Everton’s survival fight is increasingly playing out like a reconstruction of the final scenes of the movie Zulu: a prolonged rearguard action that is paradoxically agonising and exhilarating.
That is what being the masters of the 1-0 win gets you, euphoric exaltations at full-time contrasting with the sustained, anxiety-ridden cacophony that preceded them.
The last 45 minutes of Sean Dyche’s latest triumph were played amid the sound of unadulterated fear that an equaliser was imminent.
“A bit nervy,” was how Dyche put it, securing success at the “understatement of the year” awards.
Dyche suggested during the week that a 1-0 is the result manager’s love most. He is probably right given the concentration levels demanded in both penalty areas, but the satisfaction is retrospective given the incessant worry that the wrong bounce of the ball, mistimed tackle or refereeing mistake can undermine defensive resolve.
Especially when every point might be the difference between Premier League and Championship football. Given the limits of his squad, Dyche’s ability to eke out such victories validates his appointment. Each of the three home wins has been hard-fought and narrow but deserved.
And each has followed a similar pattern, with early attacking enterprises surrendering to sturdiness, Everton’s players retreating in perfectly choreographed formation to successfully resist attacking waves. Given Dwight McNeil’s decisive goal came after 35 seconds – the quickest winner in Everton’s history – endurance levels were stretched further this time, each passage of play taking supporters on a whistle-stop tour of every conceivable football emotion.
Everton should have been three up in a dominant first half, but Brentford spent the entirety of the second vainly searching for a break in the host’s back line.
Bryan Mbeumo needed to only receive possession in Everton territory for the screeching to hit such a decibel level it was rather like 35,000 fans had witnessed a premonition of him delivering for an Ivan Toney tap-in.
Each cross into the area was withstood like a form of torture, every headed clearance from James Tarkowski and Michael Keane temporary relieving the pain, only for howls of despair to return as Brentford recycled and tried again. And yet for all that, Brentford’s threat was anticipated more than executed.
Jordan Pickford was required to make just one save, blocking a Rico Henry header early in the second half. McNeil also cleared an Ethan Pinnock attempt off the line. Given Thomas Frank’s side were previously unbeaten in 12, this was a notable scalp.
“The resilience is growing. We’re building a firmer mentality,” Dyche said. Defeat does not undermine Brentford’s excellence in being part of the chase for European qualification. “They [the players] are p—– to have lost the unbeaten run,” Frank said.
Like Arsenal and Leeds United before them, Frank’s side were eventually forced to submit. It has to be like this for Everton to get out of the mire, every Goodison fixture turned into a physical and psychological ordeal. Brentford are unlikely to be the last to leave this stadium before May double-checking they have been to Merseyside rather than Rorke’s Drift.
Source: telegraph.co.uk