When both teams are as hungry as possible for points, especially Sean Dyche’s men, then a good show for all neutral spectators is almost guaranteed. “You won’t have to be sad,” thought each of the neutral fans, and formally these expectations were not wrong.
Everton are still without Doucoure, however, as always, with Vitaly Mykolenko in the starting line-up. We’ll talk about the Ukrainian’s performance a little later, but looking ahead: everything is fine there. It’s better to first catch the match itself. It was an endless exchange of mutual jabs performed by both teams. Oddly enough, despite the fact that the ball was in the possession of the hosts most of the time, it was the Toffees who were much more active in creating problems at the opponent’s goal.
Just look at the moment after a free kick from Ashley Young, after which Leno saved, but the Everton player was the first to finish, the ball after the crossbar and from the hand of Anthony Robinson almost crossed the goal line, but the “Country Residents” managed to fight back. Also, several cool crosses from Mikolenko found the addressee, but did not translate into extremely dangerous blows, which is especially disappointing.
Marc Silva’s team also had something to answer. Andreas Pereira almost caught Pickford on the counter with a shot from outside the penalty area, Raul Jimenez should have opened the scoring midway through the first half with a killer shot that only miraculously flew wide of the goal. But without goals and with such results, the teams went to the break. It was at that moment that the Toffees could look at the standings, according to which they had dropped into the relegation zone due to the result in the parallel match.
This probably greatly angered the militant Liverpudlians; they entered the second half with a greater desire to attack, which the home team partially took advantage of, carrying out their quick counterattacks, but still having problems finishing. More often, the “dacha residents” carried out their attacks precisely along the left flank, that is, through the flank opposite to Mikolenko. Perhaps they did not want to meet Vitaly often, or perhaps this was due to the good form of Willian, who became almost the leader of his team’s attacks.
In one of the episodes, Mikolenko once again joined the attack to shoot from outside the penalty area, but the Ukrainian was unable to hit the target. In general, we actually did not see any attacks through his flank. However, the Cottagers seized the initiative after the 60th minute and began to dominate so much that Dyche’s team was saved only by the crossbars and a little luck, as without this. At that moment, there was even a counterattack on Vitaly’s flank, but he was simply not ready for such a sudden loss of the ball from his team. It was lucky that Godfrey somehow miraculously managed to provide insurance; if Willian had received that pass from De Cordova-Reid, it would have definitely been a goal.
In the 76th minute, everyone was once again surprised how the score still remained 0:0, because after a cross from Willian, Tosin Adarabiojo shot in such a way that it was simply impossible to stop. But if your name is Jordan Pickford and you have the courage, then anything is possible. Having withstood even such a powerful onslaught, in the time compensated by the referee, the Toffees almost snatched victory! It was Norbert Beth who had the chance to score twice after corner kicks, in one of them he clumsily directed the ball above the empty goal, and in the other he prevented his partner from shooting into the half-empty goal. Such miracles happened on the field today, but the team never scored any goals.
This draw and Luton’s victory in the parallel match mean Sean Dyche’s side are falling into the relegation zone. Of course, they have enough time to fix everything, but the fact itself is as unpleasant as possible.
Premier League, 22nd round
Stadium: Craven Cottage (London)
Main judge: Thomas Bramall (England)
“Fulham” — “Everton” 0:0
Goals: No.
“Fulham”: Leno – Castagne, Adarabioyo, Diop (Rome 75), Robinson – Palinha, Cairney – De Cordova-Reed, Pereira, Willian – Jimenez (Muniz 46)
Everton: Pickford – Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mikolenko – Young (Patterson 81), Garner, McNeil, Danjuma (Dobbin 90) – Garrison – Calvert-Lewin (Betu 81)
Warnings: Paligna (26) – Godfrey (28), Branthwaite (42)