Richarlison helps forget cup shocker
CARLO ANCELOTTI is all too aware that forgiveness will be a long process. Beating Brighton was never going to be enough to regain the trust of Everton’s supporters. It was, though, a start.
A feeble FA Cup exit to an understrength Liverpool last weekend was too much to bear for fans sick of waiting for trophies while watching their neighbours run away with the Premier League. The very least they expected in response was a performance of commitment. They got one but the victory it secured was not as straightforward as it should have been.
For a while it looked as if Everton might win comfortably. They began with purpose, should have had a penalty and were in front by half-time with a superbly taken goal from Richarlison.
Yet the atmosphere in the stands, by and large, remained muted. Fabian Delph, involved in a social media confrontation with fans after the defeat at Anfield, was booed when he came on as a second-half substitute. There is damage to be repaired and it will take time.
The manager is not one to be thrown by such discord but Ancelotti understands the anger in the stands. ‘The reaction from the players was good, of course, but I think my idea is that we shouldn’t have to react, we have to act,’ he said. ‘The fact we had to react means before we didn’t act well.’
It would have been interesting to know what David Moyes made of the atmosphere. The West Ham manager, who had 11 years in charge at Everton and was in the main stand on a scouting mission before his team face his old club next Saturday, must have been unnerved by just how quiet it was.
Everton’s fans witnessed a win that was just about deserved, although the team became increasingly defensive as Ancelotti removed wingers Theo Walcott and Bernard, replacing them with midfielder Delph and full-back Seamus Coleman.
The warning signs had been there for Everton as Leandro Trossard, a growing threat on the left, cut in from the wing early in the second half and struck an angled shot that bounced off the bar.
Later on, Mason Holgate almost turned a Pascal Gross cross into his own net and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to get down to push away a header from substitute Glenn Murray. In the final three minutes Murray stretched to poke wide from Neal Maupay’s through ball when he really ought to have scored.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the Iranian winger who had come in from the fringes to score against Bournemouth and Chelsea over New Year, had one of his quiet days for Brighton, while manager Graham Potter was left to reflect on what might have been: ‘We got into the final third quite often without really doing well enough to say we deserved something.’
Everton could have been out of sight before Brighton’s late revival. Ancelotti could certainly claim to have been let down by the video assistant referee over the failure to award a penalty in the first five minutes. Walcott was sent clear by Richarlison, raced into the penalty area and then had his collar felt by Brighton captain Lewis Dunk. Referee David Coote gave nothing. Astonishingly, after a delay of more than a minute, neither did the VAR at Stockley Park.
Richarlison was the central figure in the first half and he provided the breakthrough. He almost scored with an angled shot that goalkeeper Mat Ryan did well to beat away. There was nothing Brighton could do, though, about the wonderful piece of skill that gave Everton the lead seven minutes before the interval. The Brazilian started the move himself, bringing Bernard into play before left-back Lucas Digne delivered a low cross on the run. Richarlison controlled, spun on the spot to evade the challenge of former Everton youth defender Shane Duffy, and steered a precise shot into the far corner.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was denied twice by Ryan after half-time but thought he had made the game safe when he bundled in from close range, taking a whack to the head in the process. VAR, though, spotted that he had touched the ball in with his arm.