The Joe Thomas verdict as Blues threw away a one goal lead at half-time to lose 2-1 at home to Bournemouth
David Moyes saw his side throw away their lead
David Moyes saw his side throw away their lead(Image: Getty Images)
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When Iliman Ndiaye found the side netting from the penalty spot it was the first time in just over a month Everton had taken the lead at home. Just like against Wolves, they pressed self-destruct.
Another home game, another frustrating result. Another missed opportunity. The Blues were ahead and on top after an hour at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Ndiaye had given them the lead just before the break and was slicing through the Bournemouth defence just after it. Only the last-ditch heroics of Alex Toth denied Everton a second as they emerged from the break with genuine intensity.
An eight minute horror show then followed and Everton’s new home emptied to the sound of celebrating away supporters. Bournemouth, like Wolves, Leeds, Brentford, Sunderland and Arsenal have left the Liverpool waterfront happy since Everton last won at home. That is no way to qualify for Europe, whether via the Premier League of the FA Cup.
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The most galling thing for David Moyes was that he could see what was coming and was trying to solve the problem just before chaos struck. Vitalii Mykolenko and Tyrique George were leaving the dangerous Rayan in too much space down the left and the manager was pointing to that side of the pitch as he stood with Harrison Armstrong on the touchline.
Armstrong then came on for George as Moyes looked to halt the threat. The only problem was Rayan had escaped attention to head in at the back post before the substitution could be made.
Three minutes later Bournemouth completed the turnaround when Amine Adli headed in from a free-kick that was again woefully defended. A long ball was floated into the box and won by James Hill, who headed across to Adli, whose finish was straightforward with Jordan Pickford having misjudged where the attack would come from.
Everton will have reasonable frustration over the efforts of the clearly offside Enes Unal to win the first header from the free-kick. He did not make contact with it but then neither did Harrison Armstrong at Aston Villa last month, when his presence led to a Jake O’Brien goal being disallowed. Presumably, the officials will argue the fact there were no Everton players around Unal to interfere with meant the goal should stand. But Moyes had every right to be at best confused and at worst angry.
He looked stern when play restarted. Standing on the touchline with the rain soaking his hair, he clapped his hands to try and encourage his players into a comeback that should not have been required. Minutes later, Adli got the wrong side of O’Brien as Bournemouth counter attacked and the centre back, playing out of position and perhaps unaware of the attacker behind him, turned into the player and the collision brought him down. Adli was through on goal - though it could be argued he had more to do than Mohamed Salah at the weekend when Marc Guehi’s tug did not lead to a sending off in the Liverpool v Manchester City game.
Everton tried to salvage a point and fought to the end but to no avail. A chance to move up to sixth, a chance to build on the positive away form that had counteracted the struggles by the Mersey, gone in 480 seconds of madness.
It had all been going so well. Everton went into the break ahead after 45 minutes low on quality and intensity but in which the hosts had the better chances. A game that struggled for fluency burst into life around the half hour mark when James Garner’s free-kick popped off the wet surface in front of Djordje Petrovic, who spilled it into the path of Thierno Barry.
The Blues forward should have hit the target but instead skewed his shot wayward. Everton went on the attack again and came close to opening the scoring when Petrovic pushed Ndiaye’s shot onto the post and it looked as though Everton were in the ascendancy.
They failed to build on that momentum and the game was idling towards the break when Garner opted to take a free-kick short to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall rather than shoot from a similar area from which he had forced Petrovic into a mistake.
It looked a poor call as Everton lost the ball by the corner flag but Rayan, Bournemouth’s big money January signing, sought to cut across his box to carry the ball away from danger and instead found himself turning into Jarrad Branthwaite and clumsily wiping out the centre back.
It was a simple decision for Andrew Madley and Ndiaye found the side netting to give Everton the lead in a home game for the first time since Michael Keane opened the scoring against Wolves just over a month ago. Just like in that game, Everton let three points slip through their fingers - though not before Toth produced two last ditch blocks and Barry saw a close range effort stopped on the line. The striker sat with his head down in disappointment for a long time after his withdrawal. He and Everton had the chances to end the resistance before it had started.
It was easy to feel sorry for Moyes on the touchline. He was dejected after the game, too, almost wincing when he was asked about a battle for Europe that will be impossible to win so long as his side continues to produce moments of such calamity.
His selection had been as adventurous as could have been expected and his side was ahead and in control when his players, collectively, inexplicably, lost their way - and not for the first time.
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