Ellis Simms has described his late equaliser against Chelsea as 'a dream come true' after opening his Everton goalscoring account in timely fashion.
Summoned from the bench by Sean Dyche with 11 minutes remaining and the Blues 2-1 down, the 22-year-old displayed supreme composure to hold off Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly and slot past Kepa Arrizabalaga to earn a share of the spoils.
Loaned out by Everton in each of the last three seasons, Simms was recalled from his latest spell away from the club at Sunderland in January and handed a first Premier League start in last month's Merseyside derby at Anfield. Now off the mark with a first senior goal for the club, the forward admitted his patience has finally paid off.
PLAYER RATINGS: Ellis Simms the hero and Abdoulaye Doucoure superb against Chelsea
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Asked after the game if this was the standout moment of his career to date, he told Sky Sports: "Yeah, 100 per cent. It was a great occasion to do it and I'm delighted for the team, it's a massive point against a tough opposition. I'm delighted and can't put it into words, I have been working hard to come up with this and it's a dream come true to score my first Premier League goal.
"It's about patience. I had to wait for my chance. We've got top players so I'm not just going to walk straight into the team. I have to work hard in training and when I get my opportunity, I have to take it with both hands."
Simms' effort will have come as a relief to James Tarkowski, who conceded a penalty with fewer than 15 minutes to play after fouling Reece James inside the penalty area. Providing his take on the incident, the Blues' centre-back said: "It's never nice giving away penalties. I just thought Ben [Godfrey] was going to clear it, he thought I was going to and then Reece [James] nipped in front and went down. It was a clear penalty and it's not nice to give them away."
"We've had a couple of tough results but we've been grinding it out and we deserved that today," added the former Burnley man on the 2-2 draw. "It's not easy to come places like this, so take a point is brilliant. We only look as far as the next game and we're ready to take anyone on. I'm trying not to focus on what other teams are up to, we have to focus on ourselves."
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