It happens to the best of us

Two of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers went head-to-head at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Indeed, it could be argued that Jordan Pickford and David Raya are the standout shot-stoppers in the top flight. After all, they both regularly come in towards the top, or at the top, of the clean sheet charts, and neither are a stranger to truly outstanding saves.

But like any goalkeeper, both are capable of making mistakes.

In this instance, Raya got away with the mistakes he made. Pickford, on the other hand, made one error, and Everton were punished for it.

That slice of good fortune — not that you don’t make your own luck, of course — is what can separate a team from winning a title or not. Or, qualifying for Europe or not.

The remainder of Everton’s season won’t be defined by their 2-0 loss at the home of the Premier League leaders.

But for 89 minutes (94, if you include the first-half stoppage time), Everton were brilliant. Resilient in defence, despite missing Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski, and yet offering more than enough threat in attack.

Iliman Ndiaye and Dwight McNeil worked back tirelessly, though both of them — especially in the first half — had their moments. 

McNeil went closest, denied first by Riccardo Calafiori’s remarkable, instinctive block, and then, less than a minute later, by the upright.

Beto, who worked hard up top to try and disrupt Arsenal’s steely defence, saw a good shot on the swivel saved by Raya early in the second half.

Not that Arsenal did not have their moments. They should have had a penalty (though, so could Everton), and Pickford had to make a wonder save to deny Bukayo Saka early on, albeit the offside flag went up. 

But it was not until 16-year-old livewire Max Dowman entered the fray, fearless and brimming with confidence, that the game swung in Arsenal’s favour.

And really, it was not until the 89th minute that the tide truly turned.

Dowman, afforded a tad too much space and time by Ndiaye, delivered a sumptuous right-wing cross. Pace and fizz and just enough flatness to tease Pickford off his line.

This has happened before this season, most recently against Bournemouth, with Pickford trying to come out and claim a cross when he would have been much better served to stay on his line.

And it was a similar outcome here. Pickford didn’t get there, fully. He got a hand to the cross, but it had too much on it, and all he could do was flap at it. The ball fell kindly onto Piero Hincapie, who knew little about it but somehow, without it hitting one of his arms, managed to bundle it back along the goal line.

Jake O’Brien had gone walkabout, and it presented Viktor Gyokeres with the simplest of finishes. It was a string of mistakes, but the most glaring was Pickford’s.

Not that we need to blame Pickford, nor any other player for that matter, nor David Moyes. Mistakes happen in football.

At the other end, Raya made several. Not one of Everton’s three corners did he come and claim, flapping wildly at each of them. He also made a mess of coming to deal with a fine Ndiaye cross, which led to McNeil’s first chance, and that extraordinary Calafiori intervention, in the first half.

Raya came up with a big save when it mattered, but Pickford had been equal to everything fired his way, too, which wasn’t much.

The expected goals (xG) stat can put into perspective just how well Everton had done to handle Arsenal.

Gyokeres’s chance alone was worth 0.99 xG — the highest value possible. Dowman’s goal, which was into an empty net after his run from inside Arsenal’s half, came with an xG value of 0.95.

Arsenal finished with 2.7 xG, so take away those two whopping chances and you’re at 0.76. Everton’s xG was at 1.05.

Of course, football doesn’t work that way. Pickford and Everton were punished for their mistakes, and Arsenal took the points — a win that may well just prove to be the making of them as champions. Especially since Manchester City could only draw with West Ham, with an error from the usually excellent Gianluigi Donnarumma costing Pep Guardiola’s team at the London Stadium.

But this defeat is not one any Evertonian should be losing sleep over. Without three of the squad’s best players, they went toe-to-toe with the champions elect on the road.

It’s easier said than done, of course, but if that same spirit and level of performance can be replicated, and the fine margins go Everton’s way, over the weeks to come, they still have every chance of making this a great end to the season.

 

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