A look at how Everton's first away win since December is being covered beyond the pages of the Liverpool ECHO

12:19, 20 Oct 2024Updated 12:20, 20 Oct 2024

It was an approach built through Dyche's experience of top flight survival against the odds, one that has kept Everton afloat through two years of crisis.

This was how the 2-0 win, earned through goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane, was pitched by John Brewin in the Guardian, who wrote: "Sean Dyche's formula for Premier League survival is different to that of Kieran McKenna. It has a kitemark of being tried and trusted. If Everton's midfield muscle, set-piece expertise and hard-bitten, deep defending flies in the face of Ipswich's attack-minded philosophy, here was a hard lesson that the pretensions of playing the right way will not always land the right result."

Henry Clark in the Daily Mail was clear that regardless of style - and even if some such as Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna believe the hosts should have had a penalty - only one side deserved to win. That it was a team depleted by injury and illness was just further evidence of the value of Dyche's hard-earned experience.

He wrote: "Kieran McKenna was left infuriated by a VAR call to overturn a penalty awarded to his side - but Ipswich can have few complaints after the inexcusable mistakes they made in defeat to Everton.

"This was an Everton team, after all, who hadn't won away from home in the league since last December. A squad so depleted that had to stick two goalkeepers and three right backs on the bench."

Dyche's methods have a predictability that typically overcomes the issues they cause, Tom Mallows wrote for BBC Sport. Just like last season, Everton started this campaign miserably. Yet just like 12 months ago, the side is clicking into gear as the leaves turn golden.

He said: "After an awful start, Everton's season is starting to gain some momentum.

"The Toffees lost their first four Premier League matches, shipping 13 goals and successively conceding 2-0 leads against Bournemouth and Aston Villa.

"But they have conceded just two since to move five points clear of the relegation zone, regaining some of the defensive solidity Sean Dyche's sides are known for.

In the Telegraph, Jon West focused on two common themes of the reports - Everton discovering how to hold on to a two goal lead and the impact of Michael Keane. He said: "Keane, last capped by England in 2020, was the big winner on a day when Everton moved four points away from a cluster of clubs on four points that includes Ipswich.

"The centre-back, 31, was a Dyche stalwart at Burnley and a regular pick for the Toffees for five seasons. The emergence of Jarrad Branthwaite, deemed not quite fit enough to make a comeback from injury in this one, has seen him eclipsed in recent months."

Meanwhile in the ECHO, the Keane revival story was placed alongside that of Ashley Young's as the pair led the team's celebrations after playing important roles in back to back clean sheets: "They have each been key and were influential once again as Everton earned a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town that will go a long way to relieving the pressure that could have built had demons lurked in what has the appearance of a favourable run of fixtures.

"For Young, this was another example of the professionalism of mind and body that has allowed him to continue at the top of the game to the age of 39. He is considering the idea of taking his playing career into his forties, something he could have been forgiven for having doubts over when he was sent off on the opening day of the season, or when his introduction against Southampton in the Carabao Cup was booed - albeit for tactical rather than personal reasons.

"Keane's rejuvenation has been even more remarkable. He left Portman Road with chants of "Keano" reverberating around the stadium. This would have been dismissed as a fever dream had the scene been floated during Everton's tough start to the season. Instead it was a reality and one that he deserved."