The swathes of empty blue seats around Goodison Park told their own story.
After 62 minutes they were filled with excited Everton fans as the Blues’ 10 men led 2-1 and were less than half an hour away from securing Premier League survival. But Brentford scored twice inside two minutes to turn the game on its head and leave Everton’s top-flight future still hanging in the balance.
Everton also finished with nine men for the first time in 15 years after Salomon Rondon was sent off within four minutes of coming on. They lost Jarrad Branthwaite after 18 minutes and Frank Lampard, who was without Ben Godfrey, Yerry Mina and Michael Keane yesterday, is fast running out of defenders.
