Everton are still waiting for their first win of the season after drawing 1-1 with Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Saturday.
But it would have been worse for the Blues had Demarai Gray not stuck late on to cancel out Brennan Johnson's opener for newly-promoted Forest.
Everton will look to get off the mark in the Premier League next weekend when they head to Brentford. But first up for Frank Lampard's side is a Carabao Cup second-round clash at Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.
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Plenty of national media outlets were at Goodison to watch the Blues' draw with Forest. And here's a round-up of what they had to say.
Paul Joyce, via The Times
“In time Frank Lampard wants Everton to be more expansive, manoeuvring teams out of their comfort zone, but, for now, pragmatism dictates that route one will do. His side are no longer pointless, though they remain largely toothless.
“That the assist for Demarai Gray’s late equaliser came from a 70-yard pass from the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford will have infuriated the Nottingham Forest head coach, Steve Cooper, just as he sensed a valuable victory was within reach for his newly promoted side.
“As Goodison Park erupted at another escape, Lampard took a swig from an energy drink and hurled the bottle to the floor.”
Ian Whittell, via The Telegraph
“The choruses of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ from Nottingham Forest supporters that serenaded Frank Lampard after their team stormed into a late lead at Goodison may have been premature but, even after Demarai Gray’s 87th minute equaliser brought Everton their first point of the season, there is no doubt that the manager's work is under intense scrutiny.
“A home defeat to Chelsea was neither unexpected nor embarrassing on the opening day of the campaign, while Lampard was happy enough with his team’s performance in defeat at Aston Villa. But, even allowing for the absence of the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, this was the day that Everton’s campaign was supposed to finally get underway, the sort of fixture that a team that won less than half of its home games last season sorely needed to win.
“As it was, they required the excellent Gray to salvage even a point, and in the most rudimentary way possible as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford punted forward a long ball which, while it may have appeared something of a ‘Hail Mary’ - to use American football vernacular - Lampard claimed was a legitimate and intentional ploy, rather than a literal, long shot. Not that the manager was complaining. His celebrations with assistant Ashley Cole reflected those on the Goodison terraces, the relief clearly etched on the faces of the duo. Likewise at the final whistle.
“Yet, post-match, Lampard’s mood was a little more sombre as he reflected on dodging what would have been a colossal bullet, not only in Everton’s hopes of this not quickly becoming a season-long slog against relegation, but in terms of his own job security.”
Andy Hunter, via The Guardian
“Nottingham Forest had just won their first Premier League away point since 1999 but their manager, Steve Cooper, walked into a silent, deflated dressing room at Goodison Park. His players’ post-match reaction was another sign of his team’s rapid progress. The raucous Forest faithful were in the midst of telling the ex-Derby manager Frank Lampard he was getting sacked in the morning when their other target, the former Leicester winger Demarai Gray, pounced on a superb Jordan Pickford pass to rescue Everton’s first point of the season in the 88th minute.
“Brennan Johnson had put the visitors on the cusp of a second successive league win seven minutes earlier and, but for a late defensive lapse, they would have condemned Everton to a damaging third consecutive defeat. Amid Forest’s disappointment, however, was an encouraging performance in which the club’s record signing, Morgan Gibbs-White, impressed as a second half substitute. Cooper rightly embraced the positives.
“Everton cannot grow without the striker needed to replace Richarlison – sold 51 days ago – or the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Lampard’s team had 19 shots but, Gray’s equaliser apart, none carried the precision or quality to truly extend Dean Henderson in the Forest goal.”
Richard Jolly, via The Independent
“An Everton winger had been in the spotlight this week and it wasn’t Demarai Gray. Chelsea’s interest in Anthony Gordon resulted in a £45m bid but Everton’s first point of the season came from a man acquired for just £1.75m last summer. A third successive defeat beckoned, along with their worst ever Premier League start, until Gray delivered a goal his electric display merited to deny Nottingham Forest a second successive victory and a first on the road in the top flight since 1999.
“Jordan Pickford was his unlikely supplier. Perhaps the Everton goalkeeper could have done better when Forest took the lead, parrying Ryan Yates’s shot to Brennan Johnson, who slotted in unchallenged, but he turned creator by drilling a 70-yard pass to Gray, who escaped behind Forest’s defence to finish with composure.
“It was an aberration from Forest. Amid the attention directed towards their 16 signings, their trio of centre-backs were stalwarts of their promotion campaign and Forest were a few minutes from a second successive clean sheet until Everton’s goalkeeper turned playmaker and Gray, perhaps the finest part of Rafa Benitez’s legacy, rode to the rescue for Frank Lampard.”
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