4 January 2025
Bournemouth 1 Everton 0
The Cherries were surprising everyone bar Andoni Iraola this season. Sitting pretty in the top half of the table, they were having to get used to going into games as favourites now. They welcomed Everton to the Vitality Stadium, with Sean Dyche’s side really struggling to score goals this campaign and only the form of their keeper was allowing them to stay above the bottom three.
Nobody will forget the reverse fixture this season. Everton were two-nil up with only three minutes left of normal time. Despite this, Bournemouth scored three late goals to win the match deep into added time. That hurt The Toffees and you could question whether they have recovered since. Some impressive draws against big teams had made people take note of The Toffees of late.
Iraola’s side were without Kepa, who started the game on the bench due to all his travelling. He had been visiting his newborn baby but they had a more than adequate replacement in Travers in between the sticks for this one. Many had wondered how the Spaniard was still first choice but maybe that had something to do with the terms of his loan deal from Chelsea.
Bournemouth should have taken an early lead when Christie flicked on into the box from a long throw-in. Semenyo was there to sweep home but Pickford got down well to make the save. As impressive as it was from the Everton keeper, you felt that The Cherries’ attacker should have scored from the position he found himself in.
The Toffees offered so little in an attacking sense. Mykolenko tried to clear the ball but just presented it to the hosts. As it was worked into Semenyo in the box, he looked to square it but Branthwaite deflected it behind for a corner. He was fortunate he got the touch he did on it as his intervention wrong-footed Pickford and sent the ball into the side netting.
As the visitors tried to clear their lines from the resulting corner, The Cherries came straight back at them. It was played to Evanilson but his shot missed the target. Although it was not a million miles away from nestling in the corner. The hosts did not seem bothered about their wastefulness at this stage as their keeper had not touched the ball since kick-off.
Semenyo was running at the Everton defence before he clipped a short pass into Kluivert in the box. As Pickford came steaming out of his goal, he tried to lift it over him but the short-armed keeper made a good block. It dropped to the winger but, once again, The Toffees’ keeper did well to deny The Cherries an opening goal.
The only thing that was missing in this first-half was the local council placing some one-way traffic signs on the pitch. In added time a deep cross picked out Semenyo in the box but his downward header was easily saved by Pickford. He was really getting his money’s worth out of those gloves at the Vitality Stadium.
Into the second-half and Doucoure gave the ball away with a loose pass. Bournemouth transitioned quickly and Evanilson went down on the edge of the box under a heavy challenge. The ball broke to Semenyo, who looked to pass a shot into the bottom corner, but nothing seemed to be getting past Pickford in the Everton goal.
The hosts were getting more frustrated by the minute. Ouattara worked a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box but again the visitors’ keeper got down to tip it around the post. If you ever wondered why Pickford was the England number one, all you had to do was watch this game and it would immediately remind you. He was single-handedly keeping his side in the game.
Iraola rang the changes to try and find that elusive goal with some fifteen minutes left. Kerkez got down the left wing and stood up a cross to the far post. Brooks met it with a cushioned volley into the far corner, which finally had Pickford beaten. The substitute had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes but had seemingly won the game for The Cherries.
The Vitality Stadium erupted as most had resigned themselves to the most entertaining nil-nil draw they were going to see this season. The changes made by the manager seemed a masterstroke now. It is amazing how something as simple as a defender not knowing who they should be picking up when you change the personnel on the field.
It was no more than Bournemouth deserved however. While you had to feel for Pickford, whose performance warranted something to show for it, the Premier League would be a boring watch without the goals we enjoy each week. Some of The Toffees’ recent draws had been a tough watch, even if you were an Everton fan.
Dyche’s side had failed to register a single shot on target in the game. Nobody should be rewarded for such a negative approach to a football game. The Cherries moved to seventh in the table with Iraola’s side now unbeaten in eight games. Everton sit worryingly just a single point above two of the bottom three teams now.
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