Had England managed to win one of the two European championship finals in which they have competed in the last decade, Jordan Pickford’s status as the best England goalkeeper of all time may well have been secured — particularly given his heroics in the penalty shootout at Wembley in 2021. As it is, he remains curiously un-lauded by the nation and its media, with plenty of journalists ready to move him on when Thomas Tuchel takes full control of the national team during the first international break of 2025.
For Everton, however, the former Sunderland keeper continues to be arguably the Club’s most important player of the past few seasons and a genuine fan favourite. It’s been posited that the Blues would have been relegated by now were not for Pickford’s exploits in goal and this afternoon he offered more evidence of how crucial he could be to the team’s prospects this season.
Because while Sean Dyche’s team have lost just twice in 11 games now, the relegation zone remains uncomfortably close below, with just a three-point cushion separating Everton from Ipswich Town, who scored a stoppage winner at Molineux to drive the final nail into Gary O’Neil’s proverbial coffin.
In a game of precious few clearcut chances for either side it at the Emirates Stadium should be noted, Pickford was at his best when it counted and, together with a timely return to top form for James Tarkowski, the efforts of Vitalii Mykolenko in largely containing Bukayo Saka, and an impressive, collective rearguard action that started with the front four, Everton, frustrated and stymied Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing outfit
In what had been billed as a clash between two set piece kings , dead-ball situations were largely a non-factor. The teams had 10 corners between them; Everton dealt with Arsenal’s eight with aplomb, but with Dwight McNeil absent with a knee complaint, they struggled to threaten the Gunners with their two.
Instead, what chances Everton allowed Arsenal to have came from open play and the best fell, predictably enough, to Martin Ødegaard, who was thwarted by Pickford, saw a shot deflected over by Tarkowski and screwed another chance wide of the target from the edge of the penalty area.
Everton, meanwhile really only had one gilt-edged chance, and it came early to Abdoulaye Doucouré but, displaying his usual lack of composure on the counter attack, he delayed his shot and saw his effort deflected behind by Gabriel Magalhães.
This low-block, park-the-bus masterpiece was vintage Dyche. Everton were disciplined, structured, determined and resilient, and were rewarded with a priceless point — a rarity for them at the Emirates. Indeed the Toffees had lost on nine of their 10 last visits to this part of North London. In terms of entertainment for the traveling Blues, however, there was very little on offer. From the manager’s nature’s perspective, though, it was needs must and this was not the fixture for his goal shy and creatively limited team to start being expansive.
On the rare occasions Everton went forward, the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Iliman Ndiaye and, later, Armando Broja found themselves depressingly isolated. The Senegal international really broke free only on one occasion, but was crowded out by a number of red shirts, while Broja’s cameo featured plenty of running, but no real service.
Instead, it was an all-hands-to-the-pump affair for Everton and only rarely did Arteta’s side get the better of the visitors’ back line. Gabriel Martinelli escaped down the left in space behind both Jack Harrison and Ashley Young but Tarkowski was there to charge down his shot. Then, after Saka had easily evaded both Mykolenko and the occasionally jittery Jarrad Branthwaite, Pickford was alert to make a fabulous stop and then again a few minutes later when Branthwaite’s giveaway had handed possession to Kai Havertz.
If Dyche had been expecting an onslaught in the second half, it never came. Mikel Merino’s header down fell to Saka but Pickford got down superbly near his near post to turn the ball behind but that was as close as Arsenal came to breaking the deadlock. Indeed, it speaks volumes for Everton’s performance and their resilience that for the final half-hour of the contest, they were largely untroubled, with the hosts appearing to be out of ideas for how to break down a very diligent Blues defence.
Given the disparity in resources between these two clubs, the gulf in quality between the respective squads and Arsenal’s place in the table, this was a wholly unexpected but well-received point for Everton. The hope is that with the new ownership and, perhaps, some fresh blood next month, the Blues could offer a little more by way of attacking intent against these kinds of teams but today there was probably only one way Dyche could have left with a point and his men executed the plan to a tee.
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