THE WIND OF
Pickford defies blustery conditions to help Eve
JORDAN PICKFORD received death threats the last time he faced Liverpool.
This time there can only be plaudits for the part England’s No1 played in sending the beleaguered champions into complete and utter free-fall.
In windy conditions, Richarlison’s early strike and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s late penalty ensured Carlo Ancelotti secured himself a precious piece of Everton history by becoming the manager who ended an Anfield curse that had lasted 7,817 days – the Toffees’ first league win there this century.
Ancelotti has now beaten Liverpool with five different clubs – but not since September 1999 had the Blues prevailed on Liverpool soil.
The Italian had 14 blue-shirted heroes – but Pickford was the biggest of them all. In October, the 26-year-old’s reckless tackle on Virgil van Dijk left the Dutchman with a snapped cruciate ligament and had Jurgen Klopp staring into the abyss just a few weeks after lifting Liverpool’s first title in 30 years.
The keeper was forced to hire bodyguards to keep himself safe after some crackpots promised to mete out their own justice.
Ancelotti said: “This is Pickford. This is the Pickford we all know. He was confident, secure and intelligent in our goal. We spoke to him before the game and he said he wanted to play. He showed that confidence. He produced a really good performance.”
The victory took Everton level on points with their rivals from across Stanley Park, with a game in hand.
It says everything about the state of mind of both managers that while Ancelotti fixed his gaze on qualifying for Europe, there was a look of disbelief in Jurgen Klopp’s eyes.
It didn’t help that a hamstring injury to skipper Jordan Henderson in the first half forced him to ask new signing Ozan Kabak and youngster Nat Phillips to form his team’s 18th central defensive partnership of the season.
But by then, his team were already trailing to Richarlison’s cleverly crafted third-minute opener.
James Rodriguez threaded the perfect pass in behind the ball-watching Kabak and Richarlison sent a low shot past Alisson’s right hand and into the bottom corner.
It needed a fine Alisson save to stop Seamus Coleman putting the visitors further ahead before the break. But by then, Pickford had to t Alex
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This is the Pickford we all know. He was confident, secure and intelligent. He produced a really good performance
started to excel himself with saves thwart Henderson and Trent xander-arnold. he England keeper got even better n he switched to the Kop end for the ond half. e was perfectly placed to gather io Mane’s header before the Senegal ward sent another effort over. nd when it wasn’t Pickford in the y, Michael Keane produced one liant clearance to hack away xander-arnold’s cross from under his n crossbar before halting Mane with st-ditch challenge. hen Pickford narrowed down the le to keep out Mo Salah, it seemed a ker punch might be thrown. even minutes from time, Sigurdsson landed it. Richarlison rolled Phillips to set up substitute Dominic Calvert-lewin with an unselfish pass.
And although the striker’s shot was parried by Alisson, he seemed certain to score from the rebound until he went down after being caught in a tangle with Alexander-arnold.
Referee Chris Kavanagh was called to the pitch-side monitor to check his decision – but his mind was made up.
And Sigurdsson sparked a flurry of fireworks outside the ground by sending Alisson the wrong way from the spot.
This was Liverpool’s fourth successive defeat – three of them at home – and with the title now long gone, they face a monumental fight to finish in the top four. Klopp said: “The boys are still full of desire, but you have got to be decisive in the right moments – both in attack and in defence.
“The only way I know is to try again, again and again. This hurts a lot.
“We created a lot but we are also making quite a few unnessary mistakes, and a lot of strange things seem to be happening right at this moment.”
Campbell 22, O’brien 48, Holmes 52, 55
A SECOND-HALF goal blitz saw Huddersfield turn the formbook upside down as Swansea’s ninematch unbeaten run came to a shattering end.
With the Terriers winless this year, it looked an awayday banker, especially after Conor Hourihane cancelled out Fraizer Campbell’s 22nd minute opener with a blistering free-kick in firsthalf injury-time.
Instead, it all went wrong for Swansea with Lewis O’brien and a double from American Duane Holmes sending Carlos Corberan’s
Hourihane 45+1 side out of sight with three goals in seven minutes.
And to complete a nightmare afternoon, Jordan Morris went off on a stretcher in agony after stumbling on the ball and landing awkwardly, leaving Swansea to play the last 25 minutes with 10 men.
“Fingers crossed for him, but it does not look good,” said Swans head coach Steve Cooper. “He’s on crutches with his knee in a brace.” Cooper claimed his side only had themselves to blame for the defeat. “We did not do the basics right and paid the price,” he added.
Huddersfield boss Corberan said: “It was so important for us to get that win and I was delighted with the performance.
“We did really well offensively and the team played with determination and courage.” The visitors briefly came to life leading up to halftime.
Matt Grimes fired inches wide and Jake Bidwell saw his looping header cleared off the line by Naby Sarr.
And their pressure paid off in injury-time with that belting Hourihane from a set-piece.
Huddersfield will count themselves unlucky not to have increased their lead after Campbell had ended his seven-game goal drought, sweeping home Pipa’s pull-back.
Moments later, Juninho Bacuna’s effort came back off the inside of the post.
The Terriers rediscovered their bite after the restart.
O’brien fired them ahead again on 48 minutes after excellent link-up play between Campbell and Bacuna. And four minutes later, Holmes finished in fine style from Aaron Rowe’s assist
His second was even better. He cut inside before unleashing a 30-yard thunderbolt which gave Freddie Woodman no chance.
HUDDERSFIELD: Schofield 6; Keogh 6, Vallejo 6, Sarr 7; Pipa 7, Bacuna 7 (High 78, 6), Hogg 6 (Pritchard 84), O’brien 7, Rowe 7 (Brown 84); Campbell 8 (Phillips 72, 6), Holmes 8 (Stearman 84).
Unused subs: Pereira, Crichlow, Duhaney, Thomas.
SWANSEA: Woodman 6; Naughton 5 (Whittaker 58, 5), Bennett 6 (Cabango 45, 5), Guehi 6; Roberts 6, Grimes 6, Hourihane 7, Fulton 5 (Dhanda 58, 5), Bidwell 6 (Manning 58, 5); Ayew 6, Lowe 5 (Morris 45, 5).
Unused subs: Hamer, Latibeaudiere, Arriola, Smith.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Duane Holmes. Two devastating second half finishes
REFEREE: John Brooks 7.