By Samuel A. September 1, 2024
Everton had a week to forget in the Premier League, as their woes continued after they bottled a two goal lead against Bournemouth to record their third loss in three Premier League games this season. The Toffees were two goals to the good at Goodison Park until the 87th minute, where it all went wrong for them as they managed to concede three in the last moments of the game, leaving them at the bottom of the league with 10 goals conceded and a -8 goal difference.
Both sides were seeking their first victory of the season, Everton took control of the contest with two goals inside the first 12 minutes of the second half. Michael Keane drilled the Toffees ahead five minutes after the restart, before Calvert Lewin rounded off a good team move to double their lead and put his side on course for their first points of the campaign. Bournemouth pulled a goal back through Antoine Semenyo three minutes from time, before Lewis Cook nodded in Sinisterra’s cross to level in the 92nd minute. A point at least looked to be the fair ending for both sides, but not for Sinisterra as he remarkably sealed all three points in the sixth minute of stoppage-time as he ghosted in at the far post to head in from close range.
Everton had not won a Premier League game in the month of August since beating Brighton and Hove Albion in 2021, but appeared well on course finally to end that drought. However, the Toffees could not see out their healthy advantage and they became the first side ever in Premier League history to lose a game having been two or more goals ahead in the 87th minute.
Sean Dyche’s losing streak in August continues, with Everton now having failed to win all six such top flight matches under his guidance. Everton captain Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton must look in the mirror after such a spectacular collapse. “We really let ourselves down in front of our fans,” he said. “We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that. We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror.”
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players.
“We did so much right until they scored their first goal,” he said. “The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can’t put my finger on it right now. They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn’t deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season. Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn’t.”
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: “It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing. I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again.”
