As weekends go, the most recent one could not have been much worse for Everton.
The Toffees were beaten 2-0 in the Merseyside derby by Liverpool at Anfield, having performed admirably for an hour. Frank Lampard also saw his side denied what looked to be a penalty in the second half, when Anthony Gordon was bundled over by Joel Matip with the score at 0-0.
The defeat was compounded by results earlier in the day as the Everton slipped into the relegation places after watching Burnley beat Wolverhampton Wanderers. With only six games remaining, the situation is perilous and a huge effort is required between now and the end of the campaign to preserve Premier League safety.
ANALYSIS: What Everton fans did after derby defeat as Frank Lampard's Anfield prediction comes true
EXPLANATION: Premier League confirm why VAR didn't give two decisions for Everton against Liverpool
Here is what the national press made of an eventful game at Anfield from a Toffees perspective.
Phil McNulty , BBC Sport
Everton find themselves in a very hazardous position in the relegation places after this loss at Liverpool followed Burnley's win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Frank Lampard's side are now in serious danger of relegation and their 17% possession displays how on the back foot they were, but there were other elements of this game that must encourage them as they try to avoid the drop into the Championship.
They will certainly believe they should have had a penalty when the outstanding Anthony Gordon tumbled under a challenge from Joel Matip with the score 0-0 after 53 minutes.
It looked like a clear penalty but was waved away by Stuart Attwell, who had earlier booked the talented youngster for diving.
Jonathan Liew, The Guardian
Everton essentially conceived this game in two dimensions: time and irritation, and for an hour at a restive and restless Anfield it looked tantalisingly as if they might get what they came for.
There was grappling and timewasting, bawling and brawling, diving and pratfalling. Richarlison seemed to spend most of the game lying on the ground like a cow preparing for a rainstorm. Jordan Pickford deliberated over his goal-kicks as if he was choosing a mortgage. There were chances too, particularly for the sprightly Anthony Gordon on the left wing, and with a little more luck and a more amenable referee they could quite conceivably have pulled off an almighty upset.
It was callous and cynical and – for all the grousing of the Anfield crowd – darkly brilliant in its own way. There was plenty of tactical intelligence on show too, from the way Abdoulaye Doucoure shackled Thiago Alcantara to the way Gordon and Vitalii Mykolenko double-teamed Mohamed Salah.
Richard Jolly, The Independent
Liverpool last dropped points at Anfield in October, Everton last gained one on the road in December. But for an hour, this threatened to be their most profitable trip of 2022 as negativity threatened to bring a reward.
Liverpool made a slower start, certainly compared to fantastic first halves against each Manchester club and Everton could take solace from their organisation and resolve, even if Richarlison was very much a lone striker, ahead of banks of four and five, when they had just 14 per cent of possession before the break.
Everton can wonder what might have been in a niggly, bad-tempered affair. Certainly Trent Alexander-Arnold was fortunate to complete the game. He escaped unpunished for pushing Anthony Gordon to the ground when the winger was surging clear and again, after his fellow Liverpudlian was booked for a blatant dive, for shoving Mason Holgate in the face in the subsequent melee. He was eventually cautioned for scything down Gordon, who was in full flight.
It was a sign of the menace of the electric Gordon. He represented the major threat, while Liverpool’s willingness to commit men forward gave them space on the counter-attack.
Martin Samuel, Daily Mail
They no longer bait Evertonians with the fact they haven’t won a trophy since 1995, and even Rafael Benitez gets only the briefest namecheck. This is bigger than chiding and banter. Now they sing that Everton are going down. The reality grows grimmer by the week.
This was the 240th Merseyside derby but Everton’s local rivalry next season, such as it is, could be with Wigan. It is a terrifying prospect. The last season that did not feature a Merseyside derby between these clubs was 1961-62.
Joe Thomas, Liverpool ECHO
Lampard can draw genuine positives from the 90 minutes that followed victory for the team that are, for the rest of this season, Everton's biggest rivals. Iwobi fought hard and showed glimpses of quality. Gordon came back from a frustrating performance against Leicester to provide a constant threat and have a genuine claim for man of the match.
It is true this game has offered much-needed hope Everton might be able to earn points away from Goodison Park. Yet the result means Everton will spend the rest of April in the bottom three. They cannot afford to still be there at the end of May.
