The Times - UK (2022-05-02)

PAUL JOYCE

NORTHERN FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT

The decisive goal came after a

mistake from the Chelsea centre back,

César Azpilicueta, who dwelt in

possession too long, but it was an

aberration induced by the sheer

willpower whipped up by a raucous

gallery and which was transferred to

those in blue who chased and fought

for every ball.

A throw-in at the start of the

second half was flicked on by

Richarlison and that should have

been that. Instead, Thiago Silva

shuffled the ball on to his captain who

offered the Everton striker

encouragement to win back

possession. The ball squirted out to

Demarai Gray who then teed up

Richarlison and, with his third

involvement in the move, he finished

in a manner which belied the frenzy

of the atmosphere around him.

Frank Lampard, the Everton

manager, said afterwards that he had

“prodded” the forward before the

game into channelling his efforts

efficiently. That man-management

paid off handsomely.

The cry which followed from the

Goodison faithful was deafening. It

had first started to swell at the bottom

of Gwladys Street and barrelled past

the Church of St Luke when the team

pulled up to the front entrance at

12.39pm. Thousands of supporters

congregated in the tight streets which

surround this famous old arena,

plumes of blue smoke from flares

filling the sky, in an attempt to

impress upon the home team exactly

what is at stake over the coming

weeks. “That’s support,” said one

elderly woman. “If I was a player, I’d

be in tears.”

At 2.30am on Sunday, a firework

display had also targeted the Hilton

Hotel in Liverpool city centre where

Chelsea were staying and, briefly,

roused the guests from their slumbers.

Everton could not — and did not

— let them down and dutifully

followed Lampard’s masterplan

against his former club with careful

attention to every fine detail.

The emphasis, as at Anfield last

weekend, was on being obdurate,

disciplined and aggressive. Here,

there were no lapses. Alex Iwobi lined

up in midfield at kick-off before

swiftly moving into a right wing-back

role to counter Marcos Alonso, with

Everton morphing into 5-4-1.

The effort and intensity could not

be doubted. They pressed and chased

and harried Chelsea, with Kai

Havertz increasingly exasperated by

Yerry Mina’s insistence on paying

close attention to him.

Possession was ceded. Everton

made 195 passes compared to 715

from the visiting side, but more

revealing was the winning of 76.9 per

cent of their tackles. Chelsea? Only

35.3 per cent. Such an approach is

necessary because there is a lack of

quality in Everton’s ranks — and as

Lampard has said, this is not the time

for philosophies.

Moments after the goal, Vitaliy

Mykolenko sliced wide from close

range after Abdoulaye Doucouré had

been too quick for Ruben Loftus-

Cheek. Goodison groaned. The

chance to lance the tension spurned.

Chelsea’s season has become about

finding a cohesive line-up for the FA

Cup final with Liverpool on May 14,

but it feels like Thomas Tuchel is

rummaging around in the dark. They

are powder puff in attack — Romelu

Lukaku’s afternoon was spent on the

bench — and that they resorted to 27

The roar rolled around Goodison

Park as the Everton team coach

arrived — and it did not stop all

afternoon.

It was a rumble of thunder

emanating from deep inside a club

that had begun the day staring into

the abyss and, by the end, had

renewed hope that their 68-year stay

in the top flight could yet be extended

by another year.

Everton remain in the bottom three

but, crucially, their Premier League

fate remains in their own hands.

Leeds United, two points clear but

having played a game more, would

have winced at this outcome.

There is an irony that the shiny

future Everton are chasing revolves

around a move to a new stadium at

Bramley-Moore Dock just a couple of

miles away, when it is this antiquated,

but defiant, stadium that they owe to

their present rally.

Of course, there remains plenty of

work to do, but this was an occasion

seldom seen before in this troubled

season. A fanbase, a team and a

manager in perfect harmony, working

in unison to produce a dramatic

result, which owed as much to

goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s

brilliance as Richarlison’s winner. It

was a snapshot of all that every

Everton fan wants the club to be.

Pickford

stands tall

at a time

for heroes

22% 78%

POSSESSION

45

SHOTS ON TARGET

912

FOULS

10

Richarlison 46

RATINGS

Everton (5-4-1): J Pickford 9 — A Iwobi 8,

S Coleman 7, Y Mina 8, M Holgate 7,

V Mykolenko 7 — A Gordon 7, A Doucouré 7,

F Delph 7 (Allan 71min), D Gray 7 (D Alli 90) —

Richarlison 8 (S Rondón 80). Booked Coleman,

Delph.

Chelsea (3-4-3): É Mendy 6 — C Azpilicueta 4

(C Pulisic 68, 5), Thiago Silva 5, A Rüdiger 6 —

R James 6, Jorginho 6 (M Kovacic 46, 6),

R Loftus-Cheek 6, M Alonso 5 — M Mount 6,

K Havertz 5, T Werner 5 (H Ziyech 68, 5).

Booked Rüdiger, Mount, Azpilicueta, Alonso,

Havertz.

Referee K Friend. Attendance 39,256.

Everton Chelsea P W D L F A GD Pts

Man City 34 26 5 3 84 21 63 83

Liverpool 34 25 7 2 86 22 64 82

Chelsea 34 19 9 6 68 29 39 66

Arsenal 34 20 3 11 54 41 13 63

Tottenham 34 19 4 11 59 39 20 61

Man United35 15 10 10 54 52 2 55

West Ham 35 15 7 13 53 46 7 52

Wolves 34 15 4 15 33 32 1 49

Brighton 35 10 14 11 34 42 -8 44

Newcastle 35 11 10 14 40 56 -16 43

Leicester 33 11 9 13 48 54 -6 42

C Palace 34 9 14 11 45 42 3 41

Aston Villa 33 12 4 17 44 46 -2 40

Brentford 34 11 7 16 41 49 -8 40

S’hampton 35 9 13 13 41 58 -17 40

Burnley 34 7 13 14 31 46 -15 34

Leeds 34 8 10 16 38 72 -34 34

Everton 33 9 5 19 35 55 -20 32

Watford 34 6 4 24 32 69 -37 22

Norwich (R) 34 5 6 23 22 71 -49 21

HOW THEY STAND

RELEGATION RUN-INS

BURNLEY

Sat Aston Villa (h). May 15 Tottenham

(a). May 19 Aston Villa (a). May 22

Newcastle Utd (h).

LEEDS UNITED

Sun Arsenal (a). May 11 Chelsea (h). May

15 Brighton (h). May 22 Brentford (a).

EVERTON

Sun Leicester City (a). May 11 Watford

(a). May 15 Brentford (h). May 19 Crystal

Palace (h). May 22 Arsenal (a).

WEEKEND

AT A

GLANCE

GOALS

U 3 from last week

(one fewer match this week)

24

CARDS

39

U 4 from

last week

0

V 1 from

last week

2 1GG Monday May 2 2022 | the times

Lampard’s fortress

Only Liverpool (18) and

Newcastle (15) have won more

Premier League points at home

than Everton (13) since Frank

Lampard’s first game in charge

at Goodison Park on February

12, winning four of those seven

matches (D1 L2). Lampard,

below, is only the second of ten

former Chelsea managers to

win their first Premier League

match against them after

leaving the club (D1 L8) — after

Claudio Ranieri in December

2015 with Leicester City.

Saka’s goal standard

Bukayo Saka has been directly

involved in 17 goals for Arsenal

in the Premier League this

season (11 goals, six assists); the

most by an under-21 player in a

single campaign since Dele Alli

for Spurs in 2016-17 (21).

Watford’s dismal run

Watford suffered an 11th

consecutive home league

defeat; the only longer such run

is 14 by Rochdale from

November 1931 to August 1932

in the Third Division North.

Foxes cornered

Leicester have conceded 14

goals from corner situations in

the Premier League this season,

the most of any side, and the

most in a single season since

Brighton’s 16 in 2017-18.

Harry Kane scores another goal

from a corner against Leicester