Everton 1-1 Leicester City: Richarlison nets a dramatic stoppage time equaliser

Frank Lampard paced up and down, the stress of the moment etched all over his face. He turned to Anthony Taylor, the fourth official, and asked how long Everton had left to save themselves.

Taylor indicated that five minutes would be added on. Time was running out for Everton and it was an appropriate way to talk about the night and their season as a whole. They could have been dead and buried by the time Taylor raised his board but hope remained.

How they made the most of it. In the 92nd minute, Dele Alli chased a ball to the byline and cut a cross back into the area for fellow substitute Salomon Rondon; the Venezuelan attempted a flick on, Richarlison arrived at the back post and squeezed his 50th Everton goal in at the back post.

Everton’s Richarlison secured a valuable point against Leicester in their relegation fight 

The Brazilian’s vital stoppage time goal sparked pandemonium among fans at Goodison Park  

After beating Manchester United, Frank Lampard will be confident of keeping the club up

Everton are making a habit of these last-gasp escapes – they won a game against Newcastle last month in similar circumstances – and the enormity of this point should not be understated. There is still much work to be done if they are to stay up but, right now, the change in mood is colossal.

‘As chances were coming and going you do worry,’ said Lampard, who had seen a Richarlison header flash wide and a Seamus Coleman shot blocked in the frantic pursuit of a goal. ‘But as long as we stay in games and we keep fighting, anything is possible. At this stage, all points are critical.’

He is not wrong. This was the 26th point Leicester have squandered from a winning position this season and the draw – the first of Lampard’s reign on Merseyside – means Everton will stay out of the bottom three on Thursday night, no matter if Burnley beat Southampton.

It could, of course, have been very different. Everton were horribly off colour in the opening stages and there was no heat in the furnace of the stadium. The home side’s play was tepid and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – what a good player he is – could have put Leicester ahead within 21 seconds.

Coleman rescued Everton with a fabulous tackle but you could not say they hadn’t been warned. That early jab should have jolted their system but they failed to rouse themselves and soon enough they were behind, as Leicester waltzed forward and sliced them open.

Ricardo Pereira was at the heart of it all, swapping passes with Youri Tielemans before he ushered James Maddison into the area; the midfielder was under pressure and cut the ball back, his cross evading Kelechi Ihenacho but finding Barnes at the back post, who duly converted.

Harvey Barnes had put the Foxes in front with a first half strike after just five minutes  

Barnes prodded home from close range – his shot going in off the far post in the fifth minute

Barnes is mobbed by his team-mates after being set up by a great James Maddison ball 

Leicester had legs and stamina and Everton, in comparison, looked wooden and slow. Brendan Rodgers kept imploring his full-backs, Pereira and Timothy Castagne, to make the pitch big and, for much of the remainder of the first half, the visitors knocked the ball around at will.

‘Performance-wise, we were excellent,’ Rodgers insisted. ‘Some of our football was outstanding and once we get into the second half we need a wee bit more composure in the final third to close the game out. Unfortunately, just at the end, we conceded the goal.’

Everton, eventually, offered some kind of fight and Demarai Gray, once of Leicester, fizzed a drive past the post from 20 yards just before half-time to lift the crowd. It gave them something to cling to and the start of the second half was much better.

Yet each time they got within striking distance of Leicester’s goal, out stepped Jonny Evans or Wesley Fofana with perfectly-timed challenges. Fofana, in particular, caught the eye and you have to wonder how different things would have been had he been fit from August.

Fofana and Evans had no trouble containing Richarlison, who looked like a sulking teenager, all scowls and huffing exasperation. You could say Everton missed Dominic Calvert-Lewin – injured again – but he’s hardly been sighted all season and made little contribution.

In an attempt to try something different Lampard introduced Dele Alli. It took the January signing some time to adjust to the pace but, eventually, he got a feel for the game and, deep into injury time, he did superbly to fashion one last chance.

‘They are both involved in the goal,’ said Lampard. ‘But even before that, they made different actions at different times. It is a sign we need everyone in the squad. It is not easy when players are not playing regularly. In the last two weeks Dele’s training has been spot on.’

As the ball bounced around the area, Richarlison managed to turn the ball in to spark pandemonium. A great escape, you may say, in more ways than one. This attitude and the refusal to give up must remain until the final day.

Richarlison was guilty of missing a sitter as he somehow steered wide with the goal gaping

But he redeemed himself by lashing home to send the Everton supporters home happy