Seamus Coleman's last-gasp header robbed Swansea City boss Bob Bradley of a first Premier League victory as Everton salvaged a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
Following their 5-0 thumping at Chelsea prior to the international break, Ronald Koeman's side looked set to slump to a second successive defeat after Gylfi Sigurdsson's first-half penalty had given Swansea the lead.
However, Everton, who spurned three gilt-edged chances in the first-half, finally found the leveller a minute from normal time - Coleman's looping header getting the better of Lukasz Fabianski.
The result will leave a bitter taste in the mouth for Bradley, whose side had put in a resilient performance in the hopes of claiming their first league victory since the opening day.
It is now just one win from their last eight games for Everton across all competitions, while Bradley's side dropped to the bottom of the league thanks to Sunderland's 3-0 win over Hull City.
After suffering their heaviest league defeat since 2009 at Chelsea, Everton started sluggishly, with Swansea's much-changed side containing their hosts early on.
Indeed, it was Swansea who went close first - Maarten Stekelenburg tipping Sigurdsson's free-kick over before Jordi Amat headed wide from the resulting corner.
Everton sparked into life 25 minutes in, Romelu Lukaku only able to awkwardly divert the ball over the bar from a couple of yards following Yannick Bolasie's venomous cross.
Bolasie was the architect of Everton's next chance as he picked out Ross Barkley, but despite losing his marker with a brilliant turn, the midfielder could only thrash his strike wide.
Barkley did hit the target shortly before half-time, but Fabianski was equal to the dipping free-kick.
Everton were made to pay for those misses four minutes before the interval, Phil Jagielka clumsily bringing down Sigurdsson in the area, and the midfielder made no mistake with a superb penalty.
Koeman's side should have restored parity on the stroke of half-time, only for Bolasie to hammer a close-range strike straight at Fabianski.
Swansea's goalkeeper was called into action again five minutes after the restart, this time to keep out Bolasie's header.
Everton continued to lay siege to Swansea's goal as the half ebbed on, though their play became more and more erratic, with Bolasie particularly wasteful.
For all Everton's pressure, Swansea could have doubled their lead following the hour-mark - Jay Fulton nodding wide from Sigurdsson's excellent free-kick.
Koeman introduced Gerard Deulofeu and Kevin Mirallas as Everton chased an equaliser, but it was Swansea who could have snatched a second if not for a fine save from Stekelenburg to deny Sigurdsson.
And the hosts made sure to take full advantage of that lifeline when, with just a minute of normal time remaining, Coleman headed home to claim a share of the spoils.
No comments:
Post a Comment