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Cape Town - Sam Allardyce heaped praise on Gylfi Sigurdsson for "changing the game" with a sensational strike against his former club as Everton defeated Swansea City 3-1 on Monday night.
After Leroy Fer had put the visitors to Goodison Park ahead with 35 minutes played, Dominic Calvert-Lewin reacted quickest to a saved Wayne Rooney penalty on the stroke of half-time for a timely equaliser.
Sigurdsson then fired the Toffees into the lead with an excellent effort on 64 minutes before Rooney made sure from the spot at the second time of asking, with 74 minutes played.
Speaking after the game, a delighted Allardyce, who remains unbeaten in his five games in charge of Everton, told the club's official website: "Anybody watching would have seen that we were below par for a performance that we wanted in the first half here.
"It was a case of us being too negative with our passing. I think when you become negative in your passing, it encourages the opposition to come and shut you down."
He added: "Then we changed the way we played, pushing Tom Davies on and Siggy... it’s just what you need, isn’t it?
“He changes the game. We needed a bit of genius, a bit of brilliant piece of work from a player in your squad that can change the game when it’s in the balance.
“That’s what you need and that’s what we got. That’s what it’s all about. That [goal] took us on to win the game comfortably in the end and we played a lot better in the second half."
Allardyce said that with Yannick Bolasie, Ross Barkley and Leighton Baines all coming back from injury soon, he is uncertain as to whether or not to dip into the January transfer market.
"We've got a number of players out injured that will come back and that will make us so much better as a squad," he told Sky Sports.
"Those players have a huge amount of Premier League experience that you can put in when they're ready with all the games coming up. The quicker we get the squad into place, the more I can look at the market and say, 'how much do I really need?'
"Yes, a frontman, if there's another goal scorer. I'm hugely pleased with what Dominic has done this season, and if there is a striker around in January who is good enough for Everton is another matter."
