Football / Sports

Everton storm back to avoid relegation

The Toffees saved themselves from relegation and secured another season in the Premier League, as they came back to beat the Eagles 3-2 at Goodison Park on Thursday. The victory puts Everton on 39 points, 16th in the Premier League table, four points clear of 18th-place Leeds United with one game left to play. Everton will be in the top flight of English football next season, for the 69th straight season (1954). Jean-Philippe Mateta put Crystal Palace ahead after 21 minutes, followed by the second from Jordan Ayew in the 36th. Michael Keane pulled a goal back for Everton not long after halftime, before Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewis each scored inside the final quarter-hour. Play was briefly halted after hundreds of Everton fans stormed the field at Goodison Park following Calvert-Lewin’s goal, in the 85th minute.

Everton vs Crystal Palace final score, stats, results

Final score: Everton 3, Crystal Palace 2

Goal scorers: Everton (Keane 54′, Richarlison 75′, Calvert-Lewin 85′), Crystal Palace (Mateta 21′, Ayew 36′)

Shots: Everton 12, Crystal Palace 7

Shots on target: Everton 6, Crystal Palace 5

Possession: Everton 43%, Crystal Palace 57%

3 things we learned – Everton vs Crystal Palace

1. Relegation battle down to two teams: Exhale, Everton fans, for you are safe from relegation. It’s now down to Burnley (35 points – GD -18) and Leeds (35 points – GD -38), as we head to Championship Sunday with oh so much still to play for.

2. Breaks go against Everton early: With precious little doubt, Ayew should have been sent off for a dangerous scissor tackle on Anthony Gordon in the 34th minute, thus he wouldn’t have been on the field to score his goal barely 45 seconds later. When you’re teetering on the edge of relegation, it’s hard not to see a moment and decision like that as anything but a bad omen. 3. Everton find joy after going direct: For 45 minutes, Everton were incredibly poor in possession (35 percent, while completing just 67 percent of their passing …

Football / Sports

Patrick Vieira’s biggest managerial test

The recent managerial merry-go-round has seen similar names linked with jobs at Tottenham, Everton and Crystal Palace – Nuno Espirito Santo did the rounds at all three before landing at Spurs, while Everton opted for Rafa Benitez.

But Steve Parish, Dougie Freedman and the board have moved away from the conventional managerial names to land Vieira, who had turned down the vacant role at Bournemouth earlier in the summer, reportedly in favor of a Premier League move.

He was a player synonymous with Arsenal’s Invisibles and while no one can deny he was among the most talented midfielders of his generation, he has little managerial experience in Europe, let alone in England and even that has not been at senior level.

But Steve Parish, Dougie Freedman and the board have moved away from the conventional managerial names to land Vieira, who had turned down the vacant role at Bournemouth earlier in the summer, reportedly in favour of a Premier League move.

He was a player synonymous with Arsenal’s Invisibles and while no one can deny he was among the most talented midfielders of his generation, he has little managerial experience in Europe, let alone in England and even that has not been at senior level.

Vieira also oversaw the incomings of European football royalty. Andrea Pirlo, David Villa and Lampard have all played under him, giving the former France international a key insight into coaching players of such quality.

A look at his most recent spell at Nice could be a concern. Interestingly, he replaced Favre at the Ligue 1 club, who made a late U-turn and decided not to take the Crystal Palace job in June.

His first two seasons can be regarded as largely successful – a seventh then fifth place league finish saw Nice secure Europa League football. But the 2020/21 campaign started off poorly and Vieira was sacked after a run of five successive defeats and an exit at the Europa League group stages. They finished bottom of Group C with just one win and five …