Lyons-hearted display
It was absolutely fitting that on Mick Lyons’ emotional Everton homecoming, a centre-half pushed forward late on to save the day for his beloved Blues.
During his own Everton career, pulling on the royal blue jersey 473 times (putting him sixth on the club’s all-time list) and netting an impressive 59 times for a defensive player, Lyons would put his body on the line for the team he loved, on each occasion he crossed that white line.
Although he’s a born and bred Scouser, the 71-year-old has made Western Australia his home for a long time now so this visit was planned to be a final farewell for him to experience Goodison Park for one last time before the club relocate to their new stadium by the banks of the Mersey.
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Lyons was an absolute warrior on the pitch and Ivan Ponting describes him in his book Everton Player by Player as: “Formidably combative in the air and an adhesive close-marker, he was underestimated at opponents’ peril; so often he seemed to be beaten, yet would find something extra, perhaps a desperate long-legged lunge or a kamikaze head-first die into a maelstrom of flailing boots.” Tragically, like so many footballers of yesteryear, Lyons is now paying a high price for his bravery with his daughter Francesca, who has brought him back thanks to chairman Bill Kenwright paying for their flights, telling the ECHO: “they diagnosed him with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and brain damage from ‘multiple impacts’, the repeated heading of a football, was actually written into the professor’s report.”
This must have been a special moment for Mick and his family though and while even he might not have ever struck such a long-range strike as sweetly as Keane, he’ll have no doubt approved of Everton’s ‘never-say-die’ spirit to claw themselves something from this hard-fought contest.
When push comes to shove
While Everton’s late point could prove crucial in the final reckoning this season and ensured they climbed out of the drop zone, they had already extended their lead at the top of the Premier League’s all-time table – for red cards.
Abdoulaye Doucoure became the Blues’ 105th sending off in the top flight since the 1992/93 season, one of only two clubs to have gone ‘ton up’ in that period with Arsenal on 102 and Newcastle United a further 10 back on 92. Unfortunately, over those past 30 plus years there will seldom have been more blatant dismissals than this one as the midfielder raised his hands to Kane.
The incident started as something and nothing as referee David Coote had already blown up for Kane’s foul on Gray but after the Tottenham player and Doucoure then both went for a loose ball and tempers flared, the Everton man let down both himself and his team-mates through his lack of self-control. Although the dramatic manner in which the England captain – who would subsequently fire his side ahead from the penalty spot – tumbled to the turf was embarrassing and ensured he became the home fans’ pantomime villain for the rest of the night, even if he had remained stood up, the Blues man could have no qualms about the decision.
When Sean Dyche first came in, he was widely-expected to replicate the 4-4-2 formation he’d deployed extensively throughout almost a decade in charge at Burnley but instead it’s been 4-5-1 all the way so far at Everton with Doucoure – frozen out during the final weeks of Frank Lampard’s reign – crucially providing the extra legs in the centre of the park that have made the Blues more resolute while also chipping in with a couple of headed goals.
While Dyche has alternative options at his disposal in the shape of Tom Davies and James Garner who both came off the bench here, neither are anything close to resembling like-for-like replacements to the Mali international’s leggy style and his absence could now necessitate a significant rethink in tactics.
A point to prove
After facing a series of Everton ‘bogey teams’, Sean Dyche has already questioned whether the Blues actually have a favourable record against anybody but while it remains over a decade since they beat Tottenham Hotspur in front of fans – they didn’t score until the 90th minute that day either, coming from 1-0 down to win 2-1 in December 2012 – they came out of this game with the feel-good factor.
It was a similar story last time out, against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – a fixture Everton haven’t collected three points in since Joe Royle’s first away game back in November 1994 – as a late equaliser for Dyche’s side left loyal but long-suffering Blues fans enjoying the kind of glow only usually reserved for victories after having to go to Liverpool and Arsenal, two assignments they haven’t triumphed in front of a crowd in since 1999 and 1996 respectively. The simple fact is that teams who are fighting against relegation aren’t going to be triumphant every week but as the old adage goes – if you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose – and this could be another precious point on the road to safety in the most-testing of circumstances.
Everton’s manager is correct when he cautions that the only league table that ultimately matters is the final one, but having dropped from 15th to 18th and back into the drop zone since they last took to the field, just by virtue of being last to play, the Blues morale has to be lifted by climbing out of the bottom three again through their late share of the spoils. It’s impossible to turn this struggling side into world-beaters in a matter of weeks but they’re now a much more resolute outfit than they were under the previous manager and can any of us truthfully say that we reckon Everton would have fought their way back in a game like this under Lampard?
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