Allardyce: We were braver in the second half

Joe Williams

Sam Allardyce was pleased with Everton’s response following a “negative” first half in their 3-1 victory over Swansea on Monday night.

The win means the Toffees have taken 13 points out of a possible 15 and are up to ninth in the Premier League after a fourth consecutive home league triumph.

And ‘Big Sam’ feels that Gylfi Sigurdsson’s goal to put them 2-1 up changed the feel of the match in the second half.

“I think from our point of view it was a disappointing first half and we needed more in the second half,” Allardyce told Sky Sports. “They switched off for the goal. We got a penalty, we scored it and Domimic Calvert-Lewin did brilliantly We changed the system and the way we wanted to push up and get at their back four.

“We put Tom Davies on and got further forward. Then in games you need something special and Gylfi provided that. From there it was nice and comfortable.

“It is a great three points considering how poorly we played in the first half. We played a little bit negative, instead of being brave enough to pass it forward. That happened in the second half and we were more creative. We were too negative in the first half.”

Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Wayne Rooney scored either side of Sigurdsson’s goal as they came back from a goal down after Leroy Fer had given Swansea the lead.