Paul Merson felt major Everton concern had erupted and then subside again over 90 minutes between Luton Town and Bournemouth.
The Sky Sports pundit reacted via Twitter on 13 March after the relegation-threatened Hatters went 3-0 up on the Cherries to tell the teams above them in the table they needed to “start worrying”, only to post an update during the second half that it was “worry over” for the Toffees, Nottingham Forest and Brentford when Andoni Iraola’s men roared back to level it.
A win for Rob Edwards’ side would have put them just a point behind Everton, but a second Antoine Semenyo goal at the Vitality Stadium completed a stunning 4-3 comeback win for Bournemouth and maintained some breathing space for Sean Dyche.
Merson wrote after Ross Barkley put Luton 3-0 up: “Now Forest, Everton and Brentford should start worrying…Bournemouth 0-3 Luton”.
Then after Semenyo equalised he said: “It’s ok Forest, Everton and Brentford worry over. 3-3!!”
Everton threat increases and subsides amid Bournemouth win over Luton
Dyche is busy in Portugal trying to instil some belief back into his players after a rough run of form since the turn of the year.
So the last thing he would have needed was a morale-boosting win for Luton to increase the heat even further, which is exactly what looked like happening at the interval on Wednesday.
Bournemouth’s remarkable comeback has at least left four points between the Toffees and the drop zone, but with the threat of another points deduction on the horizon it won’t leave anyone feeling particularly safe.
If Everton can find some of the form they were putting together in the wake of the original sanction then they will be fine, but the fact that has dried up so badly is a concern.
The endless off-field uncertainty is surely having an effect, but with Burnley and Sheffield United as good as down already on current evidence there should only be one more trap door, so even a moderate uplift in results might be enough from here.
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