‘He set the scene’: Sean Dyche says Abdoulaye Doucoure was ‘excellent’ in win over Brentford

Everton boss Sean Dyche was full of praise for midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure after yesterday’s 3-1 win over Brentford.

The £20m midfielder opened the scoring after just six minutes with his second goal of the season so far, finishing on the half-volley from a James Tarkowski knock down.

Despite going into half-time all square, the Toffees recorded a 3-1 win over the Bees with second half goals from James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Indeed, it was a superb team performance, but manager Sean Dyche was quick to highlight the ‘excellent’ display from goalscorer Doucoure.

Speaking with the Everton website at full-time, Dyche said: “There were a lot of good performances. I thought Doucs was excellent. He set the scene very early on with his pressing and work ethic for the team.

The delivery was very good, as they were generally today from set pieces. That’s a key factor, to put it in the right areas with quality because we know we’ve got people who can go into the box with that belief of scoring. I’m pleased we did that today.”

Abdoulaye Doucoure grabs another important goal for Everton

Doucoure played in behind £26m signing Beto and the advanced role meant the Mali international was a threat throughout the game.

After opening the scoring, Doucs was unfortunate not to double Everton’s lead, hitting the bar with a superb right-footed effort.

Providing a supporting role for Beto meant that the Portuguese forward was far less isolated than last week’s defeat to Arsenal, with Doucoure a willing runner in behind when the 6ft 4in forward won a flick on.

Everton won more points and scored more goals yesterday afternoon than they had in the previous five Premier League games combined, so it was a long overdue performance, but one that will hopefully kickstart the Toffees’ season.