Sam Allardyce revival continues as Everton beat sorry Swansea

A needless penalty, conceded by Roque Mesa on the stroke of half-time, was the turning point as Swansea lost yet again and Everton won yet again.

Bluntly, Everton, now ninth in the table, are definitely not going down and Swansea, still 20th in the table, most definitely are – unless they sign their buttocks off in January, and even then…

The first half was not at all good, though Swansea at least tried to make something happen with Luciano Narsingh both dangerous and wasteful.

And then on 36 minutes the visitors took the lead, Leroy Fer bumping in at the back post following Tom Carroll’s corner.

But in injury-time, Mesa tripped Aaron Lennon, then, for extra sting, Lukas Fabianski saved Wayne Rooney’s penalty, only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to slide home the rebound.

Though Everton weren’t great at the start of the second half, Swansea struggled to get anything going, and eventually Gylfi Sigurdsson mullered in a rasper from just outside the box which would have been enough. But then Martin Olsson fouled Jonjoe Kenny - outside the box - the ref pointed to the spot, and Rooney did the rest.

Under Sam Allardyce, Everton have now won five out of six games, and will look forward to the visit of Chelsea on Saturday. Swansea, on the other hand, will not be looking forward to anything.

Sam Allardyce knows what he's doing. Sam Allardyce hasn't always played the most aesthetic football, but also bought - for example - Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha. At Everton, he has immediately found a way to include Rooney and Sigurdsson together, the players in his squad most likely to perform the spectacular, and tonight changed the flow of the game by bringing on Tom Davies for Morgan Schneiderlin. No-one will fancy coming to Goodison now, which is exactly how it should be.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton). Ran the line with energy and intelligence, creating space for others and occupying both Swansea centre-backs.

36’ - GOAL! Everton 0-1 Swansea City (Fer) Someone is getting a talking-to. Carroll curls the corner into the middle, Mawson can't reach it, and at the back post Fer's run away from Williams and around the back, which allows him to bump home.

45+1’ - PENALTY EVERTON! Rooney does well to hold the ball on the right edge of the edge, turning deftly and slipping in for Lennon ... Roque Mesa treads on his ankle, and there you go.

45+2’ - GOAL! Everton 1-1 Swansea City (Calvert-Lewin) Rooney is rubbish at penalties, and though this isn't one of his worst, it's bad enough for Fabianski to dive left and shove it on to the post. But while his defenders rush back, the ball falls to Calvert-Lewin, who slots home confidently. What a let-off for Rooney! What a let-off for Everton!

64’ - WHAT A GOAL! WHAT A GOAL! Everton 2-1 Swansea City (Sigurdsson) Davies finds Rooney in centre-field who feeds Sigurdsson on the left as Martina charges past him, taking a man or two out of the middle. Sigurdsson then wanders across the face of the box before absolutely lamping a finish that screams across Fabianski and inside the far post, halfway up. Brilliant!

73’ - PENALTY TO EVERTON! Kenny takes the ball off Lennon down the right, Olsson clips his heels as he heads towards the box, and the ref points to the spot - in error. The contact was outside the box.

74’ - GOAL! Everton 3-1 Swansea City (Rooney pen) This game is over. Rooney smacks his second penalty with his natural swing, to Fabianski's right, and he gets a touch but is nowhere near stopping it.

86’ - CHANCE! Sigurdsson moves the ball away from Naughton and slides Calvert-Lewin in one on one ... he gathers well, but in getting away from Fernandez goes a little wide and ends up forcing his shot too close to Fabianski, who sprawls to save.

Wayne Rooney now has 10 league goals in 16 league games, more than he managed in each of the last two seasons.

Gylfi Sigurdsson has three goals and two assists in his last seven league games, after doing neither of either in his first 10 this season.