First-half goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane saw Everton to a 2-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road. The Toffees netted on 17 and 40 as Town, who had a penalty awarded but denied following a VAR check, put in their poorest home display of the season and never looked like getting back into the game.

Town made two changes from the 4-1 defeat at West Ham a fortnight ago with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess coming into the side for Jacob Greaves and Ben Johnson.

Both Greaves and Johnson were absent from the matchday 20 with the central defender understood to have picked up a knock.

Dara O’Shea, who was subbed with a back problem while playing for the Republic of Ireland in midweek, was OK to start and moved to right-back with Woolfenden, making his 200th appearance for the club, and Burgess, making his Premier League debut, renewing their central defensive partnership, with Leif Davis at left-back.

Former Toffees youngster Nathan Broadhead was in the Town matchday squad for the first time this season having come on as a sub for Wales in midweek.

Everton made two changes from the team which drew 0-0 at home to Newcastle before the international break.

Left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko returned from a knock and replaced James Garner, who has a back problem, with Ashley Young moving to right-back. In midfield, Idrissa Gueye came in for Orel Mangala, who dropped to the bench.

England centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite remained absent due to a thigh injury with Keane, twin brother of former Blues striker Will, starting in his place. Ex-Town loan keeper Asmir Begovic was one of two glovesmen on the Toffees bench.

The game kicked off at 3.15pm following IT-related turnstile issues, Everton winning the toss and switching ends so the Blues attacked the Sir Bobby Robson Stand in the first half. Before the start, both teams took a knee in support of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign.

From the kick-off, Davis landed awkwardly on his hip after challenging for a high ball, but was OK after brief treatment.

Town created the first chance of the game in the fifth minute, Omari Hutchinson sending Wes Burns away on the right as the Blues broke quickly. The Wales international cut back from the right of the box to Jack Clarke, but the former Sunderland man mishit his shot high and wide when he really should at least have made Jordan Pickford make a save.

Two minutes later, Kalvin Phillips sold Woolfenden short with a pass five yards outside the penalty area and Dominic Calvert-Lewin was in on goal. Fortunately for the on-loan Manchester City man, Aro Muric was quickly off his line and the Kosovan international was able to force Calvert-Lewin’s shot wide.

Three minutes later, Clarke made a big challenge inside the Town box to take the ball away from Dwight McNeil, who had been found in space and was about to shoot.

On 11, moments after Pickford had come well out of his goal to reach a Hutchinson diagonal ball for Davis and Everton had inexplicably played the ball back towards their own area, Liam Delap threatened for the first time, squeezing a shot across the face and wide from the edge of the area.

Both sides had made frequent errors in a scruffy, defensively nervy start to the game and just before the quarter-hour mark Muric scuffed a Woolfenden back-pass out for a corner when under little pressure. Fortunately the flag-kick came to nothing.

And three minutes later, another mistake led to the visitors taking the lead. O’Shea headed a deep Jack Harrison cross from the right only as far as Burns at the back of the box.

The wideman chested it down but scuffed his second touch, allowing Ndiaye to get on it and smash a shot past Muric and into the net.

It was another poor goal for the Blues to concede, following on from several similarly disappointing at West Ham, once again illustrating that errors tend to be punished more clinically by Premier League attacks than Championship strikers.

On 21, Everton had another opportunity, Calvert-Lewin turning away and hitting a shot which Muric saved sharply and then cleared after the loose ball had been tapped back to him.

Having gone in front, the visitors began to take control but on 24 Hutchinson made a direct run towards the penalty area and was felled by Keane, who was shown the game’s first yellow card.

Hutchinson took the free-kick but it hit the wall and eventually the ball was worked back to the former Chelsea man on the right, from where he won a corner.

In the aftermath of the flag-kick, Clarke did well to dribble his way into the box, riding a couple of tackles and looked to be felled by McNeil and referee Michael Oliver initially awarded his first spot-kick of the season.

However, following the VAR check, Oliver was called over to the VAR screen on the Cobbold Stand side of the ground and having looked at the incident again, reversed his decision.

On 37, McNeil struck a shot from just outside the area, which Calvert-Lewin diverted wide of Muric’s goal.

But three minutes later, the Toffees did make it 2-0. Following a corner, unnecessarily conceded by Burgess with Muric ready to claim behind him, Everton skipper James Tarkowski headed a deep ball into the box across goal. Burgess nodded away to McNeil on the edge of the area. The former Burnley man started to dribble into the box but then fed Keane to his left and the central defender slammed a shot from a tight angle past Muric.

Soon after the goal, another Town will feel they ought to have been able to prevent, Delap headed over from Davis’s free-kick on the left, then just before the fourth official announced six additional minutes, Phillips curled a free-kick from not far outside the area over.

In the third minute of time added on, Ashley Young curled a 25-yard free-kick past the wall but straight into Muric’s arms.

That was the last action of probably Town’s worst half of the season so far, certainly their poorest at Portman Road.

As at West Ham, the Blues made far too many errors in all areas of the pitch and had been made to pay in their final third.

Town’s big opportunity had been Clarke’s early chance which he had failed to take, while Everton had made defensive mistakes of their own but with the Blues unable to profit from them.

The second half began with Everton looking for a third and on 52 Doucoure caught Clarke on his heels, stole the ball, brought it forward and found Calvert-Lewin, who shot wide not too far wide.

Town’s second half hadn’t started much better than their first had ended and in the 55th minute O’Shea’s poor touch allowed Ndiaye a run in on goal but Muric was equal to the Senegal international’s shot.

On the hour, the impressive McNeil cut in from the right following a corner and hit a low shot which was too close to Muric.

Town had shown little sign of getting back into it and on 63rd minute manager Kieran McKenna swapped Burns and O’Shea for Conor Chaplin and Harry Clarke, who was making his Premier League debut. Hutchinson moved wide with Chaplin in the middle behind Delap.

On 71, having been unable to threaten Pickford’s goal, although having got into one or two promising situations, the Blues swapped Jack Clarke and Phillips for Sammie Szmodics and Jack Taylor.

Four minutes later, following a quick break forward from Hutchinson, Szmodics laid Taylor’s pass back to Delap just outside the area but the ex-Manchester City striker’s shot flew over.

Hutchinson was an increasing threat down the right and in the 77th minute, the England U21 international cut in from the right and hit a shot across the face which deflected behind for a corner.

Soon after the flag-kick, Szmodics crossed from the left and Burgess rose high to flick a header just over the bar. On 79, George Hirst replaced Delap.

A minute later, Town hit their first shot on target of the afternoon in a manner familiar from League One and the Championship. Davis played a low corner from the left to Chaplin just ahead of the penalty spot but the forward’s shot was into the ground and too close to Pickford. Ahead of the restart, Everton switched Ndaiye was switched for Mangala.

With the game in its final 10 minutes, Everton were happy to sit back on their lead with the Blues camped in the around their area and with Burgess providing an additional aerial threat up front.

But the Toffees backline were strong enough to prevent Town from forcing Pickford into a save and on 87 Calvert-Lewin ought to have done better with a cross from the right but headed the ball very wide.

As the game moved into its final scheduled minute, ahead of four added on, Taylor hit a low effort from distance which Pickford saved down to his right and claimed at the second attempt.

In the second minute of additional time, Taylor looped a header well over from a cross from the right with Szmodics behind him better placed to add a final touch.

A minute from the end, Taylor was booked for a foul, then seconds before the whistle Calvert-Lewin was played in on goal but as earlier in the game Muric was able to block.

A thoroughly disappointing afternoon for the Blues, who went into the afternoon hoping to end their winless start to the season against another side in the division’s lower reaches. A run of eight matches without a victory at the start of a top-flight season is a new club record.

However, hopes of claiming three points were all but extinguished following an uncharacteristically disjointed first-half display in particular, the worst at Portman Road this season and among the poorest of the McKenna era at home.

Town were made to pay for that mistake-ridden performance and in the second half showed few signs of getting back into the game until the latter stages after the substitutions when Hutchinson provided a greater threat from out wide, but with Pickford never seriously tested, while the visitors might well have added to their lead with Muric the busier keeper.

While there were plenty of positives to be taken from Town’s first six games of the season, the last two have mainly raised concerns, however the Blues remain 17th - although with Wolves and Crystal Palace below them in action on Sunday and Monday respectively - ahead of next week’s difficult trip to 12th-placed Brentford.

Town: Muric, O’Shea (H Clarke 63), Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Phillips (Taylor 71), Burns (Chaplin 63), Hutchinson, J Clarke (Szmodics 71), Delap (Hirst 79). Unused: Walton, Townsend, Ogbene, Broadhead.

Everton: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski (c), Keane, Mykolenko, Gana, Doucoure, Ndiaye (Mangala 82), Harrison, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin. Unused: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Beto, O’Brien, Coleman, Armstrong, Dixon. Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland). VAR official: Graham Scott. Att: 29,862 (Everton: 2,977).

Photo: Reuters

Razor added 14:29 - Oct 20 First a general point which will no doubt attract loads of abuse-----we panic bought in the summer and seemed to buy anyone offered to us, we were a soft touch and only about 2 decent ones amognst the lot. Clarke has to stay in and quite a few go out-----wot has luongo done wrong? Missing sitters and making basic defensive mistakes is not a good recipe Hirst must come in to help Delap who runs himself in to the ground----and it was not a penalty.

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Dissboyitfc added 15:37 - Oct 20 Well not gonna lie, its concerning and i am concerned, things need to improve and thats obvious if we are to avoid the drop! to survive we need to be better than 3 other teams atm only southampton are worse! Like most fans i really felt we were going in the right direction after the Fulham and Villa games. sadly we have dropped off, i wasn't expecting a win yesterday so in my mind it was a point dropped as i expected a spirited draw! Football is about opinions, we all have them. i no longer think its an opinion that Omari is in the wrong position, take into consideration what happened when he went out wide yesterday and his performance for England, 2 games that prove he is a wide player and not a central player! want to throw out a positive, we have performed much better against the better teams, Liverpool, Fulham and Villa and a good point at Brighton, poor against Saints West Ham and Everton! Are some on here starting to suggest KM's position is in doubt? Laughable really if so.

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blueboy1981 added 15:41 - Oct 20 No point in defending the indefensible - water does and always will find it’s level, and so have we - and at this moment it is not the Premiership. West Ham and Everton should have yielded points for us - neither are great shakes, and we failed miserably against both. I honestly cannot see where a WIN can come from, we barely look like scoring, but we know how to concede ….. !!! You can paint a Pigs Ear to brighten it up, but it won’t make a Silk Purse by doing that ! Sound Familiar ?

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johnwarksshorts added 16:07 - Oct 20 Stop the Muric criticism, we'd have lost that by a few more had it not been for him.
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RobsonWark added 17:16 - Oct 20 Portman51 you can not be serious? What did Muric do today that so impressed you? He did nothing that any average keeper could not do. He only saved shots that were straight at him. He did however let in a goal at his near post. Very poor positioning. Walton and Hladky would have saved that.
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Magic8 added 17:17 - Oct 20 We knew it would be difficult..new players..very competitive league...but we will get better ...and as for negativity against KMc .. really ?
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RobsonWark added 18:02 - Oct 20 Anyone who think Muric should be starting in goal for us has clearly not not see or concentrated on any of the 7 games he has played. Such a big tough looking guy who looks like a scared little schoolboy when he has the ball. His ball control with his feet is useless - how did he manage to give away corner in the first half when he had the ball at his feet and no other opposition player within 10 yards of him. His kicking is poor at best. His positioning is poor. He does not command the penalty area. Instead of staying on his line for Villa's second goal he should have come out to the 6 yard line and caught the cross = at 6 foot 5 and with his long arms he should be catching anything around the 6 yard box. Let's not even talk about the 2 goals he gave away to Man City. The guy is a complete liability. How can the team have any confidence knowing that he is in goal. Bring back Walton.

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Gcon added 18:42 - Oct 20 As soon as we hit a low point you can guarantee Blueboy will rear his ugly head and will be gleefully knocking one out over his keyboard.
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Northstandveteran added 21:10 - Oct 20 Bring back Mick!
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blueboy1981 added 21:22 - Oct 20 Gcon - you are treated with just disdain. One Day you may accept Reality as a real word !
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Carberry added 22:43 - Oct 20 Our recruitment has been questionable at the very least. How many of the new players are Premier League quality, 2 or 3? Why was so much time, effort and money spent on the Szmodics signing? Someone who doesn't appear to be good enough to be a starter. I just have a feeling egos may have been at play here. That's a worry.
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warfarinman69 added 00:15 - Oct 21 Please KM don't play O'Shea again and put Omari on wing. We will be competitive then. Sorry, but Burns will only be effective if we play balls inside full back. There were so many times in first half when it was on, but always we looked left
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budgieplucker added 01:19 - Oct 21 So 2 poor performances and the scapegoating begins We should all be under no illusion it is always was going to be an enormous challenge for us to stay in this league. Since KM has been at Ipswich apart from a couple of spells where we went off the boil drawing too many matches, we have witnessed some of the best entertainment and football seen at Portman Road for many of a year. Several of our players who came up with us were likely to fall short of the required quality needed at Premier level, but there was always a chance that some players might just surprise us (Jack Taylor may just be one of those) and some were likely to need time to adapt to the big gulf. We could never compete transfer wise with the big boys and some of the best the Championship has to offer was the best we could hope for. Not all signings will be successful , but Delap and Greaves have already shown me enough that if we were to sell at the end of the season we would more than get a decent return on our investment. If we don’t quite achieve premiership status then the likes of Sczmodics and Jack Clarke will help us attack the Championship again if that should be our fete. If we fail this year then Phillips and Cajuste will return to their parent clubs. If anyone can keep us up then I think McKenna will. It will not be for the feint hearted, realistically the team that won us promotion are not equipped to compete with most at this level. Lets hope that Kieron ca get us back on track. Yes some ofbour signings will not work and we will need some extremely good fortune on the injury front to keep some faith going. It is a big ask…….but who knows as time develops this team migjt grow - our earlier endeavours show that we can compete with most at this level, but we need to develop more guile and greater clinical action to defy the odds.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:28 - Oct 21 The worrying thing is that sooner or later clubs from the bottom four are going to play each other, so someone is going to get points. Wolves play Palace fairly soon, and no result from that match is good for us. In other words, we need to start winning some points ourselves or we may be in real trouble. We can't always rely on our rivals missing out. COYB!
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