On an ultimately really frustrating afternoon at the City Ground, Everton have drawn 2-2 at Nottingham Forest having been a goal up with minutes to go.
This will be hugely disappointing end result for Sean Dyche because the Toffees’ really needed all three points today and therefore to get out of the relegation zone, at least for another week.
And, after only scoring two goals in the previous four matches under the new manager, Everton actually netted twice for only the third time this season, but still couldn’t win the game.
Today, Dyche went with Demarai Gray up front on his own instead of Neal Maupay and it was Gray who opened the scoring from the spot after just ten minutes.
The Blues’ were arguably just about the better side in a pretty even first half and they probably deserved their lead.
But, Forest did equalise just after the Toffees’ opened the scoring and it looked like it would be a pretty open match.
Then the Toffees’ went ahead again as Abdoulaye Doucoure restored the visitors lead, heading in from a fine ball in.
Everton had managed to score twice in the first half, which was in itself quite a miracle, but Forest always looked as though they might score again too.
Gray and Dwight McNeil then had a chance to make it 3-1. But the ex-Burnley player’s shot was saved and Gray tried to be cute with his finish and the chance was gone.
Forest upped their tempo after halftime and the longer the match went on, the more you worried that Everton simply wouldn’t be able to hold out, despite the fact they were defending quite solidly.
However, the Blues’ started losing the early impetus those goals had given them and were also gradually being forced back to try and defend the lead. Unfortunately, you always felt it was never going to be enough.
And so it proved, as Forest found an equaliser through the player, Brennan Johnson, who had levelled earlier.
Everton had lost the momentum by now were playing poorly and they couldn’t find a winning goal. Dyche then made another set of late and debatable substitutions.
He brought on Tom Davies and Neal Maupay for Alex Iwobi and Gray. They came on too late to make any difference and in probably couldn’t have done so anyway.
So, is this a game that Blues’ fans should look at purely as two points lost, or perhaps on reflection a solid point gained in the end?
I don’t know to be honest. In the short-term, it definately feels like two points slipped away with the lead lost twice and a great chance to climb out of the drop zone gone.
Maybe in the end it might actually prove an important point. Might that single point be the difference between staying up or not? I doubt it, but who knows.
This result, and the failure to hold on for all three points, does though continue to make it even important that Everton win next weekend when they host Brentford at Goodison Park.