JORDAN PICKS UP TO SAVE THE DAY
Everton keeper overcomes derby misery
SO HOW much damage was inflicted in the final minute of the Merseyside derby? Everton fans wanted the question answered positively at the first attempt.
Unfortunately for those of a Royal Blue hue, their team was stymied by a creeping hangover. Usually matches against Newcastle at home yield three points but, on this occasion, Marco Silva and his team had to settle for one after being successfully contained.
Had it not be for Jordan Pickford, whose mistake led to Divock Origi scoring for Liverpool, this night could have turned out to be much worse for Everton when Christian Atsu cracked a late drive that appeared to be headed for the corner until he intervened. It had been heartening to hear the thunderous ovation Pickford received three days after his aberration at Anfield.
Predictably, though, the former Sunderland man had to contend with constant barracking from the corner of the Bullens Road where the Newcastle fans provided a constant and noisy soundtrack.
One thing you can guarantee from a Rafa Benitez team is discipline and that’s exactly what they showed in the opening stages. They would get their reward in the 19th minute, when a searing counter attack led to Salomon Rondon firing the visitors in front (right).
The last time Rondon came to this stadium, for West Brom in a 1-1 draw on January 20, he was reduced to tears after he was caught up in the collision that left Everton midfielder James McCarthy with a broken leg.
To give an idea how bad the incident was, McCarthy has not played since that day.
Here, however, was a significantly happier memory for the Venezuelan and it owed everything to the blistering pace of Jacob Murphy, who scorched down Everton’s right flank before whipping a ball into the six-yard area for Rondon to provide the finishing touch.
But Newcastle could not build on the impetus and Everton soon took over, thanks in main to the wonderful play of Andre Gomes. Make no mistake that this Portuguese midfielder is a thoroughbred, the kind of footballer who makes the game look easy.
His prompting and probing kept pushing Newcastle further and further back and soon the pressure began to pay. Only a brilliant tackle from Federico Fernandez prevented Gylfi Sigurdsson from levelling in the 35th minute when he was eight yards out.
Another superb intervention —this one a plunging save from Martin Dubravka — thwarted Richarlison 60 seconds later. But the Brazil international levelled from the resulting corner by scooping his shot high into the Gwladys Street net after Sigurdsson’s corner had skidded into his path. It was no more than Everton deserved and so nearly got better but, again, Dubravka had something to say about it, spreading himself to block an acrobatic effort from Cenk Tosun. The Turkey striker’s disbelieving reaction confirmed it was a better than average stop. To Silva’s frustration, half time arrived and Everton struggled to regain their impetus at the beginning of the second period. Benitez used the interval to reorganise and his team emerged with their equilibrium restored. They created the best opportunity, too. In the 59th minute, Ki Sungyeung’s glorious sweeping ball picked out DeAndre Yedlin, who in turn ushered Christian Atsu into the area but the Ghanaian, who spent an underwhelming season on loan at Everton, was unable to hurt his former club.
Still, keeping Everton at arm’s length was painful enough and the more the minutes ticked by, the more you could feel the hosts’ confidence deflating like a slow puncture; suddenly their passing lacked zip and the crowd began to react.
Pickford did his best to change things and he produced a brilliant pass in the 74th minute that looked like it would give substitute Theo Walcott the chance to scuttle in on goal. But his touch was heavy and the moment slithered away.
Atsu would have one more opportunity but Pickford was equal to it, plunging to his left to save the day.