There are moments in every season on which fate turns. For Everton, and Jordan Pickford in particular that moment seemed to arrive on the hour of this pulsating contest.
Two ridiculous, remarkable saves from the England goalkeeper within the space of seconds delivered a seismic victory for Frank Lampard’s relegation-haunted side over his former club Chelsea. Yet those fleeting few seconds went far beyond three points, no matter how precious. Those saves, both defying logic as well as gravity, suggested it will be the moment Everton’s whole, miserable season finally turns.
The inspiration they gave to Lampard’s passionate, hard working team, the belief they offered to a crowd which has seemed bowed and almost beaten at times recently, will surely act as a catalyst for more of the incredible scenes we saw here at Goodison on an emotional afternoon. Pickford produced two more top-class saves before the end of a ferocious contest, but his performance will be remembered for a long time for those two defiant moments.
After a first half of much tension and little inspiration, Everton found themselves ahead a minute after the break, when the willing Richarlison and Demarai Gray hounded dawdling Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta into a mistake, with the Brazilian providing an emphatic finish. Yet that was the relatively easy part. Holding out the now wounded classy visitors for 51 harrowing minutes which followed would take a nerve, and more importantly, defensive resilience which the Blues have shown little of during this campaign.
And just as the clock ticked towards the hour, Mason Mount exposed hesitancy with a fierce shot which somehow came off both posts before falling kindly, invitingly, to Azpilicueta. He shot back across goal towards the empty net, but somehow Pickford, racing across his line somehow defied physics to throw out an arm and deflect the ball wide. The celebrations were wild, even from Everton icon Yerry Mina.
Yet the danger was far from over. From the resulting corner, Antonio Rudiger found himself six yards out with the goal at his mercy. Pickford though, was clearly unwilling to be beaten, and he threw himself at the feet of the big defender, as the whole of Goodison held its breath. Somehow, again the ball was deflected wide, even as the keeper went down in a heap, dazed by the resulting collision. The roars around this famous old stadium were deafening.
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You could sense the new spirit of belief, which pulsed through an Everton side which had previously in the game been long on fight, but short on real quality. Now only fight was required, and the aristocrats of Chelsea were visibly shocked by the ferocity of it. They mustered several more attacking situations, with Pickford again producing a magnificent save from Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s missile strike, and then being called into action during the seven minutes of harrowing stoppage time.
With Chelsea finally deciding they relished the scrap themselves, substitute Mateo Kovacic found himself in front of goal, and delivered a clever low shot which seemed for all the world to have finally beaten the home keeper. But with impressive agility, Pickford dropped to his right to save. Again, the noise hit eardrum piercing levels, again Goodison was a howling bowl of pure rage and emotion.
At the end, there were songs and celebrations that this tired stadium hasn’t witnessed for years. They are still in the relegation zone, there are still battles to come. But this was proof this fight is far from over, and there is clear belief now, Everton can survive.
