Blues fight with pride... thanks to one man

Last time we walked away from Goodison Park, we had supporters arguing with each other after the Goodison Park crowd had just sung “You're getting sacked in the morning” at Marco Silva. This time, it was great to walk out with smiles on our faces.

Everton 3 - 1 Chelsea

A bright and early start meant that I was picked up by Dan and his son Alfie at around 10 am before we navigated on to collect Ste and Gaz. All the talk in the car was naturally about the footballing week. We discussed our atrocious Merseyside derby defending and the severe injustice we suffered with lack of VAR use and red cards for Liverpool players in that game. We also of course discussed the after-shock of that result - the painfully slow sacking of Marco SIlva on Thursday (“Why didn’t they just ask him to stay at home?” asked Dan), and subsequent appointment of our Caretaker Manager, Duncan Ferguson.

I’ve got to admit, I was very sad and disappointed for Marco Silva. I really felt he deserved more time. We don’t need to go into specifics here as we all know them, but four factors out of his hands all played a big factor in his demise - recruitment (or lack thereof at centre-back); awful injury luck; disgusting VAR decisions; and, player errors in key moments of tight games. A lot conspired against Marco and I feel that, if not for the terrible bulk injuries we suffered and woeful official decisions with VAR, we would not have come to this decision.

I was very upset with our club on Thursday and I emailed Denise Barrett-Baxendale to let her know as much. To the club’s credit, Denise passed on my email to Scott McLeod, our Head of Communications & Engagement, who did reply in-depth explaining the clubs decisions. I like that. I’ve no experience of contacting senior figures of other clubs of course so I’ve no idea if that is the norm, but I think it’s a good thing that senior figures at the club are willing to engage with supporters. Robert Elstone used to do the same. It’s important they keep doing this.

On Saturday morning, I watched Duncan Ferguson’s press conference back and what struck me was that, when asked how the players took the news of Marco’s sacking, he said “It was pretty mixed”. That suggests to me there was more of a split in the dressing room than I thought. And, if I hadn’t come around to the notion of sacking Marco Silva before we kicked off against Chelsea, I was certainly on board afterwards. We wouldn’t have got that performance from the players if Marco was still in charge. No way.

It was fair to say that many were rather underwhelmed with the line-up when we saw it in the pub. We weren’t sure there were enough legs in midfield, and most wanted to see Moise Kean have a go in attack. I was happy enough with keeping Dominic in, and adding Theo, though I thought Tom Davies would have been handy in the middle and didn’t particularly want Alex Iwobi in the XI. No centre-back on the bench was a concern, albeit an unfounded one, and the return to the squad of Oumar Niasse raised an eyebrow or two.

Ross Barkley was on the substitutes bench for the visitors, backing up a team littered with quality both youthful and senior. For every Reece James, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham was an N’Gola Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Willian. We had our work cut out…

The atmosphere at 12:30 pm kick-offs are often quiet and sterile, though there was no danger of that this time. I think the crowd realised the importance of their role in the game, and nobody really resonates with our fanbase like Duncan Ferguson. The atmosphere was pumping, and the players responded. Our 37 tackles in the game were the most by any team in the Premier League all season, and the most by any Everton team in a decade. Everton played the game like it was a Merseyside derby… well at least the way we used to play Merseyside derbies. They were up for the fight, didn’t shirk their responsibilities, and the crowd responded brilliantly. It was a joy to be there.

Duncan surprised us by going 4-4-2. There was none of this playing the ball around at the back from goal-kicks. It was direct, it was aggressive and the players were brave.

The early goal certainly helped and it was a somewhat familiar one - a ball in from the right by Djibril Sidibé, and a header into the net by Richarlison really lifted the spirits. We continued to fight hard. Chelsea threatened in our penalty area on a few occasions but Tammy Abraham failed to hit the target with his opportunities. At the other end, Dominic had his drive at goal saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga when he might have done better. The players were very committed and deserved to go into the break a goal ahead.

At half-time, we admit to sniggering at the prospects of the lady hitting the crossbar in the half-time competition, though she came a lot closer than most have done this season.

The second half was more of the same - our players fighting like their lives depended on it, and Everton scoring again within five minutes of kick-off, Dominic Calvert-Lewin this time benefiting from some slack defending from Kurt Zouma, capitalising on a lucky bounce and slotting confidently past the onrushing Kepa Arrizabalaga. If there was a roof, it would have been lifted off and the already iconic images and videos of Duncan bearhugging the ballboy will live long in the memory. What an amazing feeling!

This is Everton. You know this means that it’s very straightforward and within seven minutes, and with about 40 minutes still to play, Everton handed Chelsea an early lifeline when Mateo Kovacic's well-placed volley from distance found its way into the net past an unsighted Jordan Pickford. We hoped for a VAR intervention with offside as Tammy Abraham was stood directly in front of Jordan, but replays showed he was clearly onside and the goal fairly stood. Everton had a big fight on their hands.

The crowd played their part and roared the team on, while the defence, and goalkeeper when required, held firm to keep out the Londoners. Our team got in the way of everything and never stopped fighting. It was splendid to see as its been a long time since we’ve seen that from our team.

We’d already had other opportunities, mainly from Theo Walcott’s running, to make the game safe on the break but we couldn’t quite get the goal. We eventually did so however, making the most of poor goalkeeping from Kepa Arrizabalaga, first in going all Manuel Neuer and running out with the ball and playing a very stray pass out to Kurt Zouma. This was intercepted by Theo Walcott who played in Dominic. He back-heeled to substitute Tom Davies who wriggled past a few challenges (a bit Leon Osman-like) but was disrupted by a last-ditch tackle from N’Gola Kante. The ball fell to Dominic who jabbed quickly at goal, the ball squirming through the legs of the beleaguered goalkeeper and into the net. The game was effectively sealed and it was a joy to see the team, Dominic and Tom particularly, celebrating with the man they clearly think so highly of. Amazing!

All eyes were on Duncan Ferguson at full time and he calmly walked across the Goodison Park turf in the direction of referee Craig Pawson, as “Duncan, Duncan Ferguson” boomed out over the tannoy… and from the mouths of the supporters. Having shook hands with the officials, he then embraced his players before pumping his fists at the adoring supporters in the Bullens Road and Gwladys Street. It was an emotional moment, and you had to be delighted for Duncan, as you can see how much it means to him.

Last time we walked away from Goodison Park, we had supporters arguing with each other after the Goodison Park crowd had just sung “You're getting sacked in the morning” at Marco Silva. This time, it was great to walk out with smiles on our faces.

In his press conference, Duncan alluded to the great thing about football being that there’s always another game around the corner. This was never more apparent than with this fixture. It’s funny how football can change quickly.

Regardless of what manager comes in next, the day belonged to Duncan, and nobody can take it away from him.

Onwards and upwards Blues.

Players ratings

Pickford: I’d give him the benefit of the doubt with the goal as he seemed unsighted and he made one or two key saves to keep us ahead. He distributed well mostly, though ironically his biggest distribution blip - a long kick upfield which bounced straight through to Kepa Arrizabagala, indirectly resulted in our third goal. 7

Digne: Did well. Solid until forced off with injury. 7

Holgate: I thought Mason was excellent. Brave, committed and up for the fight. 8

Keane: He made a big error in the first half which nearly let Chelsea in but thankfully got away with it. Second half, he was very good. He was brave, won a lot of headers, and made a lot of clearances. Basically, our defence was everything that it wasn’t on Wednesday evening. 7

Sidibé: When he’s focused, I think Djibril is a great player. He’s calm on the ball, uses it intelligently and has a good delivery. He can defend well also and he seems to be a pretty good team player. He excelled in this game in my opinion both in attack and defence. 8

Schneiderlin: Morgan is much-maligned when things go wrong, though not very appreciated when we play well. Well, he was immense yesterday, perhaps his best performance for us to date. Sharp in his many countless tackles, and he benefited from having a motivated Gylfi alongside him who also covered a lot of ground and used the ball intelligently. Brilliant, Morgan! 8

Sigurdsson: Also very good. He covered a lot of ground and got the ball forward well into attacking areas. 7

Iwobi: He had quite a bright first half but lost his way after the break and, if not for injuries, surely wouldn’t have survived the game. He’s still finding his feet so I’ll reserve judgement, but I feel his best role currently, particularly with the return to fitness of Bernard, would be as impact substitute as he seems to make things happen in little spells of games. 6

Walcott: Theo always shows a good attitude and has a willingness to work for the team. His pace stretched them in the second half and, with a bit more composure in the final third, he could have contributed to another goal. 7

Richarlison: Certainly our player of the season so far, and he chipped in with another important goal. You have to assume the opposition will switch on to this routine we currently have which results in a full-back crossing the ball in for our late arriving Brazilian in the box - it’s hardly rocket science. Though let’s not under-estimate the quality of the build-up play, accuracy of delivery, and bravery of Richarlison to get himself into the position to power the ball into the net. If you get the run on your marker, it’s difficult to stop if the delivery is right. Nevertheless, let’s make hay while the sun shines with this. Other than that, Richarlison was his busy and productive self, and ran himself ragged before substituted on 71 minutes. 7

Calvert-Lewin: An immense effort from Dominic, and one which Duncan would have been proud of in his heyday. He was colossal in attack, got up for every header, hassled their defenders all game, and most importantly, scored two vital goals to win us the game. Outstanding, Dominic. Undoubtedly his best performance yet for Everton. That’s your marker Dominic, now go get it. My Man of the Match. 9

Davies (for Richarlison): A few wayward passes but his energy was a timely contribution to the game and he had a big hand in the third goal of course. Great to see him celebrating with Dominic and Duncan when we scored our third goal. 7

Baines (for Digne): With not a single minute of action all season, I was a touch concerned that 35-year-old Leighton Baines had to come in to a game which was on a knife-edge. Well, what was I worried about? Leighton is as fit as a fiddle and as cool as a cucumber and it was nice to see him make a contribution to the win. 7

Bernard (for Walcott): Just after our third goal, Theo had to come off injured. Bernard proved an able deputy in his short time on the pitch, getting involved and contributing. 6

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