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It was crackers, wasn’t it?’ That was James Tarkowski’s summary of the point Everton grabbed in the 99th minute here at Molineux, the latest goal scored in the Premier League this season.
‘Crackers’ doesn’t really begin to cover it. Seismic would be another word, when you consider the implications for the future of the club should they go down. Historic, epic, gargantuan: choose your cliche. Let’s settle on the fact that it was a significant moment.
Everton will probably have to beat Bournemouth on Sunday to guarantee that they maintain their 69-year run in the top flight of English football but the difference between going into that game on the back of a soul-sapping 1-0 defeat or an uplifting 99th-minute equaliser is huge. ‘It felt like a win,’ said Tarkowski.
What did that goal tell you, after a frankly poor 98 minutes? ‘We’re alive,’ said manager Sean Dyche. ‘We’re ready. We are taking it on.’
And though managers come and go at Everton, like minor soap opera characters not especially germane to the overall narrative arc, if you wanted someone to prep your team for one last 90 minutes to save the club, then Dyche would be high up among your candidates.
Colombian defender Yerry Mina scored additional to to earn Everton a point at Wolves
A win in their final games of the season against Bournemouth will see the Toffees survive
He won’t over-intellectualise what is required on Sunday. Speaking as a man who had made at least three changes to his team’s shape in the last 45 minutes to get the point he needed — with Michael Keane as centre forward ultimately an inspired choice — he chose to turn attention elsewhere.
‘Look, I hear managers wax