KEANE RISES ABOVE THE TEDIUM TO LEAVE NORWICH ON BRINK
PUBS may be reopening soon but Michael Keane has already sounded the bell for last orders as Norwich slumped to another defeat.
The defender’s second goal of the season left the Canaries socially distanced by six points at the bottom.
While Everton’s outside hopes of European football next season are still alive, depending on whether your glass is half-full or half-empty, Norwich are down to the last drops.
Drink up, gentlemen. And if you must have one for the lift shaft on your way down, Manchester United’s scalp in the FA Cup quarter-finals this Saturday would be a worthy consolation prize. Norwich manager Daniel Farke had claimed the heatwave would favour his side’s chances because opponents might struggle to raise a gallop. But it was poor marking at a set-piece, not gas mark seven in Delia Smith’s oven, which cost
Farke.As a feast to set before a teatime audience live on the BBC, this monument to tedium was more forgettable than amnesia itself. Norwich were vastly improved on the rabble crushed 3-0 by Southampton last week, which isn’t saying much. Toffees boss
Carlo Ancelotti still has one raised eyebrow on Europe, but for long periods you wouldn’t have backed them to make it past the Birkenhead tunnel.
In the absence of fans, too many games in this run-in have had the intensity of pre-season friendlies. For 45 minutes Everton never remotely threatened
Tim Krul’s goal and they were relieved to see a deflected shot from Onel Hernandez, left, graze Jordan Pickford’s post with the keeper struggling. In fairness, they did improve sufficiently after the break. But it was somehow fitting that a pedestrian spectacle should be settled by a bog-standard winner.Ten minutes after the break Keane climbed highest to meet Lucas Digne’s corner and the defender’s glancing header found the corner for his second goal of the season.