Anthony Gordon and Frank Lampard are in agreement that there is still plenty of work to do if Everton are to retain their Premier League status.
Everton moved four points clear of the relegation zone – although 18th-placed Burnley could reduce the gap back to one when they visit rock-bottom Norwich on Sunday – with a 1-0 win over Manchester United.
Gordon’s deflected strike in the 27th minute proved decisive although Everton, backed by a raucous Goodison Park support, showed no lack of resolve to claim an invaluable three points.
But with eight games of the season remaining, Gordon is well aware there are still potentially many twists and turns to come and is therefore adamant the Toffees will not be resting on their laurels.
“It’s a massive win,” said the homegrown forward on the club website. “They’ve got so many good players at the top end of the pitch, so they were always going to have chances and make it difficult.
“But it is also only one win. We’ve done that plenty, now it’s about being consistent and carrying on those performances.”
Everton boss Lampard was particularly pleased with his side’s response after a 3-2 midweek defeat at Burnley but he, too, recognises they are not out of the woods yet.
“It’s really easy that the first reflection after a defeat is that ‘they don’t care’ or ‘they don’t want it enough’ and that’s not the reality with this group,” said Lampard.
The simple things that won us the game were a lot of the simple things in football: desire, fight, spirit, togetherness and those are the things that will keep us up ahead of patterns of play
“Did we make mistakes earlier in the week that cost us points? Yeah, but do these lads want it as much as anything to stay in this league? Yes, and it showed in the performance here.
“But this is not enough, it’s just three points, there’s a long way to go.”
Everton had just 32 per cent possession on Saturday afternoon but repelled United’s vaunted attackers with 35 clearances while Jordan Pickford twice denied England team-mate Marcus Rashford early on then Cristiano Ronaldo in time added on.
“The simple things that won us the game were a lot of the simple things in football: desire, fight, spirit, togetherness and those are the things that will keep us up ahead of patterns of play,” added Lampard.
“It’s not a moment for that, we want to stay up. Maybe next year is a moment for what can we change? How can we make some changes to the way we play? At the minute it’s about digging in.”
Defeat for United was compounded when Ronaldo apologised after appearing to knock a mobile phone out of a supporter’s hand and on to the ground as he headed off towards the tunnel.
“It’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing,” said Ronaldo on Instagram. “I would like to apologise for my outburst.
“If possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship.”
Tottenham’s thrashing of Aston Villa later on Saturday left United six points adrift of the top four, and Red Devils goalkeeper David De Gea was highly critical of an ineffective display on Merseyside.
“It’s another poor performance,” the Spaniard told MUTV. “We don’t create chances, we don’t play well and we get beaten by Everton in probably one of the worst seasons they are having. It’s not acceptable.
“I don’t think we created a proper, proper chance in the whole game. (There were) a couple of chances but not even big ones. I don’t know what to say, to be honest. It’s very sad. This club deserves much more.
“I feel horrible. I feel very sad, I can imagine how (the supporters) feel because they come to every game and we hear them always the whole game, it doesn’t matter if we are winning or losing. It’s very tough for them and for us.”
