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You wouldn’t go. Not the fans who invaded the pitch at Goodison Park and chanted with raw emotion 30 minutes after the final whistle. Not the players who joined the chorus from the other side of a police line. Not Frank Lampard, who disappeared into the crowd and reappeared on the roof of the executive boxes to soak up the applause.
And not Everton. Their Premier League life ended after 45 desperate minutes against Crystal Palace. You wouldn’t go.
Five minutes normal time remained from a tense but unforgettable encounter. Five minutes for Everton to retain their top-flight status for a 69th year and avoid having to battle a first relegation since 1951 at Arsenal on the final day. Dominic Calvert-Lewin perfectly timed his impact on Everton’s year.
The centre-forward, who had missed so much of the season through injury, threw himself at Demarai Gray’s free-kick and crashed into Goodison Park folklore with a header to Jack Butland.
Lampard’s side were 2-0 down at the break; chaotic, uncertain and in freefall towards championship. Now, fired up by Dele Alli’s half-time lead and spared goals from Michael Keane, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin, they have had a comeback comparable to the final day against Wimbledon in 1994. The comeback sparked a foolish first shot from Invasion, which resulted in seven minutes of added time. But when it was over, it was a catch-up race that will never be forgotten in this country.
Lampard had done the job. The consequences of relegation were huge for a club in Everton’s financial position and with a new stadium under construction at Bramley Moore Dock. Survival allows for a rebuild and, under the circumstances, an understandable celebration.
Everton could not have done more to get their beloved club across the finish line. For the third straight home game, the Everton manager was greeted by an impassioned crowd of fans at Goodison Road, but in far greater numbers and with far more blue smoke bombs than Chelsea and Brentford had previously.
Repeated pleas over the public address system for fans to move “to allow players access to the stadium” conveyed a sense of support and desperation for a final win in an agonizing season. It felt more like the start of a cup final than a relegation battle.
The crowd’s desperation seeped into the team’s performance in the first half. The hosts were hectic, nervous and reliant too much on the long boat towards an isolated Calvert-Lewin. The rudimentary approach played perfectly into the hands of a composed and confident Palace team.
Patrick Vieira sent two of his most influential midfielders on the bench, Conor Gallagher and Cheikhou Kouyaté, but the visitors still dominated possession. The guile and intent of Eberechi Eze, Wilfried Zaha and Jeffrey Schlupp contrasted sharply with the waste of André Gomes and Abdoulaye Doucouré.
The Goodison mood was pierced after Gomes and Doucouré were penalized for fouling Tyrick Mitchell deep in the Everton half. Eze swept a dangerous free-kick to the far post, where Jean-Philippe Mateta easily avoided the faint attention of Doucouré and Vitalii Mykolenko and headed a textbook header past Jordan Pickford from close range.
Goodison was in an uproar again as Anthony Gordon was sliced up by a dangerous challenge from Jordan Ayew. The Palace forward went over the top but got away with a yellow card. He added to Everton’s agony two minutes later by doubling the visitors’ lead.
It was a disastrous goal conceded, which began when Séamus Coleman was dispossessed by Mateta, who fired in from the left before the cross. Five blueshirts were chased back, but Pickford opted to hit clear and rubbed his clearance off Zaha. The winger’s shot bounced off the ground and Pickford saved, but only up to Ayew, who slammed the ball past Mykolenko and Doucouré onto the goal line.
Everton created next to nothing in the first half. Something had to change and Lampard brought in the less spotted Alli for the badly out of line Gomes, switching to 4-3-3. It was the former Tottenham playmaker’s first appearance since May 1 and his introduction helped generate an immediate improvement, putting Everton on the pitch and offering more time on the ball.
The home team needed an early response. It came when Mykolenko delivered a deep free-kick from the left and Mason Holgate went back to Keane, who checked with his left thigh before drilling past Butland with his right.
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Everton’s relentless search for an equalizer left them exposed on the break and Pickford made a good save from Mateta. Keane was cautioned for mowing down Eze, Calvert-Lewin was lucky not to look after a foul on Nathaniel Clyne but just as Everton seemed to be losing their composure they found a way back.
Alli was heavily involved, taking Coleman’s cross to his chest and volleying it low over the goal. A Palace touch only cleared as far as Richarlison, who miscontrolled with his first touch but managed to free a shot with his second. The ball hit Gallagher, who had replaced Schlupp a minute earlier, and slid past Butland. Goodison erupted, and more was to come.
