Everton Sliding Doors: The moments when it all could have changed

At the end of every season, fans of every club will no doubt be able to look back and point to several moments that proved decisive. Where it went wrong, or where it went right.

But it feels like Everton have had some key moments in this strange old season where they were on the brink of some tangible success, only to see it — for one reason or another — slip through their grasp.

And so perhaps as a bit of final therapy before we can all move on to the summer, here’s some Sliding Doors moments that, had they gone differently, could have changed the outcome of Everton’s 2025-26 campaign.

JACK GREALISH’S INJURY

Everton’s first half of the season was impressive, and they went into the turn of the year having managed to navigate a lay-off for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and the absences of Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye due to the Africa Cup of Nations.

On 18 January, they beat Aston Villa 1-0 thanks to Thierno Barry’s cute finish. Jack Grealish played the full game against his former club and, while he could not wield his usual creative influence, was vital in seeing out the win as he held on to possession and drew fouls.

Grealish was back in the line-up after missing the Sunderland game in the FA Cup due to suspension and, with Ndiaye, Gueye, Dewsbury-Hall and Jarrad Branthwaite soon back available, the hope was Everton would be fully fit and firing.

Alas, a couple of days later, it was confirmed Grealish had sustained a fractured foot, and it was soon pretty clear he would be out for the season. 

He had registered six assists and two goals in 20 league appearances, and he has been sorely missed.

THE DREADFUL START AT BRENTFORD

Despite Grealish’s absence, Everton came out of the winter and early spring in great spirits. They had picked up valuable victories at Fulham and Newcastle United, and beaten Burnley at home, before thrashing Chelsea. They had lost to Manchester United and Arsenal, but there were positives to take from the latter display.

Yet a 3-week break ahead of a decisive run of fixtures against Brentford and Liverpool seemed to do the world of bad for Everton, and their first two minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium were a sign of things to come.

The defence switched off and Jordan Pickford, who had been in stellar form, gave away a careless penalty, which was dispatched by Igor Thiago.

While Everton wrestled a 2-2 draw from a frantic encounter, that lapse so early on in a crucial fixture set the tone for what was to come.

THE DERBY

Dewsbury-Hall’s last-gasp equaliser at Brentford meant Everton went into the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium knowing a win would take them right into the Champions League race, and just two points behind Liverpool.

And when Ndiaye calmly stroked home midway through the first half after a fine start from Everton, and the home crowd erupted in celebration, it seemed like this was it: Everton were on the charge.

Instead, the goal was disallowed by VAR – Jake O’Brien had drifted offside in the build-up. A few minutes later, Mohamed Salah put Liverpool ahead after a mistake from Dwight McNeil.

But Everton fought their way back. Beto, who’d been a pest all game, equalised, and in the process, Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was injured, meaning their third-choice shot-stopper, Freddie Woodman, had to come on.

Yet Everton managed to test him with just one shot on target, and their efforts were hampered further when Beto was forced off injured, and the ineffective Thierno Barry came on.

A season-ending injury for Jarrad Branthwaite further deflated the mood, and just as it looked Everton would at least take a point, Virgil van Dijk delivered the knockout blow in the 10th minute of stoppage time. Horrible.

LATE GOALS GALORE AND REFEREEING FRUSTRATION 

After the derby, it was West Ham’s turn to break Everton’s heart late on, this time Callum Wilson striking home.

Earlier in the game, Everton should have had a penalty for a blatant handball from Mateus Fernandes. The only reprieve for the officials is that Dewsbury-Hall subsequently equalised for Everton, who contrived to throw the point away anyway.

Then, Everton became the first team in Premier League history to concede result-altering goals in second-half stoppage time in three successive matches, as Jeremy Doku curled in an equaliser for Manchester City in that 3-3 thriller.

It’s a result that, ultimately, ruined both clubs’ seasons.

Everton had done so brilliantly to get themselves ahead, but Michael Keane and James Tarkowski switched off to gift Erling Haaland a goal, and then Doku worked his magic.

But again, before Doku’s strike, another refereeing mistake cost Everton.

Michael Oliver was looking right at Bernardo Silva as he clearly fouled Merlin Röhl from a corner.

VAR looked at it, but claimed they could not advise Oliver to give the spot-kick as the ball was not in play from the corner. PGMO’s excuse then became that it was because the ball was not actually in play for long enough.

Neither of those reasons wash. The ball was in play when the foul continued to take place, and Everton — leading 3-2 at the time — should have had a penalty. An independent panel has since deemed likewise.

For all Everton’s flaws in the run-in, they have also been done badly by dismal officiating.

MOYES’S FLAWED COMMITMENT TO POOR PLAYERS

David Moyes blasted the defending for Man City’s second goal, yet a week later, as Everton rocked up to a Crystal Palace team less than three days on from a European semi-final victory, Keane and Tarkowski were once again paired at the back.

And once again, they were terrible as a partnership.

Yet even after that 2-2 draw, Everton knew a victory over Sunderland could lift them as high as 8th, and keep them right in the mix heading into the final day.

Once again, Moyes made the wrong decision with the defence. Once again, it proved costly, and this time, it ended any European ambitions.

NDIAYE FLUFFING HIS LINES

It has not been a good couple of months for Ndiaye. Yes, he looks shattered, but that’s no excuse for how he has fallen short when Everton have really needed him.

And against Sunderland, with Everton leading 1-0, he still had the opportunity to all but kill the game.

He was put through by Dewsbury-Hall on the counter, and with just one defender between him and Beto, and plenty of space to either pass into or run into, all Ndiaye needed to do was show some composure.

If he got his head up, took a touch and turned slightly inside — which he is more than capable of doing — it would have opened up even more space to slip a simple pass into Beto, who then had a one-v-one.

Or, he could have used his considerable skill and not inconsiderable turn of pace to simply run further and then draw in his man, therefore opening up another square pass.

Instead, Ndiaye panicked and tried the hardest option — a curling through ball that even the best passer (which he certainly is not) would find difficult to execute. Robin Roefs collected with ease.

Sunderland equalised soon after, then took the lead, and even if O’Brien did then go on to miss a sitter, the damage was frankly already done. The rest, as they say, is history.

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