonte headed straight at Stekelenburg for West Ham as neither side managed to produce a dramatic conclusion to an uninspiring contest.