Seconds from safety then...
Fluke goal puts Saints back in relegation mix
ALL over the pitch those in red, white and black sank to their knees. Some looked to the heavens, other buried their faces in their shirts.
Southampton were 20 seconds away from a victory that would have made them odds-on favourites to beat the drop. Nathan Redmond’s first goal of the season could not have been better timed.
Then, a minute after the four that referee Jon Moss had added on, Everton had one last attack. Tom Davies took a speculative shot, Wesley Hoedt stuck out a leg to block but only wrong-footed goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and diverted the ball into the net.
Everton had been shocking but, somehow, they had a draw. Southampton, by contrast, felt cheated, with assistant manager Mark Bowen screaming at assistant referee Edward Smart about a freekick that Everton had taken from the wrong area to set the decisive move on the way.
If the visitors were crestfallen, the hosts were hardly dancing in the aisles. The end of this wretched season cannot come quickly enough for Evertonians and the mood in the stadium was flat and miserable and indicative of the desire for change.
Everton, who were without the injured Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney, were abject. They went through the motions, never looking like raising their levels to stretch the visitors. One header from Cenk Tosun that looped over the bar was as good as it got.
Southampton are in a position where they are fighting for survival because they have not done enough as an attacking force and, initially, they made heavy weather of trying to break Everton down.
One man who did look capable of making a difference was Charlie Austin. Things might have been different on the south coast had Austin not suffered such a serious hamstring issue in December, at a point when he had scored five times in seven matches.
He was sharp here, enjoying the tussle with Phil Jagielka and Michael Keane. During an opening 45 minutes best described as lamentable, Austin had the standout moment when his thumping volley forced Jordan Pickford to take decisive action.
It lifted Southampton. You could see them running faster and tackling harder. Ryan Bertrand was indefatigable down the left, Mario Lemina — who this time 12 months ago was preparing for a Champions League final with Juventus — showed flashes of quality.
On the touchline, Mark Hughes barked and bellowed and demanded his players give more. Everton, he recognised, were going through the motions – so many in blue were bad or indifferent – and the home crowd were mutinous.
They booed the assistant referee when he showed there would be one minute of time added on, they booed the team when Jon Moss blew his whistle and they booed Allardyce as he scuttled down the tunnel. Shortly after the restart, the boos and dissatisfaction was more profound. Allardyce removed Yannick Bolasie during the break to make a tactical switch, sending on Ramiro Funes Mori and switching to three central defenders, but that opened the game up and Southampton had the potential to hit them on the break.
In the 56th minute, the visitors took control. Dusan Tadic played a ball into the space between Leighton Baines and Funes Mori that invited Cedric to surge forward. Without breaking stride, the right-back whipped a magnificent cross to the back post where Redmond was waiting to thunder a header beyond Pickford.
All over the pitch, you could see joy. Hughes shook his fists with glee, the rest of Southampton’s bench spilling on to the pitch in celebration.
Those who had made the journey from the South Coast knew the goal had put Southampton in control of their own destiny.
Compare that to the opprobrium that rolled around Goodison Park and rained down on Allardyce. He has been inclined to dismiss the negative feelings towards him as “something taken from social media” but this was so much more.
To try to wrestle the game back, Allardyce introduced two more substitutes — Oumar Niasse or Davy Klaassen — but such was the impoverished nature of Everton’s attacking play, the only question was did Southampton have the nerve to hold on.
The answer, was no. Maya Yoshida was sent off for a second yellow card and his absence at the back proved decisive. Southampton, who face Swansea on Tuesday, must hope those last actions do not lead to the last rites. EVERTON (4-3-3): Pickford 7; Coleman 7, Keane 6, Jagielka 6 (Klaassen 80min), Baines 7; Davies 6, Schneiderlin 5, Gueye 5; Bolasie 5 (Funes Mori 46, 5), Tosun 5, Vlasic 5 (Niasse 58, 7). Subs (not used): Robles, Martina, Klaassen, Kenny, Baningime. SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1): McCarthy 7; Soares 7, Yoshida 6, Hoedt 7, Bertrand 7; Romeu 7, Hojbjerg 7; Tadic 6 (Ward-Prowse 70, 6), Lemina 6 (Redmond 46, 8), Bednarek 6; Austin 7 (Long 76, 6). Booked: Austin, Yoshida, Hoedt. Sent off: Yoshida (85min). Subs (not used):Subs (not used): Forster, Stephens, Long, Gabbiadini, McQueen. Referee: J Moss 5.