Everton manager David Moyes was left frustrated with his side’s second-half performance at Sunderland as the sides drew 1-1 in the Premier League.
Moyes’ visitors were bright in the opening 30 minutes and could have been further ahead than the 1-0 lead given to them by Iliman Ndiaye.
Jack Grealish thumped a post and Thierno Barry missed a sitter – before Sunderland totally dominated the second half and drew level through Granit Xhaka.
Everton have drawn more Premier League games than any other side since Moyes’ return to the club in January last season (10), but only three sides have more points on the road than their 21 in that time (Arsenal – 28, Crystal Palace – 25, Brentford – 23).
He said: “I thought for 20, 30 minutes I would be disappointed if I go home with a point, annd at the end I was pleased we got a point. We missed a good chance to make it 2-0, then we sat back and that gave Sunderland a bit of confidence.
“We didn’t manage the last 15 minutes of the first half very well and we didn’t manage the second half well. We did all the things we hoped we would, it was a case of would we score.
“Iliman Ndiaye scored a very good individual goal, Jack [Grealish] hits the post and when we missed [Thierno Barry’s] chance we didn’t have enough, then we conceded immediately after kick-off. Goals make the difference and can change how you feel as a manager.
“Coming to Sunderland, a point is not a bad result, but after 30 minutes I was feeling ‘we’re alright here, we should get a result’. You could see it was a lucky goal [for Sunderland], it was a deflection but if you shoot, sometimes you get a bit of luck and they got a bit lucky.
“I’m struggling to pick out much positives from any of our football in the second half. The main thing was to not concede a second goal. It summed up the night that we could not find a pass to get that second goal.
“I wanted much more and we’re capable of it. I think we have a good team, we played quite well for some periods, but not for long enough.”
In contrast to Everton’s rather stodgy start to the season, Sunderland are flying and would have gone second in the table with a win.
Xhaka’s deflected strike instead means they are fourth after 10 games and already look well placed to avoid any relegation fears.
Sunderland have 18 points from their opening 10 Premier League games this season (W5 D3 L2), the most by a newly promoted side since Hull City in 2008-09 (20).
Manager Regis Le Bris said: “It’s a good point. We didn’t start well. They were better than us for 25/30 minutes. We felt they were a good side and had many threats, the ability to exploit our turnovers, and we were not as consistent enough during this first part of the game to be competitive. But we switched on the last part of the first half, and the second half was much better and we deserved to even score a second goal.
“Sometimes we start well, and you don’t really know why. Sometimes we start like we did today, and we don’t know why, but we can switch the momentum, so we were still connected with our ideas, and this is the best way to be back in this game.”
