DIG A HOLE VAR buried us, fumes Silva, as late clanger kills Toffees
JONATHAN WOODGATE’S woes were summed up as Middlesbrough failed to score against 10-man Fulham – and dropped into the bottom three.
Fulham keeper Marek Rodak was sent off for handling outside his area in the 17th minute. Rodak was racing to meet Jonny Howson’s run on the end of Lewis Wing’s crossfield ball.
But it wasn’t until stoppage time that Boro mustered a single effort on target, Paddy Mcnair shooting at Marcus Bettinelli.
Wing had drilled a 72nd-minute free-kick against a post, but it was a second successive goalless draw for
Boro, who are now seven games without a win.
Boss Woodgate said: “I would have preferred it to have been 11 v 11. It sounds strange, but we had a game plan.
“We need to start scoring. I didn’t have a striker on the bench, so I didn’t have the options to change it.”
Fulham’s finishing was no better. Aleksandar Mitrovic boasted 16 goals in 16 games before this encounter, but even he couldn’t convert, nodding over Joe Bryan’s centre on 66 minutes.
Manager Scott Parker said: “We top many of the stats in this division but the players have showed me things that a number just can’t measure – desire, passion, effort and a real mentality which ultimately is going to define us.”
YET more VAR controversy and Lucas Digne’s last-gasp own-goal piled the pressure right back on Marco Silva.
The Everton boss looked to be heading for back- to- back Premier League wins for the first time this season after an inspired substitution midway through the second half.
He sent on Dominic Calvert-lewin for Alex Iwobi, and within two minutes the 22-year-old had scored his fifth goal in as many appearances.
Silva’s hopes of another vital three points were shortlived, however, with Brighton gifted an opportunity to level when VAR official Lee Mason, rather than referee Andrew Madley, spotted that Michael Keane had trodden on Aaron Connolly’s foot in the box.
It was a soft award but Brighton weren’t complaining and Neal Maupay duly despatched the penalty beyond Jordan Pickford.
To add to his misery, the Everton keeper was then beaten again in time added on when his captain mistakenly turned home Leandro Trossard’s low cross. It was harsh on Digne, who was arguably Everton’s standout performer.
It was also a bitter pill to swallow for Silva, whose side dropped a place into 16th and are hovering ominously above the bottom three.
What frustrated him most was the fact Mason awarded the penalty against Keane but hadn’t alerted Madley to a tug on Richarlison’s shirt in the area by Martin Montoya earlier.
Silva said: “We scored the second and after they found one moment, that moment – the penalty – made a big impact.
“It was the decisive moment for us.
“After the penalty, we still should control the game differently because you cannot concede a goal after 91, 92 minutes on a counter- attack when you are playing away.
“But the penalty and why that decision happened is so difficult for us to understand, because 15 minutes earlier there was a clear penalty for us on Richarlison and the VAR didn’t see anything.”
Brighton’s Pascal Gross opened t he scoring with a ferocious free-kick from just outside the area, albeit one that Pickford got a hand to and could have saved.
But Everton were soon back on terms when Richarlison’s glancing header hit Adam Webster’s head and shot past Mat Ryan for an own-goal.
Calvert- Lewin’s first- time strike looked to have put Everton on the path to victory but Mason’s call changed all that.
Brighton boss Graham Potter hadn’t seen replays of the penalty incident but he had some sympathy for Silva.
He said: “Apparently on VAR there’s a contact, but I haven’t seen the incident so I don’t know.
“We’re still going to sometimes get harsh refereeing decisions because ultimately that’s still what it is, it’s somebody’s opinion.
“It’s part of the game, unfortunately.”