JAWDON PICKFORD

Everton keeper saved everything that Chelsea could throw at him... making stops with his hands, feet and even with his FACE in a brave display that could yet save Frank’s fighters from the drop

THERE is a moment in every season on which fate turns.

For Everton, and Jordan Pickford in particular, that moment arrived an hour into this pulsating contest.

Two ridiculous, remarkable saves from the England keeper within the space of seconds delivered a seismic victory for Frank Lampard’s relegationhaunted side over his former club Chelsea.

Yet those fleeting few seconds went far beyond three points, no matter how precious. Those saves, both defying logic as well as gravity, suggested it will be the moment Everton’s miserable season finally turns.

The inspiration they gave to

Lampard’s passionate, hardworking team, the belief they offered to a crowd which has seemed bowed and almost beaten at times recently, will surely act as a catalyst for more of the incredible scenes we saw here at Goodison on an emotional afternoon.

Pickford produced two more top-class saves before the end of a ferocious contest, but his performance will be remembered for a long time for those two defiant moments.

After a first half of much tension and little inspiration, Everton found themselves ahead a minute after the break, when Richarlison and Demarai Gray hounded dawdling Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta into mistake, with the Brazilian providing an emphatic finish.

Yet that was the relatively easy part. Holding off the visitors for 51 harrowing minutes which followed would take nerve and, more importantly, defensive resilience which the Blues have shown little of during this campaign. And just as the clock ticked towards the hour, Mason Mount exposed hesitancy with a fierce shot which somehow came off both posts before falling kindly, invitingly, to fullback Azpilicueta.

He shot back across goal towards the empty

net but, somehow,

Pickford, racing across his line, defied physics to deflect the ball wide. The celebrations were wild, even from the normally unflappable Yerry Mina (congratulating Pickford, left)

Yet the danger was far from over. From the corner, Antonio Rudiger found himself six yards out with the goal at his mercy. Pickford, though, was clearly unwilling to be beaten, and he threw himself at the feet of the defender as the whole of Goodison held its breath. Again the ball was deflected wide, this time off Pickford’s chin (to the shock of Rudiger, left), as the keeper went down in a heap. The roars around this famous old stadium were deafening.

You could sense the

new spirit of belief that pulsed through an Everton side which had shown little quality up to then. But quality was no longer needed. What was needed was fight. And the aristocrats of Chelsea were shocked by the ferocity of it.

The Londoners mustered several more attacking situations, with Pickford again producing a magnificent save from Ruben Loftus-cheek’s missile strike, and then being called into action during the seven minutes of harrowing stoppage time.

With Chelsea finally deciding they relished the scrap themselves, sub Mateo Kovacic found himself in front of goal and fired a clever low shot which seemed for all the world to have finally beaten the home keeper.

But with impressive agility, Pickford dropped to his right to save. Again, the noise hit eardrum piercing levels, again Goodison was a howling bowl of emotion.

At the end, there were songs and celebrations that this tired stadium hasn’t witnessed for years. The result means Leeds United at just 5-4, are rated far more likely than Everton, at 7-4, to drop into the Championship with Norwich and Watford.

The Blues are still in the relegation zone, there are still battles to come. But this was proof this fight is far from over, and there is clear belief now that Everton can survive.