LFL: EVERTON

We lost our rhythm for a while after Alderete went off but yet another great second-half performance gave us a well-deserved win. Other results went well for us today so for a while at least we’re ninth and above Chelsea.

BEFORE

I really enjoyed the Man United game and feel that if we can keep up that level of performance, we'll get a result this afternoon. Everton have plenty to play for with a European place still in sight so it won't be a boring end of season affair. We all know that there's a lot of goodwill between our two clubs these days both through the Jordan Pickford connection and also because of Bradley Lowery, who would have been fifteen years old today. So, I think it'll be an enjoyable afternoon whatever happens. I was planning to be there myself but it didn't work out so once more I'll be watching the match in the company of other members of the London Branch and I'm expecting there to be a good turn-out. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.

I got to the bar around 2.00 and I was the first member of the Faithful to arrive. I got the team-news and there was one change from last Saturday’s starting eleven with Angulo coming in for Talbi, which angered a number of fans online. Actually, I was impressed with Angulo when he came on late against Man U and he looked like he could create a goal or two. Talbi joined an otherwise unchanged bench. A number of the Faithful arrived as kick-off approached but there wasn’t the number I’d expected. Bradley was duly commemorated five minutes before the start to much applause from both sets of fans. 

THE GAME

I was pleased to see that we were playing in red and white. The first real action came in the fourth minute when Beto almost got on the end of a long diagonal ball but Roefs was there to grab it first. Next thing Mukiele conceded a free-kick near the right angle of our box and after we’d cleared it, it eventually went for a goal-kick. Everton won a corner in the ninth and we cleared that too. Most of the action had been up our end but we’d managed a couple of decent forays without creating a scoring chance. We were passing the ball around confidently like we had last Saturday and in the fourteenth Geertruida had a decent shot that wasn’t too far over the bar. In the fifteenth there was applause all round to remember Bradley and we could see close-ups of his parents in the crowd. We were starting to do most of the attacking and a long low ball almost reached the on-running Brobbey but it all went to pot. Alderete was down injured around the twentieth and it must have taken something to put him on the deck, but he had to go off and was duly replaced by O’Nien. He played a blinder in the Cup game so I hoped for more of the same.  

We were putting some great stuff together as we entered the second quarter and I could feel a goal coming. Iroegbunam was booked for a very rough challenge on Reinildo. Then there was more applause all round, this time in memory of Michael Goodison Jones who had died. On the half-hour a long ball forced the outcoming Pickford to concede a throw to us. A lad near me said that every young bloke he knew from Washington looked like Pickford and had the same hair. I don’t know if that’s Washingtonist but there it is. Anyway, we were still looking promising going forward and hopefully one of those quick through passes would pay off soon. In the thirty-fifth Garner had a long-distance shot on target but Roefs had it well-covered. Next thing he had to turn a Tarkowski header out for a corner and that ended in a free-kick to us for a foul. With five minutes to the break we allowed Beto a free header but he put it miles wide. Everton had been enjoying a decent period of pressure and in the forty-third they took the lead when a low Rohl shot from the left was deflected in by Xhaka. Three minutes of added-time were announced and we kept having a go but couldn’t create anything in the final third. It remained 1-0 as the half-time whistle went.

During the break I realized that there were a lot more of us in the bar than I’d thought, about twenty-five, and the overall mood was fairly optimistic. I chatted to one bloke near my age about seeing Eusebio at Roker Park in 1963.

There were no changes as we started the second period. We soon won a free-kick on the left touchline when O’Brien fouled Angulo, for which he was also yellow-carded. The resultant kick caused some panic in their box but we couldn’t capitalize on it. In the fifty-third we won a free-kick right near their left corner-flag for a foul on Enzo and though we couldn’t make the most of it, we very soon had a decent shout for a penalty or a free-kick, it was right on the line, for handball but referee John Brooks wasn’t having it. In the fifty-sixth a long cross-shot from Hume forced Pickford into tipping it over, though the replay showed that it was going over anyway. We’d been pressing well when in the fifty-ninth we got the equalizer. It was Enzo, again, who provided the magic ball and it was met by Brobbey who ran into the box, held off Tarkowski and slotted it past Pickford. The lad opposite me immediately set off a loud Brobbey chant. We replaced Hume with Talbi straight away. Both sides were going hell for leather and Everton were looking ominously speedy on the break.

As we entered the final quarter I still fancied my 2-1 prediction. Next thing Reinildo was splattered by O’Brien and there was a short hold-up after which he was able to continue. In the seventieth Brobbey was on a powerful run holding off defenders as ever when he hit the ground only for the ref to give a free-kick against him. This did not go down at all well in the bar. Barry replaced Beto a few minutes later. In the seventy-sixth we made a triple-switch, bringing on Isidor, Diarra and Rigg for Brobbey, Sadiki and Angulo so we’d have plenty of fresh legs for the run-in. It certainly paid off as in the eighty-first we took the lead. Rigg played a big part in it as he moved down the right and after a pass or two it came to Enzo in the centre of their box. He hit it goalwards and Pickford could only help it into the net, as they say. During his celebrations he donned a fan’s Spiderman mask, which I hope is not a bookable offence.

In the eighty-sixth Roefs made a point-blank save from a powerful O’Brien header. I don’t know if he knew what he was doing but it bounced off him and over the bar anyway. Six minutes of added-time were announced and soon it was 3-1. A low Diarra cross came across their box from our right and terrible Everton defending allowed it to arrive at Isidor’s feet. He proceeded to hit a low shot into the opposite corner to send the bar wild. Garner was booked for a foul on Xhaka and that was it really until the final whistle went to whoops of joy all around me.