England’s number one
When asked in his pre-match press conference whether Jordan Pickford was good to go in this game, Everton manager Frank Lampard gave an emphatic yes and proclaimed that as “good news” and here we saw exactly why. Like he’d done in the summer when there were question marks over Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale for all four goals he shipped against Hungary, the Blues goalkeeper actually strengthened his position as England number one by NOT playing for Gareth Southgate’s side last week.
A thigh injury that had also kept him out of Everton’s 1-0 win over West Ham United a fortnight ago also ensured Pickford was sidelined for the Three Lions’ UEFA Nations League double-header against Italy and Germany – with Newcastle United’s Nick Pope dropping a clanger in the latter. However, back to fitness here, Pickford was able to show his superiority to the pretenders to his throne through his own excellence rather than their shortcomings.
Unlike Pickford’s understudies at international level, Asmir Begovic was faultless when deputising but there was never going to be any danger of Lampard not handing an instant recall to his first choice here once he was fit again and, after a largely quiet first half, he showcased his abilities at crucial moments after the break when the visitors bombarded the Everton goal.
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Evertonians have known for around 20 months now that Pickford has been consistently outstanding for club as well as country but finally it seems that those in the rest of the country who have tried to whip up an issue that patently isn’t there, in terms of who should be England’s goalkeeper, are having their words – based either on ignorance or a weird personal agenda against the player – shoved back down their throats as he lets his football do the talking.
Winging it
Dwight McNeil has had a mixed start to his Everton career so far but having broken his scoring duck with a goal that secured such a precious away win for his side, he now has the perfect springboard to really take off in a royal blue jersey. Much was made of the winger’s lack of tangible end product for a relegated Burnley team last season when he finished the campaign without a goal and just a single assist, but while he exorcised that demon by coming off the bench and bagging a brace against Dynamo Kyiv in his new club’s final pre-season friendly, Premier League opponents have understandably represented more resolute challenges.
McNeil’s first four starts were among an attacking trio without a genuine centre-forward an no focal point for Everton’s wide men, with one of their colleagues having to deputise as a false number nine, but here, on an afternoon that the small but tenacious Neal Maupay was leading the line, it was the Rochdale-born wide man who proved the visitors’ match-winner with a smartly-despatched finish from a tight angle into the roof of the Southampton net.
McNeil might not be has obviously explosive as the likes of Demarai Gray and Anthony Gordon – the latter for whom he came in for here – but his disciplined and hard-working display out wide was capped by his maiden goal for the club and hopefully there’s plenty more to come.
Point to prove
While Everton’s women’s side proved themselves Mersey masters at Anfield last weekend with the kind of emphatic 3-0 victory over Liverpool that their male counterparts haven’t experienced for over 16 years, nobody is getting carried away at Goodison Park to suggest the tide is changing any time soon in terms of the Premier League balance of power between the two rivals from either side of Stanley Park.
However, following what was only a second away win in the competition for the Blues in over 13 months, and Jurgen Klopp’s side’s 3-3 home draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton and Liverpool are now level on 10 points.
Yes the Blues have another 30 fixtures to play and the Reds have a game in hand with even the most-optimistic Evertonian not naïve enough to think their improving team might be able to get close to their neighbours in the final reckoning. But given the record-breaking 53-point gap between the clubs in the final 2021/22 table when Everton finished on the joint-lowest equivalent points total in their entire history, that still represents steady progress and movement in the right direction.
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