DCL...AOK... FOR SOS
Everton praying fit-again Dom can answer emergency call and fire the goals to keep them up
DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN may not be the fourth emergency service – but James Tarkowski reckons he can still ride to Everton’s rescue.
Repairs and breakdowns are something of a Calvert-Lewin speciality, but it’s recovery that interests Everton fans now they are in the relegation zone.
They are there on goal difference, which makes sense since the Blues are the lowest scorers in the Premier League.
Calvert- Lewin (shooting, above) didn’t wear a high-vis jacket, but he did almost fix the mechanics of a spluttering game with a brilliant turn before firing just wide.
It was the England striker’s first start since early February after a groin injury and although he has scored only once all season, he could be a crucial figure in Everton’s demanding run-in.
“We know how good he can be, but he’s had a tough time with injuries,” Tarkowski said of the striker who scored 25 goals in all competitions the season before last. “Dom needs to stay fit, get the minutes in, and then we’ll see the Dominic CalvertLewin that everyone knows.
“It’s been difficult for him, so people have e to be patient. That turn he did d before the shot was a flash of what Dom is s about. If he stays fit, then we’ll see a lot more ore of that kind of thing.” g.”
Everton boss Sean Dyche is hoping oping the patience shown own with Calvert- Lewin win will pay off over ver the final six matches. tches.
The manager nager revealed the 26- year- old ld might have come back sooner, but at the risk of another spell on the hard shoulder. “It seems the previous process here was ‘get him fit, put him back in the team’. But Bu we can’t keep doing t that because it hasn’t w worked,” said Dyche. “Therefore, give the lad a chance. There’s sti still no guarantees bec because it’s the human body body, but I think you can push the margins your way and that’s th what we’ve looked to do with him. He’s worked very hard and he brings lots of different qualities – physical prowess, his aerial ability – and he will only get sharper.” Having spent so much money over recent years, it should not have come down to this for Everton – praying there are no more twangs or prangs for Calvert-Lewin.
Neal Maupay might have been expected to share the goal load, but the £ 15million French Frenchman has scored a single goal in 25 matches.
Eve Everton’s joint top scorers in the th league this season are De Demarai Gray and Dwight M McNeil, with four each. It means that with t tricky games remaining a against Newcastl e, L Leicester, Brighton, Manchester ch City, Wolves and Bournemouth, they are staring down the double barrel towards Calvert-Lewin. At least against Crystal Palace, they showed they have got their defensive issues sorted with a resolute, defiant display, particularly when they went down to 10 men for the final 15 minutes ( the Eagles’ Jean- Philippe Mateta being kept at bay, left).
A rash lunge by Mason Holgate meant a second yellow card, but some backbone from Tarkowski, Michael Keane and Jordan Pickford ( far left) kept out free-scoring Palace, with the help of an offside call that denied Eberechi Eze.
It’s at the other end where Dyche wants improvement. He said: “I haven’t got magic dust, so we have to work on a process that can create more so the players take ownership of that.”