SILVA’S MAULED IN LIONS DEN
TO grasp the extent of Everton’s deepening misery, it required only a fleeting glimpse at the most basic of statistics.
Everton, who had already conceded 10 from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, repeated the trick three more times and, with every lapse of concentration, the life seeped out of this increasingly abject season. Out of the Carabao Cup in the third round, languishing in mid-table obscurity in the league and now dumped from the FA Cup by Championship Millwall.
Marco Silva has cause for complaint with Millwall’s second equaliser, as Jake Cooper turned the ball into the goal with his arm, but Everton’s defending as it zig-zagged in the penalty area, had already turned disorderly.
And then came the final test. In the fourth minute of added time, Shaun Williams whipped in a delivery, Shaun Hutchinson flicked on and Murray Wallace was able to control and pounce for the winner.
Cue delirium. The Everton supporters, isolated on the higher tier behind the goal, were goaded by the three stands of Millwall fans. A couple of supporters flew out on to the pitch until stewards intervened. This was the FA Cup at its most raw, its most raucous.
Children were hoisted high into the night sky, supporters hugged and memories were made. On the final whistle, more fans scurried on to the pitch, eventually discouraged by a parade of police as the men on the loudspeakers pleaded for restraint.
Status Quo blared out. If FA Cup fixtures are rearranged for overseas viewers, Millwall were by now rocking all over the world. And how they deserved it.
A tie that seemed ripe for an upset before the game developed as expected. These were classic cup conditions, played out in a worsening blizzard of sleet and rain on a pitch that deteriorated as the water hit the surface.
Yet for Millwall and an infernal crowd, this was the perfect storm. They stood to applaud every challenge, jeered every loose Everton touch and mocked the visiting fans whose team lack the concentration and motivation. As the match entered injury time, it was Championship Millwall on the front foot and their supporters who roared the four added minutes.
For 43 minutes at the Den, Everton huffed and puffed but offered precisely nothing by way of ingenuity. As half-time approached, Silva’s side had not registered a single shot on target and had mustered only one corner kick.
Then, even when they rose from their slumber to twice go in front, they contrived to surrender their lead on each occasion within four minutes.
For Everton and their drenched manager Silva, this became anther night to cast doubt on their progress.
Millwall were the underdogs and Everton had their pedigree line-up out, making only two changes from the team that lost at Southampton last Saturday in the Premier League. Yet Everton are not only suffering rotten results. They are also producing rotten performances. This was a largely limp and lifeless display and, ironically, it was Everton who benefited most from the elements when Richarlison finally struck an Everton effort on goal in the 43rd minute.
Collecting the ball 25 yards from goal, his strike was low and rasping, skipping up in front of Jordan Archer to deceive the Millwall goalkeeper.
Yet no sooner had Everton finally sprung to life then Millwall instantly responded. Millwall have scored the second highest number of goals from set-piece situations in the Championship, yet Everton’s defence appeared incapable of dealing with the most predictable of challenges. The first equaliser — in first-half injury time — was the simplest of goals. A free-kick sailed into the penalty area, where defender Cooper flicked on and striker Lee Gregory rose highest to loop a header over Jordan Pickford. This Everton defence do not only lose the first balls but also the second and Millwall were gleeful beneficiaries.
Everton had already been warned from the dead ball. Cooper glanced wide early on and Lucas Digne produced an excellent clearance just in front of the goal-line when Hutchinson headed towards goal.
As Everton’s vulnerabilities emerged, the home crowd grew in
volume. They were given plenty of encouragement. Pickford kicked a clearance straight out of play. Dominic Calvert-Lewin slipped on his backside and slid five yards
The match was soured by events off the field as videos emerged of supporters clashing before the game — with one supporter suffering a slash to the face.
Millwall can, at least, take pride in events on the field and have recent form for a cup shock on home turf, deposing of Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester champions only two years ago.
They refused to yield. When Gylfi Sigurdsson slid in Cenk Tosun to restore the Everton advantage in the second half, Millwall simply stepped up once more, first through Cooper, then Wallace at the death.
‘The performance we put in, we deserved something and we should have got it earlier,’ said Wallace. ‘I’m delighted to get the winner — I’m over the moon.’