Everton boss Marco Silva praised his three substitutes after they produced two goals and an assist between them late on in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The Toffees grabbed the lead in the 87th minute of the Premier League contest at Goodison Park when Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed in from an Ademola Lookman delivery, five minutes after both players had come off the bench.
Cenk Tosun, who had come on midway through the second half, then added an 89th-minute strike to make sure of the points.
Silva said in his post-match press conference: “It is football – sometimes you change and everything goes well, like (what) happened this afternoon. Other times it is not the same.
“But in that moment, the most important thing for us is we tried, we changed a little bit the formation when we brought on Dominic, and they did well.
“It is important for us and me as a coach that when the three players come in, they help the team. This must show us everybody is ready to play and everybody is fighting for his position in the squad.
“Of course I’m happy because the three came in and helped. Cenk the last two games at home has come on and scored twice, and Lookman and Dominic are working really hard to achieve what they want.”
Silva, whose side registered their third league win in a row, agreed with the assertion that the match had underlined the strength in depth he had.
He said: “It is really important for a club at our level. It is what we have to do – not just the 11 players but more than that.
“At this moment it is hard for me, not just the starting XI, but to do the squad list. But in this way we can grow as a squad, as a club.”
Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had kept the score at 0-0 on the hour mark by saving a Luka Milivojevic penalty.
When asked if, since his penalty shoot-out save at the World Cup over the summer, Pickford had almost an aura about him when it came to spot-kicks, Silva said: “He has this quality, this profile.
“He is solid in that moment and can keep calm to take the right decision. It was an important moment in the match.”
Everton are up to eighth in the table and Silva added: “Now we are in a good momentum and it is important we keep (that).
“But we know the Premier League is really hard and every game is a different challenge and you have to be ready for everything.”
Palace, who went close in the first half when Cheikhou Kouyate’s header hit the bar, were beaten for the third successive game and they are down a place to 15th in the table.
Roy Hodgson’s men have scored only five times in their nine league matches this season, and once in their last four.
Hodgson said: “The fact is you have to take your chances.
“We came across a goalkeeper in form, of course. When we had the penalty chance the miss definitely lifted the crowd, they really got behind their team and it gave them fresh impetus going forward.
“I am not certain people would have begrudged us a result had we got one, but we didn’t and we have to now dust ourselves down and lift ourselves up because there is no point feeling sorry for yourselves.”
