Kavanagh causes Goodison Park uproar again
It’s less than two years since Everton drew 1-1 with Manchester United at Goodison Park in the ground’s final fixture before a coronavirus-induced lockdown on March 1, 2020 but the world we live in has changed immeasurably since.
In a turbulent period that followed, we all had to get used to new normals brought by the global pandemic, and this week there was the new low of war in Europe.
Away from such troubles in the outside world, football should provide an escape.
It seems as though the laws of the game have also changed if Everton’s late non-penalty against Manchester City is anything to go by.
The Gwladys Street, along with most of Goodison Park, rose to their feet in indignation when Rodri brought down the ball in front of them with his arm.
Predictably and perhaps with a nagging dollop of guilt on his mind, City’s Spanish midfielder defiantly wagged his finger but it was the motion with another part of his upper limbs that had Evertonians rightly incensed.
Referee Paul Tierney had failed to spot the incident in real time but this was one of those incidents were VAR could, and should, have proven crucial in rectifying the mistake of the man in the middle.
The match official did not even go over to the touchline to view what had happened on his monitor though because back at Stockley Park, Chris Kavanagh deemed it was not worthy of even offering a glance.
Rodri’s touch looked to be clearly below the so-called ‘t-shirt line’ from which handballs should supposedly be given.
Maybe some things are looking to the past rather than the future though, and like the travelling City fans’ inflatable bananas, this was some kind of 1990s throwback and Premier League referees are now measuring the ‘t-shirt line’ on the generous below-the-elbow cuts of the baggy fashions once worn on the ‘Madchester’ scene?
It seems as though Greater Manchester’s Kavanagh, the referee whose decision to disallow Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s stoppage time winner for Everton against United on that aforementioned day in 2020, prompting Carlo Ancelotti to take to the field and receive a post-match red card, doesn’t even have to be inside Goodison to cause uproar at the ground.
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Beaten but not unbowed, this defeat felt very different
It could get worse before it gets better and nervous times lie ahead for Everton but if they’re able to show this kind of quality against the Premier League’s reigning champions and current leaders then ultimately they should win their fight against relegation.
Given the talent the Blues possess in their squad it seems a nonsense that they’re even in this position going into the first week of March but the league table of course does not lie.
As the Saturday evening kick-off, Evertonians found themselves sweating on the results of the 3pm games and hoping that Burnley couldn’t find a late winner at Crystal Palace that would place their side into the bottom three.
With the Clarets now hosting Leicester City on Tuesday, they could still plunge into the danger zone before they next take to the field themselves in the competition at Tottenham Hotspur.
Regardless of what could be such temporary setbacks though, this display brought by far the most encouragement of the three Premier League losses suffered by Frank Lampard so far and for a long time made a mockery of the 16 places between the sides and the fact that Everton have just a third of City’s 66-point haul following the final whistle.
Unlike those sorry capitulations on the road at either end of the country (3-1 at Newcastle United and 2-0 at Southampton), the Blues at least went down fighting here and while they were beaten, they should hopefully remain unbowed.
Given their perilous situation, this was never going to be any sort of ‘free hit’ for Everton that some had suggested, but by the same token this season that has been hugely disappointing so far should not be defined by this fixture either.
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Last line of defence
Frank Lampard is the seventh manager to serve at Everton under Farhad Moshiri but starting work on Merseyside this week, Kevin Thelwell becomes their third director of football.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers man, who arrives from New York Red Bulls, counts ‘Coaching the European 3-5-2’ among his publications and while Lampard himself started with a three-man defence as Blues boss, injuries to Ben Godfrey in his first game against Brentford and then Yerry Mina in his second at St James’ Park have forced him to revert to a flat back four since then.
Cruel then that given that Everton are having to depend on Michael Keane and Mason Holgate at the heart of their defence – with teenager Jarrad Branthwaite their only other alternative – that the pair should hold their respective nerves almost impeccably for 82 minutes, only for a wicked deflection to produce the only goal of the game.
For better or for worse, the Blues are having to depend on both of them right now and for the next few weeks at least as they have no alternatives.
Neither can afford to put a foot wrong, never mind get injured.
While under considerably more pressure than they were against Leeds United in Everton’s previous home game, Keane and Holgate largely stood up to most things that City threw at them but football can be unforgiving at time and they’ve learned the hard way that games can be won and lost in a single moment and within a blink of an eye.
You can never switch off. Especially against opponents of this quality.
Local heart in an international game
Liverpool is famous for its left-wingers and in a match against Mancunian opponents, a couple of Scousers were marauding down Everton’s port side.
The pair of course are on rather different trajectories.
Anthony Gordon came of age this week when he celebrated his 21st birthday, but in truth this whole troubled campaign for the team has been a rite of passage for him personally in terms of his rapid development.
He might now have the key to the door but Gordon couldn’t quite unlock City’s defence even if for long times he looked to be the hosts’ most-potent weapon.
Behind him was auxiliary left-back Jonjoe Kenny, a right-sided defender who continues to operate on the opposite flank as a square peg in a round hole.
Unlike his younger team-mate, Kenny, who turns 25 on March 15 and is out of contract this summer, has a more uncertain future with his local side.
Between now and May though, both could have a crucial role to play in the dressing room when it comes to providing the spirit needed to climb the table.
