Everton must win final matches at Goodison Park

With two matches remaining against relegated sides, the Old Lady deserves to go out with winning form.
Everton FC v Manchester City FC - Premier League
Everton FC v Manchester City FC - Premier League | James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

It's bizarre to think that there are only two more matches to be played at Goodison Park, at least for Everton's men's first team.

Sure, there are conversations and feasibility studies currently in progress, with the Friedkin Group, Everton's new ownership, trying to figure out if the Old Lady can function as home for the woman's team, but that will be a different circumstance, even if it is a great idea.

But as far as the men's side is concerned, there is only Ipswich on Saturday and Southampton on Sunday, May 18, left until they begin the move down to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

In some ways, the Premier League was finally kind to Everton from a scheduling point of view, as the final matches come against two sides who are set to be relegated at season's end, with Ipswich having just confirmed the final drop down to the Championship after their loss to Newcastle this past weekend.

This means neither side has anything to play for (Southampton have already avoided finishing with the fewest points in a season in the competition's history, although they could still finish in a tie with Derby's 2007/08 campaign), whereas Everton will feel the pressure of not wanting the final matches at Goodison to go down as defeats.

Sure, the players for Ipswich and Southampton could be playing for individual opportunities, like auditioning for roles for other squads for next season, but at the same time, these teams are going down because they weren't good throughout the season.

And yes, maybe they want to spoil the party in Goodison's final days, but that shouldn't be enough to overcome being lackluster competition on two massive days in Everton history.

So David Moyes, who knows better than most the magnitude of these matches, must do all he can to ensure that Everton win these last two matches.

Everything is set up for the Toffees to send the Old Lady out with a bang, so the players and coaches must do all they can to avoid it becoming a whimper.