BLUE MONDAY
RICHARLISON MAINTAINS EVERTON’S TOP-FOUR CHARGE
They are not exactly playing with the swagger of a side who place believe is their atopheir topfour divine right but evertonn are doing enough.
A moment of brilliance from Richarlison, who has become a predator under Carlo Ancelotti, was enough to keep them in the chasing pack.
you feel that everton need fans as much as, if not more e than, any Premier League ue club. It was exactly a year ago today they played Manchester ester United in a thumping occasionion at this grand old place, where they shared the points after an addedtime goal was ruled out. When fans were briefly allowed back after the first lockdown, we saw something far better from them.
The three points put right a grim recent Goodison Park record. This was a first home win since December.
But the way everton allowed Southampton back into the match will be a concern to Ancelotti and everton will have to be more convincing than this.
Southampton remain in a tailspin that is beginning to make the position of manager Ralph hasenhuttl vulnerable. The late chances will do nothing to ease the anxiety of a side with one point from nine and just 30 on the board, for whom March is now looking a huge month, with Sheffield United and Brighton to play.
‘With 30 points we will be relegated but we want to win games,’ hasenhuttl said. ‘every weekend is an opportunity for the team to win and we can do better. We haven’t taken points for a long time. We have to find a way back to the way we have been.’
It was certainly the night to resolve the paradox at the heart of Ancelotti’s team — an ability to perform in testing conditions away from home while failing to do so against average sides at home. The win at Anfield last week made it 26 league points away from home for everton this season — a club record after 12 games. yet they had won only 14 points at Goodison before this game. In only three seasons has their home record after 12 games been worse.
They began well. Andre Gomes was quickly winning possession and knowing what to do with it, while the attacking combination of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, back after a hamstring problem, and Richarlison was looking a seriously dangerous prospect.
The two took only nine minutes to contribute to an opening goal which revealed a malaise at the heart of a shellshocked Southampton defence.
Calvert-Lewin won an aerial challenge with Mohammed Salisu, Gylfi Sigurdsson threaded the ball through the Southampton defence and Richarlison took it beyond Fraser Forster and cut it into the net. Some finish and some riposte from a player whom Ancelotti had declared before this game was a left- sided forward, whatever designs he might have on be a centre forward. Five goals in five games for him.
The game would have been gone for Southampton had a VAR decision not ruled offside a Michael Keane header from close range after a smartly worked free-kick on 25 minutes. Keane and Mason holgate were both offside but everton were clearly looking to exploit a set- piece weakness. Southampton operate a suicidally high line from the set-piece.
The disallowed goal seemed to shake Southampton from their lethargy. They became the better side, with Stuart Armstrong, operating in a deeper role than usual, beginning to make some inroads. But they struggled to maintain this momentum and sacrificed some good chances.
everton seemed happy to hold what they had, rather than look for more. Allan was an immovable object at the back of midfield. Keane and Ben Godfrey were strong at the back. Southampton, whose injury problems saw them field three academy players, also sacrificed moments of opportunity. A corner from James WardProwse, whose delivery was excellent, floated to find Nathan Redmond at the back of the box but he curled the ball wide.
The game had seven minutes to run when the impressive Armstrong worked a one-two with substitute Nathan Tella and located Moussa Djenepo unmarked at the back post but he drove his shot wide.
That felt like a huge moment, though there was another at the death when a corner was cleared to Jannik Vestergaard on the edge of the six-yard box. he managed to get a shot in on goal, only for Jordan Pickford do spread himself superbly to avert the danger and maintain the points for everton. Ancelotti was willing to entertain top-four talk, saying: ‘There’s a real possibility to be in the top four. I don’t know for how long. It might be only one day. We just want to see how we feel when we get there.’