The blue part of Liverpool finally has something to celebrate. The twilight of a fateful season, where they have toyed with going down to the Championship, leaves a trace of occasional joy, a peak of excessive euphoria in a ‘toffee’ crowd that invaded the lawn of the old Goodison Park after saving relegation on the penultimate day of the Premier League.
Lampard’s men received a Crystal Palace already saved after a quiet year, without shocks, in a club accustomed to agony. From 13th position, the South Londoners were only pursuing the goal of upsetting a big man in distress; and as a summary of the course in the Evertonians, at the break they lost 0-2.
However, at the hands of a great Richarlison, Everton was able to turn the result around.
The hosts began the second half by flooding the Butland area with crosses. When talent is in short supply, pot balls, if fortune so wishes, can tip the coin on your side. And so it was: first Michael Keane took advantage of a rained ball to put the ball in the back of the net; then Richarlison, from the rebound, tied the match (tenth goal in the competition for the Brazilian); and with five minutes remaining, a precise lateral free kick from Gray found Calvert-Lewin’s head to cap off the comeback. The English striker, in a recess campaign after having signed a magnificent 2021, lifted his fans from their seats with the most important goal of his career.
After the final whistle came the predictable field invasion. It was not for less: Everton confirmed its participation number 119 in the highest category of English football (no club in the Islands reaches such a figure). In the general plane of the transmission not a piece of grass was perceived; Living bitterly with one of the best Liverpool in its history, Everton finally had something to celebrate.
Among the crowd of the celebration, a local fan rebuked the Palace coach, the historic former Arsenal player Patrick Vieira. The fan put his hands on the Frenchman’s face, making fun of him while recording him. The coach did not resist his temper, kicking the young man and throwing him to the grass while other fans entered the scene to push him.
A gray episode in a day that will be remembered in the blue part of the banks of the Mersey. After a complicated dismissal of Rafa Bénitez and several more weeks of fallow, Lampard fulfills the objective of salvation; Everton smile again.
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