SOBS V TOFFEES

The Lads welcomed the sweeter side of Merseyside to Wearside and battled out a point that put us back in the Champions League places... I think - European competition of some sort, anyway. But for a scuffed shot by Issy and a defender's header in their box by Nordi, we'd have won. After being all over the place for the opening half hour, we pushed Hume into the sort of place you'd expect Rigg to play, and we got into the game. One down at the break, Xhaka's bullet a minute into the second half levelled it... and if we'd been offered four points from our last two games, we'd have taken them gratefully.

A night game in the proper dark - for the first time in the league since Big Dan whipped/dragged his shirt off - meant a crowded minibus speeding matchwards as the team news arrived. It also meant straight over the river and thus no illuminated walk over the new bridge. Never mind, it looked the business from the east.

No changes, from the Chelsea starting XI, while I'd have been tempted to swap Traore for Talbi, but I'm not the football scientist.

Roefs

Hume Ballard Mukiele Geertruida Reinildo

Xhaka (c) Sadiki

Traore Isidor Le Fee

... and a bench of Patto, Talbi, Masuaku, Rigg, Neil, O'Nien, Mayenda, Adingra, and Brobbey.

Everton maintained their commitment to the memory of Bradley Lowery by being led out by a young Sunderland fan, Reuben, who's been through leukemia treatment - successfully. Nice one, Blues... and we gave Pickers a good welcome, even giggling at their fans' song about him. Google it.

Everton wore dark, probably black, kits with some little lines across the front, and kicked off south, firing inches wide with a low one a few seconds in. It seemed as if most of our back half were unsure of their positions as we failed to get the ball away from our final third for anything like a decent amount of time. Thankfully the central defenders were there to prevent anything getting through to Roefs, but it was a bit worrying to say the least.

On nine minutes there was a minute's applause for 9-year-old Anna who recently succumbed to cancer - Everton fans joined in, then sang the Bradley Lowery song.

A dreadful pass across the centre circle by Xhaka let Everton break but we cleared it, only for an elbow in Sadiki's face on 13 (confirmed by halftime TV watchers) to be ignored by the ref - who ignored most things, to be honest. Away Ndiaye went, carrying it across to the left of our box and leaving Roefs helpless with a curler inside his right-hand post. Damn, but based on our showing so far, not really a surprise.

Noah was a tad upset when another foul was ignored as the ref went for the record for longest period in a Prem game with no free-kicks. So upset that he flung himself into the next tackle to earn a yellow and produce the game's first free. On 17 minutes. A record? Probably not, but our fans didn't think much of it anyway. To add insult to injury, we kept gobbing on at the ref and Nordi got booked even though it wasn't him. It almost got worse when Grealish, who was giving Hume a hard time, whacked one off the foot of our keeper's right-hand post as it became apparent that, as at Old Trafford, our starting formation wasn't working. Everton should really have gone two up on 27, but they somehow contrived to hoof it over the bar from very close in at the back post.

We took this as a signal to get ourselves sorted out, and moved a couple of bodies around, with Le Fee finding Traore on the edge of the box, but he swung his boot and only half hit the ball. Soon after that there were ironic cheers as Sadiki was fouled as he carried it away from our box and we actually got the decision. Wow - a yellow card as well.

With Hume further up the field and inside, we started to make some inroads and applied a bit of pressure, although our left wing was left to Reinildo. Gerty (why's he not number thirty?) found himself on the edge of the box but when the ball arrived he fired over the top, before Le Fee found Issy, but as he turned to shoot the effort was blocked. Much better, Lads, and we kept the pressure on, having shots from Nordi and Traore blocked as the visiting back line started to wobble a bit. Two added minutes were announced, which I thought was a bit light given the amount of time the compulsory VAR had taken for their goal and the treatment needed by Noah, but we kept at them.

A goal down at the break, which was probably fair, but some achievement as the ref, unlike our last poor reffing performance, had managed to be poor all on his own rather than be influenced by having a Portuguese constantly yapping in his ear. Buck your ideas up, mister ref!

No changes for the second half, and, thankfully, we started it in the manner we'd ended the first - up and at 'em. Issy stuck out his Inspector Gadget leg to bring down a pass up the left, and when it broke to Granit some distance outside the box, he hit a left-footer that fairly set the turf alight as it fizzed to Pickford's left and in. Worth the ticket money on its own, a real beaut and no more than we deserved. A cracka from Xhaka.

Our tails were well and truly up and Enzo was next to have a pop, his effort taking a mad deflection, but somehow Pickford, already on his way onto the original trajectory, flung up a hand to slap it away for a corner. He's not a bad keeper, that Lad. In came the corner from our left, and up went Keane's had (again, please see note at the end) but we got nothing - not even a VAR investigation. Hume was next into the book when he was the unlucky one of the three Sunderland players who tackled a Toffee at the same time. At this point we wondered if some substitutions would have to be made to prevent a second yellow, but Reg stuck to his guns. A free to the visitors up on their left seemed a tad harsh, but we cleared it after the customary wrestling match in the box - a dark art that we seem to be learning fast. If you can't beat them at it, you might as well join in, although I wish the officials would clamp down on it. Bloody American football, that's what it's turning into.

Anyway, they brought on Big Beto ten minutes in, just to give equally Big Dan something new to think about, and five minutes later their scorer limped off. After a foul in the centre circle, we had nine players in and around their box as Xhaka launched it in, and the ensuing chaos brought us a corner, which was cleared. In came Nordi's throw to give Keane's hand another bit of work, then a really strong run by Issy, not dissimilar to the one which brought Everton's goal, took him a bit too wide and the shot was awkward and high. More corners and shots followed, then a low cross from our right found Issy at the front post, but instead of getting it past Pickford, he scuffed it and the save was comfortable. Fifteen to go, and the crowd roared the Lads on to get the winner, but we had to deal with an Everton corner before we could build our next attack, which won a corner on our right. It was cleared but was sent straight back in - the curling cross cut out the visiting defence, but Nordi's diving effort went way over. A sort of similar chance to the one Alderete, still nursing a bad head, put away at Forest. Ah well. I don't suppose he appreciated the boot in the face either, but we clagged him back together and he was OK, or at least he played like he was.

With eight or so left, on came Brobbey and Talbi for Issy and Traore, with the latter rather surprisingly (to me) going to the right when his efforts on the opposite side at Stamford Bridge had been so effective. A minute later, Everton managed their first shot since that awful miss, and Roefs dived to his right to push away the effort from the edge of the box by Mykolenko - dramatic, but fairly comfortable. I think we'd had sixteen efforts in that period (actually, BBC sport told me that, in case you think I'd been counting. Which I had.)

The ref, who'd been better in the second half (hands in the box excluded), reverted to type by penalising a perfect Brobbey tackle in the circle, but we kept it away from Roefs. Six added minutes were announced and we screamed for the Lads to have another late show, but the goal wouldn't come. 1-1 it was, which was a bit of a shame as we'd been on top for the last hour. Never mind, onwards and upwards.

I haven't bothered to mention all the shouts for handball in their box (nine according to the lad behind me) as that'd have taken up too much space. Let's just say Michael Keane seemed to have more hands than Shiva, and all the evidence is there to see in the videos.

Man of the Match? Despite his shaky start, Xhaka settled himself, and the rest of the Lads, and he (and we) bossed the last hour. Oh, and he scored a beaut.

Away home to eventually watch the highlights despite a whiplash-inducing event on the way prolonging a journey already bogged down in heavy post-match traffic...

Aint football great? Bring on Arsenal!