Exactly a year ago Jordan Pickford made an incredible stop to deny Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta as Everton held out for a 1-0 win that proved crucial to keeping them in the Premier League.
Could England’s number one now have repeated the trick at the King Power Stadium – where he was also sensational in last season’s 2-1 victory – after his heroics at Leicester City’s home in a 2-2 draw?
Back in 2022, Pickford almost seemed to deny the laws of physics to scramble across his goal and keep the Spaniard’s shot out. His breath-taking stop was named Premier League Save of the Season but grateful manager Frank Lampard would later proclaim it as being the best save of the entire Premier League era.
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Pickford’s save here was completely different. After following instructions on his water bottle crib sheet, he merely had to hold his nerve and stay on his feet to palm away James Maddison’s penalty down the middle.
He duly celebrated with a fist-pump. Some felt this was inappropriate at the time given that his side were still losing but when you consider that they’d have gone into the break two goals down had Pickford not kept the effort out, the implications on Everton, the club who have spent more seasons in England’s top flight than any other, avoiding what would be a first relegation in 72 years, could be truly massive.
The visitors started brightly and were rewarded when Dominic Calvert-Lewin won and converted a 15th-minute penalty to put them ahead but efforts from Caglar Soyuncu (22) and Jamie Vardy (33) turned the game on its head. In what was an open contest, the Blues might have found themselves two goals behind if it wasn’t for Pickford after Michael Oliver had pointed to the spot after Michael Keane’s handball.
The save – Pickford’s first for Everton from a penalty for over four years since denying Newcastle United’s Matt Ritchie back on March 9, 2019 – gave Sean Dyche’s side the platform to hit back after the break and Alex Iwobi’s 54th-minute strike duly earned them a deserved share of the spoils in what was a ‘must not lose’ contest for them and at least keeps them in the fight to avoid the drop rather than falling further back on their rivals.
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