Everton end home campaign on a high as Doucouré's header sinks Sheffield United | first division

A lap of thanks has rarely felt more appropriate at Goodison Park. Everton They finished their home campaign with another solid victory before embarking on a return to the field to thank the fans for their support during another turbulent campaign. The unit has paid dividends.

Sean Dyche's team finished at Goodison with a fifth consecutive home win and a clean sheet, equaling the club's Premier League record, thanks to the victory over the bottom of the table. Sheffield United. Only Manchester City and Arsenal have collected more points since the beginning of April than Everton, who have overcome unprecedented obstacles this season and would be 11th in the table if not for two separate points deductions.

It was a rare carefree afternoon for Everton. At least on the surface. The sun was shining, the nails were not bitten first division Survival was assured before the final home game for the first time in three seasons, and Dyche's side were for the most part comfortably superior to their relegated visitors. But of course Everton's existence is anything but carefree.

On the show Kevin Thelwell, Everton's director of football, echoed the manager's warning that they will have to raise money this summer due to the club's difficult financial situation and uncertainty over a takeover. “While we want to ensure the team is as competitive as possible,” Thelwell wrote: “We cannot lose sight of our core objective of protecting the long-term stability of the club. “This means that players will be sold and also that all the tools at our disposal will be used to secure new additions to the team, including utilizing the loan market.”

Another day brought another round of negative stories involving 777 Partners, the troubled investment firm that Farhad Moshiri and apparently only Farhad Moshiri consider “the right people” to take over Everton. The company reportedly called in bankruptcy specialists and removed co-founders Josh Wander and Steve Pasko from the board of directors of its soccer division. And its proposed acquisition isn't officially dead yet.

Everton's players and management, to their immense credit, continued to act as if they were immune to serious distractions, whether points deductions, the threat of administration or doubts about their own future.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin single-handedly dominated United's three defenders in another impressive performance from the centre-forward. The striker, first on almost every ball in the air and on the ground, created an excellent early chance for Doucouré to open the scoring by knocking down a long pass from James Tarkowski and firing past Auston Trusty. Doucouré, completely unmarked in front of goal, should have scored but shot straight at goalkeeper Wes Foderingham. Trusty made up ground to prevent the midfielder from taking advantage of the rebound.

The Everton pair combined again giving Dyche's team a deserved advantage. Calvert-Lewin started the move when he chested a clearance from Jordan Pickford to Amadou Onana before darting into space on the left. Dwight McNeil found the striker with a perfectly weighted pass and, as Foderingham came off his line, Calvert-Lewin slipped around the United goalkeeper and headed in a cross from the byline. This time Doucouré made no mistake with a close-range header. The goalscorer had been reprimanded by Dyche moments earlier for not staying close enough to Calvert-Lewin to take advantage of his clever touches. Smart tips.

Chris Wilder's side posed little threat until putting in a much more determined and intense performance in the second half. His cause could have been seriously undermined minutes into Everton's breakthrough when Jack Robinson pushed Calvert-Lewin to the ground with both hands raised and some force. The United captain completely lost his mind after the striker jumped over Yasser Larouci, but was only booked by referee Stuart Attwell. The VAR found no reasons for an improvement. Calvert-Lewin was also reprimanded, perhaps for something he said, to widespread disbelief.

The visitors improved after the break and repeatedly stretched Everton's defense without finding the end product their approach demanded. Ben Brereton Diaz, Cameron Archer and Gustavo Hamer created decent chances, while Jarrad Branthwaite, who is likely to appear for Everton at Goodison for the last time as he represents the club's most marketable asset, almost caught Pickford with a risky back pass. Everton's substitutes, Youssef Chermiti and James Garner, missed clear opportunities to make victory comfortable for the hosts.