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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Adam Jones

Everton's season may have just changed completely after one-minute miracle

One second half minute kept Everton's hopes of Premier League survival alive. And it wasn't Richarlison putting the ball in the back of the net just after the interval.

With still a long amount of time on the clock, Mason Mount found the space to shoot wards the edge of the penalty area. His powerful effort crashed off the inside the near post, flashed across the goalline, and deflected off the opposite upright to come back into play.

But the chance hadn't gone, the ball was falling straight to Cesar Azpilicueta who looked certain to score, with Jordan Pickford still getting to his feet after attempting to save the first shot.

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However, the England international produced what could be the best and most important save of his Everton career to leap back across his line and somehow keep the Chelsea defender's effort out of the back of the net. Goodison was aghast, how on earth had he managed to get over to that?

His work wasn't done though. From the resulting corner, the visitors managed to get the ball towards the back post where Antonio Rudiger was waiting to smash home what he thought would be the equaliser.

Instead he was met with an on-rushing Everton goalkeeper, making himself huge and putting his body on the line to defend his net. The powerful effort smacked into the face of the Blues star from only about three or four yards away, leaving him down and in need of some treatment.

When he eventually rose, though, the fans in the stadium also rose to their feet to acknowledge what was an absolutely tremendous minute of goalkeeping. In a relegation fight particularly, moments like those are absolute gold dust.

He continued to pop up throughout the match too as Chelsea knocked almost relentlessly on the door. They could find absolutely no way past a determined Pickford putting in a behemoth of a performance.

They always say that in these moments of adversity, you need your big players to step up and really prove themselves not just up for the fight, but having the quality worthy of staying in this division. Often in that sense, the work of the goalkeeper goes under the radar.

Not this time, though. Pickford has had his critics during his spell at Goodison, strangely there's still those naysayers at a national level as well.

Take one look at that performance if you want to know why Gareth Southgate continues to select the Everton man. That was far from his only quality display in recent months, but it was certainly the best of a very good bunch.

Nobody can see into the future and find out just how important that minute of second half action was yet. But, what you can say is that it secured an absolutely crucial three points in a game Everton absolutely had to win.

I bet the Blues would have paid Pickford's transfer fee twice over just for those saves. Neville Southall would have been proud.

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