(Football news) Everton on Thursday did the unthinkable by beating Crystal Palace 3-2 after being 2-0 down at half time. With the win, the Toffees guaranteed their safety in the Premier League after a tough season. The atmosphere at the Goodison Park was absolutely electric. There was a pitch invasion after the winning goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and the full time showed just how much it means to the fans. Everton's last game against Arsenal will have no effect on the table for the Merseyside club which is a huge relief for them.
Everton had been consistently finishing mid-table under Carlo Ancelotti and there was visible progress in the team. Things changed drastically when Real Madrid came calling for the Italian manager. Ancelotti didn't think twice before leaving Everton and even took a pay cut. He said that Los Blancos are very close to his heart and he couldn't refuse them. Ancelotti has gone on to do great things at Real Madrid winning the league and qualifying for the UCL final. Everton on the other hand ruffled a few feathers as they announced Liverpool legend Rafa Benitez as their new manager. Everton supporters were not in favour of the move and even threatened Benitez not to sign.
Despite all the controversy, Benitez had a decent start to life at Everton but soon the tide changed for the worse. After a run of bad results, Benitez was sacked on 16th January. The worst part about his tenure was that he fell out with Lucas Digne who had been a good player for Everton. Digne was then sold to Aston Villa just 3 days before Benitez was sacked, showing the incompetence of the Everton board. The club then went to take a massive risk by appointing Frank Lampard who doesn't have the experience of this kind of situation. Everton completed loan signings of Donny Van de Beek and Anwar El Ghazi along with permanent transfers of Dele Alli and Vitaliy Mykolenko in January.
Lampard's start was very difficult as Everton's position in the league kept on dropping. Relegation almost seemed inevitable for the Merseyside club with lots of talks about how Everton will be the biggest club to be relegated in the Premier League era. He changed things around with big wins against Manchester United and Chelsea. The final win after being 2 goals down against Crystal Palace perfectly summed up the season they have had. Next season Everton can't be in another relegation battle. Frank Lampard will have to finish in the top half of the table which is where Everton belong. Lampard will have a job on his hands but a few good signings could be very crucial.
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