Gomes Eager To Keep Starring For Everton

Andre Gomes says he is growing into Premier League football as the Portugal international revealed his happiness at playing in England’s top flight.

Former Valencia player Gomes has been central to Everton’s back-to-back victories over Chelsea and West Ham United – and viewed the authoritative nature of last Saturday’s success against the Hammers as evidence of his side’s increasing maturity.

The 25-year-old’s driving runs from midfield at London Stadium, Gomes repeatedly advancing through the heart of the pitch with the ball at his feet, epitomised a forceful and controlled Everton performance.

Gomes covered more ground [7.6 miles] than any other player on the field. He was accurate with 87.3 per cent of his 63 passes – only defender Michael Keane, who was on target with 87.5 per cent of 40 passes, recorded superior distribution figures.

The match in London represented Gomes’ third straight Premier League start. He played 19 league games in succession following his debut against Crystal Palace back in October before returning from a spell out for Everton’s game at Newcastle United last month and the subsequent 2-0 victory over Chelsea.

“There is a first impact when you start in the Premier League, it is a massive league, with a lot of big teams,” Gomes told evertontv.

“Every game is a challenge. I am enjoying it more because I am feeling more what the Premier League is about and adapting to it.


“I am really happy to play here and I think the rest we had after the Chelsea game [international fortnight] was important.

“After beating Chelsea, we wanted to keep playing the next weekend.

“But I think the break was good, to have more training sessions and get ready for the next game.

“I think we prepared well and you saw it in the way we played at West Ham – and we were really happy with that.”

Everton hit West Ham with two first-half goals last weekend, Kurt Zouma and Bernard both on target during 45 minutes in which Marco Silva’s side could conceivably have scored four or five.

Returning from the interval, then, Everton would have recalled allowing a similar advantage to slip away three weeks earlier at Newcastle – where Gomes’ explosive surge helped create a goal for Richarlison.

There would be no such alarms against the Hammers, though, with Everton maintaining a firm grip on the game.


Indeed, it was Silva’s side which carved out the lion’s share of second-half openings.

Everton’s victory in the capital made it 10 points from five games. The Blues have scored nine goals and conceded only three in that period and are back in the Premier League’s top half. Within shooting distance of Wolverhampton Wanderers in seventh, to boot.

“We had a brilliant game at West Ham and built a good victory from the first minute,” added Gomes, who has featured in 24 Premier League games since completing a season-long loan switch from Barcelona last August.

“We had chances to score more goals but it was really important for us to not concede any – so we were very happy.

“I was comfortable in the game. The whole team played really, really well, with and without the ball. It is easy when we are compact and have the confidence to keep playing.

“Against Chelsea, we had a good opportunity to change [the team’s form] and build some confidence.

“I think, at West Ham, we put together a brilliant game, as we did in the first half at Newcastle.

“But at West Ham we were more mature in the game, to know what to do when we had the lead.”