How do you begin to sum up another chaotic night involving Everton?
From the mundane and passive first half, to fireworks, inept officiating and scenes befitting of a season-ending fixture, with plenty riding on it for both teams.
If truth be told, most Evertonians would have taken a point before kick off, but as with any result, the circumstances tell the true story – and last night, Everton will be the ones feeling hard done to.
The last three games have seen us on the end of questionable officiating, with countless glaring errors on show at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The failure to award a penalty when Bernardo Silva took it upon himself to hug and haul Merlin Rohl to the floor, whilst not looking at the ball, was beyond baffling.
David Moyes was as flabbergasted as every home fan in attendance. Especially given the PGMOL’s directive this season to award a penalty for that exact offence. This only a week after another stonewall penalty away at West Ham, was waved away. It beggars belief at times.
That decision, added to the stoppage time on top of the allotted stoppage time at the end of the match, proved costly and simply can’t be ignored.
Dropping two points wasn’t solely down to poor officiating and we can’t hide behind that in isolation.
The manner in which we conceded the second goal – four seconds after the restart from us going 3-1 up – is somewhat unforgivable.
At a time when concentration and cool heads were needed, we decided to switch off and allow the simplest of straight passes to find it’s way to the most prolific striker in the league.
The fact we have come away disappointed with a point, shows you what a second half performance it was.
With Tim Iroegbunam, Rohl and Thierno Barry taking their opportunities, it gives the manager a nice headache before Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
Find more from Mike Richards at Unholy Trinity