31 August 2024
Everton 2 Bournemouth 3
As Sean Dyche’s side welcomed The Cherries to Goodison Park, it had already been a tough start for The Toffees. Two defeats, no goals scored, fans were starting to worry that this was going to be another season where they would struggle to retain their Premier League status. They needed to kick-start their campaign with victory against Andoni Iraola’s team.
On a bright, sunny afternoon on Merseyside The Toffees made a good start. Coleman got into an advanced position and tried to square the ball to Calvert-Lewin but the striker could not get on the end of the cross. New signing Iroegbunam was making some positive runs from the middle of the park but they seemed to be lacking the end product.
Everton forced another corner and as the cross was headed back across the box, Tarkowski laid it off to Ndiaye. His first time shot was straight at Kepa, making his Bournemouth debut, who made a comfortable save. The home fans were liking what they were seeing early on, hoping that the negative vibe around the club was going to change this weekend.
Points deductions were the bane of their lives last season but that could not be further from their minds at the moment. After all, they cannot take from you what you don’t have. Dyche’s side had the better of the first half, with the visitors not even testing Pickford in The Toffees’ goal. Despite this, the sides went in at the interval all square.
After the break, Everton peppered the Bournemouth penalty area with crosses. As one such ball came in, Calvert-Lewin chested the ball down to Keane in the box. He took one touch to control it before drilling his shot through the legs of the defender and into the bottom corner. Goodison Park erupted as they notched their first goal of the campaign.
Some great interplay by the hosts saw Coleman waltz his way into the box. Just when it seemed certain that he was going to double their lead, he lifted his shot over the crossbar without even testing the Bournemouth keeper. The fans behind the goal held their heads in their hands, in disbelief that they had not scored a second.
McNeil then picked the ball up on the edge of the box and spotted the run of Everton’s striker. He threaded a lovely pass into the path of Calvert-Lewin, who slotted it past Kepa to make it two-nil to Sean Dyche’s side. Everything seemed to be smelling of roses at Goodison Park. They had waited some time for something to celebrate but finally seemed to be heading for their first win of the season.
Another deep corner from the hosts saw Tarkowski have a free header at the back post. Sadly for the home faithful, his effort clipped the side of the post and went wide. At this stage, you felt Everton’s performance should have warranted more goals than it had. Although, with a two goal cushion, the fans had nothing to be concerned with as they expected a routine victory.
With 87 minutes on the clock, now it was all about game management. Everton just needed to see this one out. That said, The Toffees seem to order the scripts for their games of late from a Hollywood producer such was the drama. Bournemouth decided it was time to start flexing their muscles in the final third of the pitch.
Moments later, Ouattara whipped in a cross from the left and Semenyo arrived at the back post to convert. The Everton defence and keeper all seemed to be spectators with no one reacting to the danger in front of them. The goal silenced Goodison Park and an air of uncertainty crept in as they pondered throwing away the three points.
The fourth official then held up the board to show six minutes of added time was to be played. Two minutes into that stoppage time, Sinisterra got to the byline and lifted a cross into the box. Cook arrived from nowhere and headed home to break the hearts of Everton fans. The Cherries looked like a different team in the closing stages of this game.
Things almost got worse when Ouattara played another dangerous ball into the back post. Tavernier met it with a header but Pickford reacted well to keep the effort out. At this stage, Everton were on the ropes, all of the positive mindset from earlier in the game had been drained out of them. They were clinging on for dear life in added time.
Pickford was called into action again when Harrison lost the ball in the corner. As the cross dropped to Semenyo, he shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner but the England keeper got down well to deny him. Most of the Everton fans couldn’t even watch at this stage. This production was starting to turn into a horror show, right in front of their eyes.
In the sixth minute of added time, Kluivert clipped an in-swinging cross into the back post where Sinisterra met it with a bullet header to grab a late winner. The home fans were stunned, left with that sick feeling in the pit of their stomachs once again. The Cherries had stolen victory from the jaws of defeat. Everton’s defending had been absolutely woeful.
Iraola’s side had pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks in Premier League history. Bournemouth had shown just how fragile the confidence is in this Everton side. The Toffees’ fans left the ground cursing their performance once again, wondering why they put themselves through this pain every week. Sado-masochism at its finest.
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