LONDON: Dwight McNeil scored his first goal of the season to give Everton a precious three points with a 1-0 away win at Nottingham Forest that moved them off the bottom of the Premier League table.

Everton created the better chances and finally converted one of them when the ball fell to NcNeil at the back post and he drilled his shot into the net from a tight angle.

The Merseyside club moved to 18th in the table with seven points from 14 games. Had it not been for the 10-point deduction they were hit with for breaching Premier League profitability and sustainability rules they would be in 11th place above Chelsea. Everton on Friday lodged an appeal against the points sanction, the biggest in Premier League history.

For Forest, the defeat will add to the pressure on manager Steve Cooper with his side having won one of their last 10 games as they lie in 15th place with 13 points from 14 games.

“Our mentality was excellent,” Everton manager Sean Dyche told the BBC. “It’s a restart. It’s a step in the right direction, but there are plenty more steps to go.

“I think we’re having a solid season. Seventeen points would have been a fairly healthy return. Of course it’s changed, but the mentality and the performance levels are right.”

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