(Football news) Sean Dyche’s team defeated relegation opponents Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday afternoon, but not before an incredible showdown with the Reds. The Reds defeated Fulham 3-1 without incident.
Everton’s ‘points deduction derby’ against Nottingham Forest ended in a draw after two striking goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil, both of whom struck the inside of the post on their way in. However, the talking points came from the visitors’ startling post-match statement.
In the few minutes that had elapsed between the referee’s signal to end the game and Nottingham Forest’s effective accusation of dishonesty directed towards VAR official Stuart Attwell, the latter claiming to have warned the PGMOL of Attwell’s apparent Luton Town connections prior to being denied three strong penalty shouts at Goodison Park.
As Forest ranted and raved in an unprecedented manner, their hosts – who could certainly count themselves lucky not to give away at least one spot kick – quietly celebrated their second win in three Premier League games, one which has lifted them five points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place.
The Toffees’ perennial Premier League status is still far from assured, but they also have the luxury of a game in hand over Forest, Luton and Burnley and have lost just one of their last six at Goodison Park, where they have continued their trend of wins to nil.
Indeed, each of the hosts’ last 11 Premier League victories on home turf has seen Everton keep a clean sheet, but they have failed to win any of their last 22 top-flight matches at Goodison Park when conceding, falling to defeat in 17 of them.
As such, the statistics suggest that Liverpool need only find the back of the net once to bring their bitter foes crashing back down to earth, and they did exactly that against Atalanta BC in the Europa League quarter-finals, but their abysmal 3-0 loss at Anfield meant that their narrow Bergamo beating was not enough to save their continental bacon.
Facing a Fulham side with the seventh-best home record in the division would ostensibly prove a tough test three days on from their Italian jaunt, and it initially proved so as Timothy Castagne cancelled out a Trent Alexander-Arnold free kick, but second-half strikes from Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota slayed the Cottagers.
With Manchester City busy on FA Cup semi-final duty, Liverpool’s first Premier League away win since March 2 lifted Jurgen Klopp’s side up to second in the standings behind an Arsenal side with a superior goal difference, but City’s game in hand means that the crown is still the champions’ to lose.
However, following earlier wasteful displays, Sunday’s precision display was a breath of fresh air for Liverpool fans. The Reds’ admirable Premier League scoring streak on the road now stands at 20 games after they were shut out by Chelsea in April of last year.
Everton was left to criticize a controversial decision in October’s 2-0 Anfield loss to Liverpool, where Ibrahima Konate narrowly avoided a sending-off. This was prior to Forest’s furious refereeing at the weekend. Since then, the Toffees have failed to score in each of their last four games against their rowdy neighbors.
Also read: Manchester United shortlist 10 managers for future
