Everton extended Abdoulaye Doucouré’s contract earlier this week and the midfielder repaid them by extending their residence in the top flight of English football into a 70th year. The midfielder struck a quite superb goal to seal the victory Sean Dyche’s team desperately needed over Bournemouth to avoid a first relegation since 1951.
It was a nerve-racking finish at Goodison Park, where 10 minutes of added time, an injury to Jordan Pickford’s hand and the stubborn refusal of Gary O’Neil’s side to go quietly combined for a chaotic end to the season. When it was finally over, Doucouré etched his name alongside Barry Horne, Graham Stuart and Gareth Farrelly as Everton last-day saviours and Dyche had completed a fine achievement with an imbalanced squad that has spent the majority of the campaign without a proven goalscorer.
There was a pitch invasion on the final whistle but it was nothing like the joyous occasion that greeted last year’s escape against Crystal Palace on the penultimate game. This time Goodison reverberated to chants of “Sack the board” as fans again made their feelings clear over the appalling mismanagement of Everton under the ownership of Farhad Moshiri and stewardship of the chairman, Bill Kenwright.
A five-man defence for a must-win fixture appeared a negative move from the Everton manager but, in truth, he had little alternative. With every recognised full-back injured, Dyche deployed Dwight McNeil and James Garner as makeshift wing-backs. With no decent striker available because of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s latest hamstring problem it fell to Demarai Gray to lead the attack. The paucity of Everton’s options was further demonstrated by their bench. Dyche was unable to name a full complement of nine substitutes even with two goalkeepers among them. Sean McAllister, a 20-year-old Northern Ireland youth international with no Premier League minutes to his name, was one of the six outfield subs.
Roared on by a passionate, desperate Goodison crowd, the home side enjoyed periods of healthy pressure in the first half but clearcut openings were limited. There was also little evidence of Bournemouth’s well-documented frailty at set pieces as the visitors stood firm against the aerial threat of Yerry Mina, James Tarkowski and the recalled Conor Coady.
Bournemouth were without their first-choice goalkeeper and captain, Neto, after he flew home to Brazil on Saturday as a result of the death of his mother. His teammates wore black armbands in tribute – as did Dyche – and his place went to Mark Travers, the Republic of Ireland international who played in Bournemouth’s Carabao Cup and Premier League wins over Everton earlier in the season. Travers enjoyed the upper hand once again in the first half with fine saves to deny Idrissa Gana Gueye and Garner.
It took Everton 31 nervous minutes to break through the Bournemouth defence. Amadou Onana fed Gueye’s run into space behind Marcos Senesi and the midfielder took the shot first time, only for Travers to tip over superbly from close range. He also parried a long-range drive from Gueye and thwarted Garner in first-half stoppage time when, back-peddling after punching clear a Doucouré cross, he managed to flick away the wing-back’s delicate chip towards the top corner.
Bournemouth posed a threat whenever they countered, particularly down their right, where David Brooks and Adam Smith looked to double up on McNeil. Senesi was close to putting O’Neil’s side ahead when, from a Bournemouth corner that Brooks sliced back into the penalty area, his daisy-cutter rolled through the legs of Mina and trickled wide of the far post. Dominic Solanke was also presented with a good chance when Brooks dispossessed Tarkowski just outside the Everton box. Mina spared his defensive colleague with a vital touch on the former Liverpool striker’s shot at the near post.
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With Leicester beating West Ham, Everton had to win to avoid the drop. The precious breakthrough arrived early in the second half when a patient home move ended with Gueye sending a searching cross towards Onana. Lloyd Kelly won the aerial challenge but his header dropped to Doucouré, unmarked on the edge of the Bournemouth area, and the midfielder connected with the sweetest half volley that flew inside Travers’ left hand post. There was pandemonium inside the stadium. Doucouré was almost in tears.
A goal that should have brought relief ignited only anxiety instead – in the Everton performance and the home crowd. Keiffer Moore, on as a substitute, spread panic through the Everton ranks with his aerial prowess and one downward header at the back post almost set up Solanke. Coady intervened superbly, before Solanke pulled down Pickford and sparked a melee that the striker claimed involved a bite from Mina. TV replays were inconclusive.
In stoppage time, with Everton fans chewing through their nails, Coady denied Solanke again with a sliding challenge in the area and Pickford produced a fine save to prevent Matías Viña volleying a Moore header into the bottom corner. It got to the stage where Everton were cheering throw-ins in the final seconds. And then they were safe. Just. The time for a huge reset at Goodison is overdue.
