Everton are still reeling from their defeat to Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Blues suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Bees over the weekend, which leaves them just above the relegation zone with two fixtures left to play. Despite goals from Dominic-Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, Everton could not secure a victory at Goodison Park.
An own goal from Seamus Coleman, followed by quickfire goals from Yoane Wissa and Rico Henry, saw Everton succumb to another defeat. During the game, the Blues had two players sent off with Jarrad Branthwaite and Solomon Rondon being given their marching orders.
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Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch Everton’s defeat - here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Dominic King, via Mail Online
“By the end, it was just like it had been. The home fans were streaming for the exits long before the final whistle, the manager was searching frantically for answers that would never come and the team was in disarray.
“Everton had hoped this would be the day when they preserved their place in the Premier League but, during 90 chaotic minutes, the momentum they had painstakingly built during the last fortnight had been checked to such an extent they move into final week with fear creeping all over them.
“For the nightmare to become a reality, Leeds must go to Brentford next Sunday and win, Burnley need three points from their remaining two fixtures and Everton have to lose to Crystal Palace and Arsenal. From that permutation, the one you cannot foresee is Thomas Frank's side losing.
“Brentford, at the end of what has been a super first Premier League campaign, are growing in confidence and they played with ruthless efficiency when Everton's 19-year-old central defender Jarrad Branthwaite was sent off for a professional foul on Ivan Toney in the 18th minute.
“Deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 were turned into a 3-2 win that presents them with an opportunity to finish in the top 10 but, for Frank Lampard, the nagging feeling of what could - and maybe should - have been will persist until their anxieties are banished.”
Paul Joyce, via The Times
“The excruciating tension that has engulfed so much of Everton’s season will now endure into the final week.
“An opportunity to put everything to bed and lance weeks, and months, of pressure was passed up as Brentford prevailed here and Leeds United were given a lifeline for a few days at least. Rather, the hosts imploded with the sort of calamities which have anchored their ambition rearing to ensure they now face another fraught night here on Thursday.
“Everton will face Crystal Palace without Jarrad Branthwaite, whose 18th minute sending-off shaped this fixture, and also Salomon Rondon, who was dismissed for a lunge on matchwinner Rico Henry within three minutes of his appearance as a substitute. It is now 104 red cards for Everton in the Premier League era, the most of any side with five coming during Lampard’s short reign.
“At the final whistle, there was applause rather than recrimination in keeping with the new-found ambiance between the home supporters and their team.
“Yet that both must go through the wringer against opponents in Palace, who have already beaten Everton twice this season, underlined how there is seemingly no let-up in this tortuous campaign.”
James Ducker, via The Telegraph
“Frank Lampard will hold a Zoom meeting with a Football Association independent regulatory commission this week to explain his controversial remarks in the wake of last month’s Merseyside derby against Liverpool. After another tumultuous afternoon when Lampard felt his team were again on the wrong end of some contentious refereeing decisions in their fraught battle to beat the drop, it is fair to assume the Everton manager will have a lot more to unload on that disciplinary panel.
“A game that Everton twice led was ultimately turned on its head by the 18th-minute dismissal of Jarrad Branthwaite, which would have been frustrating enough for Lampard had it not been directly preceded by the denial of what he believed was a clear-cut penalty for Richarlison after a pull of the shirt by Kristoffer Ajer. There would be further frustration when the penalty that Richarlison converted in first half stoppage time to restore Everton’s lead did not also result in a second yellow card for the Brentford defender, Mads Bech Sorensen, who was already on a booking and really should have walked.
“Things may have been different in the second half had both sides been playing with 10 men but that numerical disadvantage against a side who move the ball as well as Brentford, and switch systems just as effectively, eventually took its toll on Everton, even if this was not simply a hard-luck story.
“Everton’s enduring inability to defend their box helped Brentford to score twice in 121 seconds through Yoane Wissa and Rico Henry shortly after the hour mark to lead 3-2, and was also a factor in their initial equaliser. Similarly, the indiscipline that has now seen Everton rack up five red cards in their past 11 league matches reared its head again late on, when Salomon Rondon was sent off just four minutes after his introduction as a substitute for a terrible challenge on Henry.”
Joe Thomas, via the Liverpool Echo
“Everton are still in a fight for their Premier League survival.
“They are words no-one associated with the Blues wanted to read and, after relegation rivals Burnley and Leeds United had failed to win their earlier games, some may not have expected to.
“But this cruel season just will not end and now attention turns to Thursday night, when supporters who deserve better will be called upon to muster their passion once more at Goodison Park in the hope they can finally drag this side over the line against Crystal Palace.
“The collapse that sealed their defeat to Brentford came across 120 brutal second half seconds as first Yoane Wissa then Rico Henry headed into Jordan Pickford's net. But its roots lay in the carnage that unfolded after 18 minutes when Jarrad Branthwaite saw red while trying to deal with a Brentford clearance only made possible by a tug on Richarlison's shirt in the away side's penalty box.
“While the Blues rallied in adversity and fought back from losing a man, then a Brentford leveller, to lead at half-time, only so much resilience was available. The sending-off placed too much demand on what was already a patched-up defence and for the 18 minutes of the second half it took Brentford to take advantage, Everton were camped inside their area - only escaping for a ball to flash millimetres beyond a diving Dominic Calvert-Lewin who could not quite increase the lead.”
