Simms makes dramatic mark as Everton deny Chelsea at the Bridge

Chelsea are improving but they can't finish teams off. Terrible timing then for Harry Potter's boys to meet an ebullient Everton in defiant mood.

We showed some real fight & as always, the away support was unreal.

Ellis Simms didn't just score a goal he created it for himself from a difficult position. There was a touch of Lukaku in his strength and determination to get past Koulibaily. More so with the low vicious shot that had a bit too much on it for the keeper. Everton fans will be craving more of the same.

Reece James knew what he was doing for the penalty, just slowed up a fraction and allowed the sucked in Godfrey to clatter the back of his legs. He was already going down before Tarkowski challenged. As Sean Dyche said there were similarities in the Seamus Coleman ‘penalty‘ that was waived away at Nottingham Forest.

It's tighter than it's ever been for the relegation scrap. Four points separating nine teams is unheard of. But momentum is everything and Everton have it. We look solid organised and now added important goals. Sean Dyche has got the lads playing, and we look like a proper football team again.

Massive respect to the travelling Everton supporters, just totally unreal and the best away support in the country.

I have been critical of Dyche's use of his substitutes but the changes he made yesterday saved the game and earned us an unlikely point. The organisation, team spirit and improved individual performances are a joy to see.

All credit to Sean Dyche and his management team they have given us hope were no hope seemed possible. Looks like every game until the end of the season will be a cup final, but there is no doubting that this team is giving their best and growing little by little in confidence.

Most importantly, in the short time he has been here, Dyche has installed those old-fashioned values of hard work and organisation, under Frank and Co we would have crumbled yesterday. Not anymore, the improvements are plain to see and yesterday there was even a grandstand finish, and maybe the possibility of a new hero.

For once, I think the international break will be useful, maybe a few days off and then back on the training pitch for more of the same.

Dyche has improved the team from the start of his tenure. Every week, there has been improvements on the previous week. Players that have fallen short have been worked on.

Players that haven't have found themselves having to put in extra work on the training ground to get themselves back into the team. Even getting on as a sub is competitive and increasingly so, now even in forward positions.

Dyche's substitutions in the last two matches have been a lot better. I suppose there were that many areas at Everton to sort out that it did have to be done in stages. All of this has been is a build-up on solid foundations for the relegation battle...

McNeil was great again, Doucouré did put in a necessary performance in midfield and Everton have an attack at last. Great away supporters, they deserved that. Has Danny surfaced yet?

I said at the time that was absolute garbage. Our travelling fans are absolute heroes and the support unreal.

I do think the Newcastle fans are loyal, fanatical and travel well but, compared to our lot over the past 2 years, there is no comparison. Can you imagine when we start to compete for Champions League places?!!

We had a similar approach today, and really didn't look much like scoring in the first half. But when Chelsea eventually fashioned a breakthrough, we had that extra gear. That's one of the many differences we've exhibited since Dyche took over, and it bodes well moving forward.

We'll beat Spurs and probably one of Newcastle and Fulham at home as well.

I reckon we'll also beat either Leicester or Crystal Palace away meaning we won't be in any danger of being in the relegation scrap by the time Man City come to Goodison.

All the signs indicated that we would come away with nothing from that game: a bogey ground, a resurgent opposition and an international break (into which we always seem to take a soul-destroying result). I just had a good feeling about yesterday, and I haven't had ‘good feelings' about this team for a long time.

This side is limited, everyone can see that, but by focusing on what we can control, instead of lamenting the paucity of individual ability and the absence of our talismanic striker (he's not the messiah, by the way), we are getting back to pragmatic basics: shape, hard work and a game plan.

But what I saw yesterday, which has been absent for so long, was belief. Dyche referred to it too…"You may take the lead, but we believe we can come back."

Yesterday we went behind twice, and in rather unfortunate circumstances, but the team took the hit on the chin, got straight back up and believed they would come back…and I'm starting to believe in them too.

Not for a moment am I suggesting that everything is fine, but the spirit and strength that Dyche seems to have engendered in a short time is admirable. If we do retain our place in the Premier League, I believe it will be performances like yesterday which will go a long way to justifying why.

A special mention to Doucoure, a man reborn.

I do worry a bit about Iwobi though, he seems to be the one player who has lost something under Dyche, perhaps because he's been shunted from his preferred playmaker role to a wide position. Don't get me wrong, he's not been bad, but he seems to have lost a bit of his swagger.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dyche goes with Gray on the right when the prodigal Calvert-Lewin finally returns. Still, it's nice to feel like there's actually some competition for who's going to make the starting line-up for a change! COYB

Simms was fantastic for the goal, the manner in which he blew the defender away before getting his shot away was top class. He is a big unit and will cause problems to any defender.

Their penalty was soft and Michael Keane was a little weak in his clearance for the first goal but overall we can't complain and I for one will be voting for the same starting XI against Spurs on Monday 3 April.

Were our heroic Board of Directors in attendance?

I'm happy to take your word for it but I've always considered the opposite to be the case.

I can only remember two missed penalties in the '60s. One, Albert Dunlop saved with his cobblers, against West Ham.

The other was Ball v Man City, as shown in the Golden Vision.

In those days few keepers were 6-feet tall and were required to stand on their line, motionless, like "one of Lewis's".

Nowadays, keepers are routinely 6'-4" and over but the goal is still 8 yards wide.

At time of writing ( 6 January 2021), 1,894 out of 2,278 penalties awarded in Premier League history have been scored, equating to a success rate of 83.14 per cent.

Meanwhile, only 90 (3.95 per cent) have missed the target, with the remaining 294 (12.91 per cent) saved by the opposition goalkeeper.

Penalty Stats

And it was powerful unity between the players and supporters that we take forward to the next one. I'm still reliving last night.

Fair credit to the manager and his staff. He has changed the mentality and the players are responding. Still early doors, we've many false dawns, so let's just get through this together with the team.

I don't care for the board. They're done in my view. They have chosen to leave us to it, so we'll do it on our own with the team, like we did last night.

I remember the Albert Dunlop save. He ended up sitting on the ball.

Back to last night, I thought Havertz should have been made to re-take that spot kick. He stuttered to the point of stopping, surely not allowed?

1968 – a bad-tempered game I think and Ray Crawford "scored” the equaliser with his fist? Or was that another time ?

He gets in front of his marker, good at leading the line, able to lay off the ball, can provide a through pass, can turn his marker, has the pace to go past his marker, attacks the near post, can shoot and head the ball, and able to finish.

He's a different striker to the focal point that is Calvert-Lewin, but the current team and approach is better for him than even a few weeks ago.

Any penalty taker facing Pickford is going to know that he is going to dive one way or the other but never stay still and wait until the very last moment, so, if you go high and straight, it's going in. I would like to see him stay still for the next one, because so many penalties now go straight.

That was a game we would have capitulated under Frank, but we now have a resilience and can go after games, and you now think we have a chance when we go behind.

The teams that stay up are the ones that find consistency, and we are very much that team of late. Anyone facing us now will know they are going to play a tough opposition. We are not out of the woods by any means but Dyche has given us a chance.

Like it or lump it, you are in the starting eleven based on merit and commitment and those on the bench who want to make the starting eleven have to prove their worth.

My mindset has changed from being disillusioned to being optimistic for the remainder of our season. A lot depends on the results of those teams around us, but having looked at their fixtures a lot of them have tough games.

Simms may have solved a problem for us, and Doucoure is showing his worth playing higher up the pitch. It was a great team effort.

I was hoping for something out of the game, but it was against the odds.

Ten points from the next ten games stands a good chance of keeping us up, but who knows.

Does so many teams being in this relegation fight mean that more points than usual will be needed or less, it's probably more, don't you think… or maybe not?

I can't get my head around that one.

They did this two years ago but most of the figures still apply.
Roy Vernon was the best (of those who took 10 or more), 18 successful from 19 spot kicks, only missing against Bill Brown at Spurs.

Baines, got 25/28 and Unsworth 23/26, with Graham Sharp 18/22

Lawton 8/8, Beardsley 6/6, Alan Ball 13/20, Dixie 11/17, Rooney 3/7, and Andy King 4 successes from 9 kicks.

I seem to recall Roy Vernon having a couple saved in a Charity Shield game against Man Utd at Goodison but had to retake it twice and put the third effort away. That is a twice-retaken penalty if I have the right game but are your figures for League and Cup games only?

Also, he's champing at the bit, reportedly he was knocking on Dyche's door last week, asking "What do I need to do to get a start…?"

I think we've really got something here, could be a potent pairing with a fit Calvert-Lewin? But what about Gray and Maupay? Selection problems upfront, who'd have thought it???

The team has come on a lot in the short time Dyche has been in charge, as had the attacking threat. Simms seems to have the football brain to get himself in the right position.

I even noticed at Anfield he was holding his own and did command his position. He took a lot of undeserved flak for what was a good performance on his derby debut.

It's funny cos I've been thinking it would be nice to have a goalscorer these last few weeks… well, it looks like we've got one.

"His pace, he's lightning. You can give him a bad ball and he'll make it into a good ball. That's an attribute that not many people have and, when he gets into those positions, he can put the ball away.”

This from ex-Toffee, Beni Baningime, when Simms joined Hearts on loan last season. Wise words indeed and exactly what we saw yesterday from Simms.

We haven't had a talismanic player for years now – a player who regularly changes games for our club. There have been too many false dawns for me – Lukaku, Barkley, Gomes, Mina, and numerous more. I hope Simms can turn into that talismanic player for us. Too early to say, for sure, but I can hope.

Speaking of Beni, he suffered a horrific ACL injury last March – just when he was turning into Hearts' most indispensable player, but the good news is he is back running and might be playing again before the end of the season. I always felt he was an excellent midfielder who got lost at Everton due to the merry-go-round of managers. All the best to him.

Martin, as fas as I'm aware, nothing to do with offside.

Regarding Pickford's poor record with penalties, I don't think Southall's record was that good either. Yet, Paul Cooper of Ipswich, an average keeper, managed to save 7 on the trot I think. Pickford did save 2 in the Euros Final by the way. I don't read too much into his record. He'll save a few soon.

Jerome #18, that's a fantastic assessment based on so little evidence. Great goal as it was from Simms, I'm reserving my assessment of his abilities for a little while yet. I've seen too many like Rob Wakenshaw, Nick Chadwick etc to get too excited too soon.

I don't know. I lifted the figures from the Echo and though they refer to kicks taken in the League, FA Cup and League Cups, they didn't say whether they included the Charity Shield

Not sure at all, my memory isn't what it used to be, I think, but wasn't the keeper Gaskell that we mentioned playing against the reserves at Earle and, I think, he got booked for twice moving before it was taken, but I stand to be corrected.

Now there's a welcome thought.