Gana: Why We Have Belief In Everton Quality

Idrissa Gana Gueye insists Everton’s “trust in their quality” was key to their turnaround in Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Anfield – as the Senegalese called on his teammates to learn lessons from their narrow 2-1 defeat to keep progressing.

The long-serving Blues midfielder grabbed his ninth goal for the Club to give Evertonians hope with more than half an hour of the contest remaining when he finished a flowing move involving Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye to swirl a first-time shot beyond Alisson.

That was no more than David Moyes’ side deserved after being the better team in the second half, while also creating a host of chances before the break.

Gana rued the Toffees’ slow start in the 247^th meeting with their city rivals, which led to goals for Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike. But the 35-year-old revealed Everton’s belief in the talent they now possess led to an improved team performance they now have to build on, starting with Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup third round tie at Wolves.

“We are disappointed because we didn't start the game very well,” Gana told evertontv. “We conceded two quick goals and then after we reacted very well, but in the derby game we have to do better in the first half. If we play like in the second half we will not lose this game but it's a good improvement – now we have to focus on the next game and try to do better.

“We played very well in the second half, especially. We improved a lot because we trust in our quality more. We try to play more and we go to press them higher, make it difficult for them and then we score the goal and win the second half.

“We will now have a recovery and think about the next game because it's very important to qualify for the next round [of the Carabao Cup].”

Blues boss Moyes was able to bolster his attacking options in the summer with the additions of Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Thierno Barry and Tyler Dibling, who all made their Merseyside derby bows on Saturday.

Grealish, in particular, was a constant threat on the wing at Anfield along with Ndiaye – and Gana believes the two forwards can continue to be key to Everton’s attacking ambitions.

“We can see now we have a lot of quality up front and defensively we defend better,” added the Senegal international. “But we have to keep going and play as a team and give the ball to Jack and Ili because they have the quality to make the difference to score or give assists and they proved it again today.

“We played well in the derby but it’s not enough. We need to try more for the next time and try to win at Anfield. I wanted to win but unfortunately today we didn't so we have to keep trying and keep working hard.”