Everton must prove Southampton fans wrong
It was shortly after Southampton’s second goal when the songs about Everton going down began to be sung around St Mary's.
Shouts of 'going down, going down' could be heard as play restarted following Shane Long’s header from a Timo Livramento’s cross to put the game beyond Everton's reach.
Southampton supporters were clearly enjoying themselves and took great pleasure in reminding the Blues they are well and truly in a relegation dogfight.
If this result, and performance, wasn’t bad enough, then a look around the Premier League at full-time raised even more concerns.
Thankfully, and it is sad that it has actually come to this, but Liverpool coming from behind to beat Norwich City at Anfield was at least one positive result for the Blues.
But elsewhere, it made an already uncomfortable afternoon, even more uncomfortable, as both Burnley and Watford claimed three precious points each.
As a result, the Blues now find themselves four points above the drop zone with both the Clarets and Roy Hodgson’s side left to play.
Frank Lampard did not return to the dugout for a relegation scrap but Everton are firmly in danger again.
Just a week on from the win over Leeds United, the Blues find themselves back at square one, and are once again nervously looking over their shoulder.
With Manchester City to come next weekend, the challenges get even greater for Lampard and his side as they bid to avoid the drop.
The task now for Lampard and his players is to bounce back and show the fight and determination Everton's supporters demand.
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Holgate again impresses
Only two Everton players could walk away from St Mary’s satisfied with their afternoon’s work.
One was of course Jordan Pickford, who made a number of fine saves in either half to keep the score down, with one from Timo Livramento the standout.
But another man who impressed for the Blues was Mason Holgate, who was again an assured figure at the back.
Holgate has found opportunities hard to come by this season, but since being handed his chance by Frank Lampard, he has certainly taken it.
And with Ben Godfrey set for a spell on the sidelines, and Michael Keane again struggling, Holgate has quickly established himself as Everton’s first choice centre-back.
To say that a number of weeks ago, let alone months ago, would have brought raised eyebrows from Blues supporters.
But Holgate, to his credit, has certainly taken the chance presented to him by Lampard since his arrival at the club last month.
The task now for the centre-back is to show these types of performances can become the norm, and not the exception.
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VAR again raises questions
It is easy to look back on things now in hindsight, but Everton can once again find themselves hard done to by VAR.
Of course the technology, and the match officials, can not be blamed for Everton’s latest dismal Premier League showing, but they certainly didn’t help matters.
With the Blues well on top in the opening stages of the first half, a VAR check took place for a possible handball by Oriol Romeu.
Now it was one of them where on first viewing you think that is harsh, but then on reflection it was the type of handball that has been given numerous times this season.
Of course there is no guarantee that Everton would have scored the penalty had it been awarded, or even gone on to get something from the game.
However, it certainly may have helped the Blues in their quest to claim all three points on the road in the Premier League for the first time since August.
When you're in a relegation fight, you need the small marginal things to go your way, here Everton felt the effect when they don’t..
Injury returns can’t come quick enough
Vitalii Mykolenko may have returned to Everton’s matchday squad for the game with Southampton, but the Blues still have one hell of an injury list.
Abdoulaye Doucoure, Demarai Gray, Fabian Delph and Ben Godfrey all missed the defeat at St Mary’s as they remain sidelined with various knocks.
But the return of all four players, most importantly Doucoure and Gray, can't come quick enough for Frank Lampard’s side.
They are badly missing the energy of Doucoure in the middle of midfield, and the creativity of Gray out wide.
While Fabian Delph showed against Wolves and Tottenham this season that he is more than capable of playing his part when required.
Frank Lampard even alluded to how big his injured stars are for his side in his post-match press conference.
Such is their importance, their return could determine which division Everton are playing their football in next season.
