Everton picked up a crucial three points on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.
Frank Lampard came up against his former club and the current champions of Europe but the noise both in and outside Goodison Park spurred his side on to a huge victory in the battle for survival.
A second-half goal from Richarlison and big saves from Jordan Pickford made the difference on the day - and here's how the national media, along with our own Joe Thomas, reacted to the scenes on Merseyside.
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A club, a team, a crowd, a manager in perfect harmony
Paul Joyce, The Times
"The roar rolled around Goodison Park as the Everton team coach arrived and all afternoon the noise did not stop. A rumble of thunder emanating from deep inside a club who had begun the day staring into the abyss and, by the end, had renewed hope that their 68-year stay in the top flight could yet be extended by another year. They may remain entrenched in the bottom three, but, crucially, their Premier League fate remains in their own hands. Leeds United would have winced at this outcome.
"Of course there remains plenty of work for them to do to clamber to safety, but this was an occasion seldom seen before this season. A club, a team, a crowd, a manager in perfect harmony, working in unison to conjure a dramatic result which owed as much to the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s brilliance as Richarlison’s winner."
Everton fans drove their team on in adversity
Jason Burt, The Telegraph
"It started and ended with flares and there were a few flare-ups in between, while there may be trouble for Richarlison for throwing one of the smoke bombs after scoring the only goal, as Everton earned the raw, visceral victory that gives them hope of Premier League survival and extending their proud 68-year stay in the top-flight.
"The scenes before, during and at the end said it all. They said how much this meant to Everton’s fans, how they drove their team on in adversity and they showed just how much of a difference the supporters can make. The ferocity was simply awesome and inspiring. It was inflamed and tense throughout, fraught and edgy and laced with desperation and desire as only such encounters can be with this evocative old stadium rocking once more.
"Everton have one more game to play than their relegation rivals and, so, their destiny remains in their hands. If desire equates to points then the fans alone will ensure they are safe. Thousands of them greeted the team bus as it arrived along the tight streets around Goodison Road, with the air thick with the smoke from royal blue flares, and there were also plumes across the stadium at kick-off. Five more flares were thrown on the pitch at the final whistle."
A spirit of defiance
Andy Hunter, The Guardian
"It was all too much for the Everton legend Colin Harvey, who could bear no more Chelsea pressure and made for the exit with a few minutes to go. But Frank Lampard’s team could take it and Everton’s refusal to go quietly ensured they remain in charge of their precious, precarious Premier League destiny.
"Richarlison struck the only goal that condemned Chelsea to a fourth successive Premier League defeat at Goodison Park and left Thomas Tuchel openly worrying about his team’s Champions League qualification prospects. Everton were besieged for much of the second half but Jordan Pickford was immense, so too Yerry Mina, as they repelled everything Chelsea threw at them with a spirit of defiance that flowed through the entire club.
"Evertonians did whatever they could to lift their team before a must‑win fixture. Chelsea players were disturbed in the early hours of Sunday morning by a long and loud fireworks display outside their hotel in Liverpool city centre. When the Everton team bus turned on to Goodison Road 90 minutes before kick‑off it was met by thousands of fans who had congregated with banners and flares to welcome Lampard’s players. The Holy Trinity statue of Harvey, Alan Ball and Howard Kendall vanished behind blue sulphur."
Everton supporters rallied around their club in its hour of need
Joe Thomas, Liverpool Echo
"Only time will tell how memorable this season will be for Everton. If the worst comes to pass and the Blues get relegated it will go down as one of the most catastrophic in the club's history. No-one associated with the club will forget it. If Frank Lampard's men pull themselves to safety then, in years to come, it may well blend into the wider period of frustration that has characterised the early stages of Farhad Moshiri's reign.
"What will not be forgotten, however, is the way Everton supporters rallied around their club in its hour of need. Never has this been clearer than today. And rarely has the impact of that support been so clear than it was in helping those on the pitch secure this monumental victory against the reigning European champions.
"The gut-wrenching, hope-sapping comeback by Burnley on Saturday could have winded a fanbase called upon to back the players. It was deflating result and threatened to undermine efforts to mass a show of unity and hope amid the pressure of a relegation battle in which momentum was building in the wrong direction. But Everton is no ordinary club and its supporters are the foundation of its greatness."
