Ten-man Everton imploded within the space of eight second-half minutes against Bournemouth at Hill Dickinson Stadium – and James Tarkowski has had his say
Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski during Everton's defeat to Bournemouth
Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski during Everton's defeat to Bournemouth(Image: (Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images))
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James Tarkowski believes his Everton side only have themselves to blame after they hit the self-destruct button against Bournemouth. The Blues headed into the game with the chance to not only put themselves firmly in the mix for European football next season but also leapfrog Liverpool in the table.
But David Moyes’ side imploded within the space of eight second-half minutes as they threw away a 1-0 lead and eventually finished the game with 10-men. Taking the lead through Iliman Ndiaye's penalty just before the break, two quickfire goals from Rayan and Amine Adli just after the hour-mark turned the game on its head.
A disastrous eight-minute period for Everton was compounded when defender Jake O'Brien was sent off for a professional foul on Adli.
And Tarkowski said: “It is disappointing because we put ourselves in with a chance without playing great in the first-half, as we went in 1-0 up, and in the second half we started well and had a couple of opportunities to double the lead, and we would have felt a lot more comfortable. Then two rubbish goals to concede, and we end up losing the game.
“We finished well and we can be proud of the way we finished the game because playing with 1-0-men is not easy. We worked hard to keep making opportunities and we had a couple of half opportunities but we couldn’t just quite nick it in the end.”
Before he continued: “Yeah, self-destruct is a good way of putting it because we were pretty comfortable, we were controlling them and they are a tough team to play against, as they put loads of pressure on the ball and they play high up the pitch, but we were dealing with it quite well.
“And then in a brief moment and before you know it, we have gone from 1-0 up to 2-1 down and 10 men. We need to find a way when playing at home to pick up some results because we started so well here, but in recent months we have really struggled to do that and we need to put that right somehow.”
Everton's Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski react to going 2-1 down to Bournemouth(Image: Alex Dodd/Shutterstock)
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Blues boss Moyes was clearly seething after the game and it was easy to understand why, as he was left to bemoan a couple of missed chances which fell to Thierno Barry six yards out.
And when the forward was hooked for Beto, he cut a distraught figure on the bench as he sat with his head in his hands looking at the floor.
“He is disappointed,” Tarkowski replied when asked about his team-mate. “His job is to score goals for us, which is everyone's job, not just his and he puts a lot of pressure and expectation on himself, so he is disappointed, but it is on us as a team and group to rally around him. He’s still young and he’s still learning.”
Everton have now just collected eight points from their past nine matches at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium, and they last tasted victory on home soil against Nottingham Forest on December 6.
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And Tarkowski believes there are 'minor, minor details' that are ultimately leading to his side not picking up points at home.
He said: “You would probably have expected it the other way really, for us to struggle at the start and then pick up after.
“We started really well and have struggled after that. I wish I could just say this is the reason why, but I can’t do that right now.
“Tonight up until the first goal I didn’t think they got at us. They had a bit of possession, but they didn’t really cause us many issues.
“If we score a second and then a third, then the game is put to bed and we would have won the game, so I would say there are probably a couple of minor, minor details that are ultimately leading to us not picking up enough points at home.”
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