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Tag: Everton

  • EPL: Everton frustrate Chelsea’s title push with draw game

    EPL: Everton frustrate Chelsea’s title push with draw game

    Chelsea’s Premier League title challenge suffered a major setback as Everton snatched a 1-1 draw just hours after four of the European champions’ stars tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday.

    Thomas Tuchel’s side were without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi after the latest Covid-19 outbreak to rock the Premier League.

    Ben Chilwell, currently injured, also tested positive, while Kai Havertz was unable to play after feeling ill before the match.

    The Blues were already without Mateo Kovacic as the Croatia midfielder recovers having contracted the virus earlier in December.

    Shorn of so many key players, Chelsea laboured to break down stubborn Everton until Mason Mount netted midway through the second half at Stamford Bridge.

    Despite dominating from start to finish, Chelsea were punished for switching off at the back when Jarrad Branthwaite grabbed Everton’s equaliser with 16 minutes left.

    It was the 19-year-old defender’s first goal for Everton in just his third Premier League start.

    Failing to beat a struggling Everton side decimated by injuries and illness was a hammer blow on a difficult day for Chelsea.

    Having led the table for several weeks, Tuchel’s third placed team are now four points behind leaders Manchester City.

    Chelsea have won only two of their last five league games as they lost ground on City and second placed Liverpool.

    With five games scheduled for this weekend called off due to Covid cases, and four others postponed at various times in the last week, Tuchel insisted he did not push for Chelsea’s game to be cancelled.

    “I don’t lose any concentration or energy with questions like this,” he said.

    “At some point it’s getting difficult in terms of overuse of players, but I was not involved in these thoughts.”

    The battling draw was a welcome sight for under-fire Everton boss Rafael Benitez, whose team have won only one of their last 11 league games.

    A banner reading “Benitez – get out of our club” was unfurled by Everton fans before kick-off.

    But it was the Chelsea supporters who were booing at full-time after their side’s latest frustrating result.

  • Gray’s superb strike gives Everton victory over Arsenal

    Gray’s superb strike gives Everton victory over Arsenal

    Demarai Gray’s superb injury-time strike earned Everton a first win in nine games to end a bruising week with a stunning comeback against Arsenal.

    After a week in which the hosts were thumped by Liverpool and director of football Marcel Brands left the club, Rafael Benitez’s team responded with a much-improved display that showed the character and resilience fans were looking for.

    Richarlison had brought Everton level with 10 minutes of normal time remaining after Martin Odegaard scored the game’s opener from Kieran Tierney’s cross in first-half stoppage time.

    That the winner came after Richarlison had also had two goals ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee before getting the equaliser will only have added to the home fans’ delight.

    The scenes at the final whistle were a complete turnaround from last Wednesday, when the mood turned ugly after a 4-1 defeat by their city rivals.

    Victory lifts Everton to 12th in the table, eight points above the relegation zone.

  • Salah hits double as Liverpool win Merseyside derby

    Salah hits double as Liverpool win Merseyside derby

    Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool brushed Everton aside to ensure Rafa Benitez’s first Merseyside derby as Toffees boss was a miserable one.

    Jordan Henderson gave the Reds an early lead before Salah added a second from a tight angle soon after.

    Demarai Gray pulled one back before the break, sparking an Everton revival.

    But Salah pounced on a Seamus Coleman mistake to score Liverpool’s third and dash hopes of a Everton comeback before Diogo Jota completed the win.

  • I don’t like playing against Everton – Klopp

    I don’t like playing against Everton – Klopp

    Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he doesn’t enjoy derbies against Everton.

    Klopp’s side face Everton on Wednesday night in their first trip to Goodison Park since an especially ferocious encounter in October 2020.

    The game ended 2-2 but there was much focus on Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who wasn’t punished for a challenge on Virgil van Dijk which led to the Liverpool defender suffering an injury that kept him out for the remainder of last season.

    “It’s always a completely different game, so I really very often don’t like the intensity of the game, it’s too much for me,” Klopp told Sky Sports.

    “I like physical football, I have no problem with that, we play that, other teams play that, but in that game very often people put too much in. I can’t say it’s my favourite game of the year to be honest, because of that.

    “But we have the chance to watch Everton tomorrow, we will prepare for the game and will try to make a normal but good football game.”

  • Sign the clown from Everton – Ederson tells Man City

    Sign the clown from Everton – Ederson tells Man City

    Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson admits he’d like management to sign Everton striker Richarlison.

    The pair often line up together for the Brazil national team, with the forward becoming a regular at international level thanks to his strong performances at Goodison Park.

    Those displays have also produced a number of rumours in past transfer windows surrounding Richarlison’s future on Merseyside, with many of Europe’s top sides linked with a potential big-money swoop.

    Ederson was asked which Brazil player he would like to see Man City make a potential move for, and the Everton forward was the one that came to mind.

    Speaking to TNT Sports, the goalkeeper replied: “I’d bring the pigeon (the nickname for the Toffees forward). For the chats.

    “He’s a goof, a clown. There are many words I can put on him.”

  • King hat-trick gives Ranieri first win as Watford boss

    King hat-trick gives Ranieri first win as Watford boss

    Joshua King’s hat-trick helped Watford to a stunning first win under Claudio Ranieri as Everton collapsed in a pulsating Premier League game at Goodison Park.

    Tom Davies put the hosts ahead early on but Watford equalised before the break through King from close range.

    Former Hornets striker Richarlison put Everton ahead again but Juraj Kucka’s header drew Watford level.

    King, who didn’t score for Everton during his spell there in the first half of 2021, then struck twice inside six minutes before Emmanuel Dennis put the seal on an incredible comeback.

    While Watford had never won at Goodison in any competition before this match, Ranieri has happier memories of trips to Everton – this was his fifth consecutive win at the ground.

    It is a second successive home defeat for Everton’s former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and some boos greeted the Spaniard’s decision to replace Anthony Gordon with Richarlison in the second half.

    He seemed vindicated when the Brazilian struck with a fine diving header just three minutes after coming on, but Benitez then saw his side’s lead evaporate in a disastrous final 10 minutes that leaves his side in eighth place.

    Watford, having started life under Ranieri with an emphatic defeat against Liverpool, climb the table to 14th – suddenly well clear of the relegation zone.

  • West Ham came with failure to take our chances – Benitez

    West Ham came with failure to take our chances – Benitez

    Everton boss Rafa Benitez says they paid for not taking their chances in defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

    Angelo Ogbonna grabbed the only goal of the game at Goodison Park.

    Benitez said: “We were quite good with Andros Townsend, Alex Iwobi, Demarai Gray and Anthony Gordon, when he came on, linking with Salomon Rondon.

    “We were dangerous previously, even with Abdoulaye Doucoure coming from behind, so we have these things we did well in other games.

    “Today, we couldn’t do it.

    “If you have Dominic and Richarlison, it would be easier for us to have more quality in the final third and missing these players means you have less chances to change and have fresh legs on the pitch or to change a game.

    “When you play against a good team, it’s more obvious that it’s a problem.

    “For now, we have to manage and hopefully soon those players will be with us.

    “The fact that we were winning without Richarlison or Dominic means we could have done the same today.

    “You play against a good team and then you have some chances, you have to take them.

    “If not, you have to carry on.

    “We were winning and we have to carry on winning.”

  • Ogbonna’s header leads West Ham to victory against Everton

    Ogbonna’s header leads West Ham to victory against Everton

    Angelo Ogbonna headed a second-half winner to give West Ham United a hard-fought victory at Everton.

    In a game of few clear-cut chances, defender Ogbonna netted the only goal in the 74th minute, rising inside the six-yard box to flick home Jarrod Bowen’s corner.

    The Hammers dominated the first half but lacked incisiveness in the final third and called Jordan Pickford into action just once.

    The England keeper palmed out Bowen’s stinging shot while Tomas Soucek thought he had found the breakthrough with his follow-up from close range but it was ruled out for offside.

    Alex Iwobi missed a glorious opportunity for Everton when he failed to make any contact with the ball from six yards out then the Nigerian’s spin and strike was blocked in the second half.

    The Toffees could not find an equaliser as their three-game winning run at Goodison Park was ended.

    West Ham’s victory takes them up to sixth in the Premier League table as they leapfrog Everton, who drop to seventh.

  • Everton matchwinner: Why I celebrated like Cristiano Ronaldo

    Everton matchwinner: Why I celebrated like Cristiano Ronaldo

    Everton attacker Andros Townsend insists he wasn’t seeking to wind-up Cristiano Ronaldo with his goal celebration in their 1-1 draw at Manchester United.

    Townsend celebrated by imitating Ronaldo.

    But he later said: “Not imitating, it’s just a mark of respect to a guy who influenced my career. I spent many hours on the training pitch and in the video room trying to analyse his free-kicks and his stepovers and the way he dedicated himself to football. So it wasn’t an imitation it was a mark of respect to one of my idols. I probably didn’t do the celebration justice and didn’t execute it properly.”

    On his five goals in nine games for Everton, Townsend continued: “I’m loving my football and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to play for Everton football club and to contribute and score goals. I’ve said many times in the past I should e scoring goals on a more consistent basis. For one reason or another I’ve never really done it over the course of the season. It’s been a good start but I’m capable of much more.

    On the mood in the dressing room, he added: “It’s a difficult one because on the one hand we’re delighted to come to Old Trafford and get a point with the injuries we had but we;re a little disappointed not to take all three.

  • EPL: Townsend strikes as Everton draw with Man Utd

    EPL: Townsend strikes as Everton draw with Man Utd

    Andros Townsend’s second-half equaliser earned Everton a deserved point against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

    Rafael Benitez’s men were unlucky to fall behind just before the break as Anthony Martial scored for the first time since February.

    But Demarai Gray escaped the attentions of Fred and Aaron Wan-Bissaka as Everton countered from a United corner, setting up the attack which ended with Townsend driving a low shot into the corner from Abdoulaye Doucoure’s lay-off.

    Townsend celebrated in Ronaldo-esque manner. It was more than the man himself managed. Left on the bench after his injury-time winner against Villarreal on Wednesday, Cristiano Ronaldo came on in the 57th minute but had minimal impact either before or after the equaliser.

    Everton thought they had a winner four minutes from time but VAR intervened to rule Yerry Mina’s tap-in out for offside.

    The result completes a decidedly unimpressive run of home results for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team, who lost against Aston Villa seven days ago after being dumped out of the EFL Cup by West Ham.