Oumar Niasse’s volley earns draw for listless Everton against West Brom

Sam Allardyce would have chosen a more salubrious way to celebrate managing 1,000 games in English football, but might console himself that things should have been even worse. Everton could hardly have looked less coherent but saved a point in a manner that will provide a drop of encouragement. It will do Theo Walcott’s confidence no harm that, on an otherwise quiet debut, he provided the assist from which substitute Oumar Niasse equalised Jay Rodriguez’s goal, and that is as far as the positives go. More troubling will be the grim-looking injury sustained by James McCarthy in the second half, as well as the fact that West Brom would have richly deserved a victory to honour the memory of Cyrille Regis, who was applauded resoundingly before kick-off.

Everton’s capitulation at Tottenham last Saturday had spooked Allardyce, who stressed the need to “revert back to a more defensive structure” and rediscover the solidity of earlier in his tenure. Whatever he preached during the week went out of the window within minutes. Everton began abysmally and it said enough that Rodriguez’s goal came as no surprise.

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