Chris Beesley with four big talking points from the Vitality Stadium after Everton snatched a late 1-1 draw with Bournemouth
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: Harrison Armstrong of Everton during the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Everton at Vitality Stadium on August 29, 2026 in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Harrison Armstrong pictured in action against Bournemouth in what could be his final match as an Everton player(Image: Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
This correspondent would be asking you for Saturday night’s National Lottery numbers if you’d have predicted that when the final whistle sounded of Everton’s last game before the summer transfer window closed, their right-back would be... Tim Iroegbunam.
Just what sort of message that sends out, who knows. Perhaps, unlike Harrison Armstrong, or indeed Iliman Ndiaye, it puts the Brummie midfielder in the shop window for potential suitors – a move to Hull City was on the cards before his recent injury – by showing he is fit again. Playing in this corresponding fixture last season, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall commented on how Iroegbunam negotiated the balancing act of walking a disciplinary tightrope.
He said: “I said to Tim, I’ve never seen a lad make so many clean tackles on a yellow card in my life. He got a yellow card in the 25th minute and made eight perfect tackles after that. said: 'Fair play lad. You’ve got some cojones to be able to keep going in when you’re on a yellow', but he reacted unbelievably.”
Never mind cojones, seeing Iroegbunam finish the game at right-back after Everton’s transfer committee have had 18 months to fill the position with a specialist and even Blues-supporting Prime Minister Andy Burnham has waded into the debate by insisting they need to sign one – remarking how Jake O’Brien who remained on the bench here, can’t do another season in the role – felt more like a kick in the b******s.
Leading by example
We saw two sides of James Tarkowski at the Vitality Stadium but ultimately the Everton captain came up trumps in the end. His stoppage-time equaliser wasn’t quite as late, dramatic or spectacular as his one against Liverpool to ensure the Reds didn’t finish with a winning record at Goodison Park after 120 matches across more than 130 years, but after a day of angst – on and off the pitch – it at least enabled those loyal but long-suffering supporters making their annual 520-mile return trip from Merseyside to Dorset to filter out of the Vitality Stadium with smiles on their faces ahead of their arduous journeys home.
We all know that as a dominant header of the ball, the Mancunian is a potent weapon in opposition boxes with his aerial ability, but just as he showed with his last goal, in the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on May 10, Tarkowski can strike a ball decisively and cleanly when given the opportunity. Having found the net for the first time since he replaced the long-serving Seamus Coleman as club captain, Tarkowski clutched the Everton crest on his jersey when running over to celebrate in front of the away fans.
Overall, it was another solid display from the defensive warrior but while he read the game well, his team-mates left his lack of pace exposed when he was left one-on-one against Evanilson in the build-up to Bournemouth’s goal. The more fleet-footed Jarrad Branthwaite – or even O’Brien who produced one of his colossal performances when deployed in his natural position alongside Tarkowski here last season – would probably have coped better but he remains this team’s leader.
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: James Tarkowski of Everton celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Everton at Vitality Stadium on August 29, 2026 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
James Tarkowski races away in celebration after his dramatic equaliser for Everton at Bournemouth(Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Barry misses
If only Thierno Barry had shown the same kind of composure in front of goal as his skipper, then the Blues might have ended the long-running trail of tears at Bournemouth with back-to-back victories? Instead, the striker must console himself with four goals from August, a tally which represents half of last season’s total and a milestone he did not reach in 2025/26 until he netted the winner with a sublime chip over Emiliano Martinez at Aston Villa on January 18.
In his own words, the Frenchman described himself as “a wounded animal” in a social media post over the summer, determined to come back stronger and more effective after an up and down maiden campaign in the Premier League. Most of his strikes so far this term have been predatory rather than blockbusters, but that’s what Everton need, a frontman who is in the right place at the right time.
On too many occasions in recent years, Blues strikers – whether it’s been Barry, his current rival Beto, or somebody else have spent prolonged periods feeding on scraps as they plough a lonely furrow up front, often isolated from the rest of the team. Taking a glass half full approach after a difficult day, Evertonians can take hope from the fact that the 23-year-old is getting on the end of these chances and on other occasions, some of these opportunities should be taken.
Leaving it late
Going back to Everton’s first Premier League trip to Bournemouth almost 11 years ago, there has been a pedigree of stoppag- time strikes. Back on that maiden visit on November 28, 2015, there were actually two as the late drama unfolded.
Roberto Martinez’s side looked to be cruising when goals from Ramiro Funes Mori and Romelu Lukaku put them into a 2-0 lead that they maintained until 10 minutes from the end but as we’ve learned against the Cherries – especially with the chastening experience on their final visit to Goodison Park two days shy of two years prior to this fixture – you’ve got to keep going until the very end.
Adam Smith, who has proven an economical signing for Bournemouth given that he was captaining the hosts here, over a decade on, reduced the deficit for Eddie Howe’s side with 10 minutes to go before Junior Stanislaus levelled proceedings on 87 minutes. Everton thought they’d won it on 95 minutes through Ross Barkley but Stanislaus struck again on 98 minutes to secure a share of the spoils.
Even when Beto equalised for the Blues here in 2024 on 87 minutes, there was still time for the hosts to win the game in stoppage time through Coleman’s own goal as Sean Dyche’s troops were condemned to go beyond Christmas to Easter without a Premier League victory.
The aforementioned Barkley of course followed on from the likes of Wayne Rooney, Francis Jeffers and Michael Ball as talented young Scousers who departed Goodison Park in the 21st century with their best years still ahead of them. The move to Hill Dickinson Stadium and The Friedkin Group takeover was supposed to end all of that, so Everton’s American owners and their man on the ground Angus Kinnear need to take note if they wish to avoid an horrific backlash over Harrison Armstrong.