In the eyes of many, Everton’s dramatic slide began against Watford so the Blues now have the chance to come full circle and take their revival to new heights at Vicarage Road tonight. Everton haven’t won three Premier League games on the bounce all season – until Sunday they’d only recorded back-to-back victories once, against Brighton & Hove Albion and Burnley – and a big part of that was of course their total absence of successes on the road since the 2-0 triumph at the Amex Stadium last August.
Over the past week-and-a-half there has been a dramatic shift at the Blues though, both on and off the pitch. Like a cat on its ninth life, Frank Lampard’s side finally slipped into the relegation zone before the Merseyside Derby at Anfield on April 24 after Burnley’s 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers with the Clarets having spurned numerous previous opportunities to punish them.
Although Everton took no tangible rewards from that fixture, despite holding high-flying neighbours Liverpool for the first hour and feeling aggrieved over not being awarded a penalty following Joel Matip’s challenge on Anthony Gordon – an incident that prompted the FA to ask Lampard to explain his post-match comments on – a sense of steely determination started to finally set in.
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Following on from the outrageous decision from the Manchester City game at Goodison Park when a VAR check of Rodri’s blatant handball still didn’t result in Everton being given a spot-kick, it seemed obvious that the Blues couldn’t expect favours from anyone in their fight for survival with apologies from referees’ chief Mike Riley sounding like hollow words and they had no alternative but to roll up their sleeves and save themselves.
The club’s loyal but long-suffering fanbase subsequently took matters into their own hands and organised a rousing reception for Everton’s team bus before the Chelsea game with thousands turning up early to line the streets outside Goodison Park. With a 1-0 victory over last season’s European champions and Lampard’s previous employers secured against the backdrop of one of the most-vociferous matinee atmospheres ‘The Grand Old Lady’ has witnessed in many a year, it was time to take the show on the road.
Many Blues supporters took their devotion to new lengths by heading some 10 miles out from the city centre just to cheer the team on their way from their Finch Farm training base in Halewood last Saturday afternoon en route to the game at Leicester City the following afternoon. Again their passion was replicated by those who had made their way to the away end in the East Midlands as Everton’s picked up just their second Premier League three points away from Goodison this season.
Repeating the trick ahead of a midweek fixture at Watford was always going to be a tough ask for fans but there were still plenty who managed to make it down to line the sides of Finch Lane as the Blues set off for Hertfordshire. After months of struggle, Everton finally seem to have the bit between their teeth.
After their relegation was confirmed on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, we don’t know what kind of reaction to expect from the Hornets although their veteran goalkeeper Ben Foster attempted to stir up the nest with accusations that some of his team-mates have been slacking off. However, Watford respond though – and it’s been reported they could be without 10 players, including former Blues Tom Cleverley and Joshua King – through injury or illness, the emphasis must be on Everton to take the game to them.
While the Blues, who are now a very different beast, have a manager they can rally around in Lampard, who has helped to Goodison into a fortress again in recent times, Watford under 74-year-old Roy Hodgson – their third boss this year after Xisco Munoz and Claudio Ranieiri – and about to bring down the curtain on his Premier League career, have lost 11 consecutive home matches.
With the strains of Z-Cars blaring before kick-off, there will even be a familiar feel Everton’s players and fans some 200 miles from home. Perhaps the biggest incentive though for the visitors will be, as Michael Ball highlighted in his ECHO column, the painful memories of what Watford did to them last time out.
Although the Blues had suffered a first home defeat under Rafael Benitez against his old rival from across Stanley Park David Moyes the week before when West Ham triumphed 1-0 at Goodison, it was against the Hornets, who had never previously won at the ground, that the wheels really came off in what a week before Halloween, proved to be a real horror show for the hosts. Tom Davies fired Everton in front just three minutes in and although King equalised on 13 minutes, Richarlison, also facing his previous club, came off the bench to restore the Blues lead on 63 minutes.
Everton remained in front until just 12 minutes from the end when Juraj Kucka equalised but after that they collapsed with King – who failed to score in 11 games for the Blues the season before – adding two more in the last 10 minutes to complete his hat-trick before Emmanuel Dennis plundered a fifth in stoppage time. As Ball says: “They need to remember that hurt and pay Watford back for that. Now it’s Everton’s chance to return the favour and come away with another three points on their travels, that’s how you repay the fans.”
