Sky Sports pundit wowed by unfortunate Everton keeper Jordan Pickford in Tottenham defeat
Jordan Pickford was hailed as “excellent” for Everton as he produced a wonderful save from Harry Kane in the second half at Tottenham.
In the 53rd minute in London the England captain unleashed a powerful first-time volley into the ground and towards the Toffees goal, which his international teammate dived to his right to palm away with one hand.
Don Goodman was stunned by both the shot and the save, before the tables turned just minutes later and an error from Pickford saw him concede a soft penalty to Kane, who went over the keeper’s outstretched hand with little to no contact in a game that ultimately finished 2-0.
Live on the Sky Sports match commentary of the game on Saturday (15 October, 6.40pm) Goodman said: “It was all very slow and then they just injected a bit of pace there, Ben Davies stepping forward, picks out the onside Harry Kane. It’s a stunning volley, very difficult skill, but Son [Heung-min] with the follow up can’t keep it down.
“But look at this power and accuracy. Pickford does really, really well. How often do you see a strike that goes into the ground the just bobbles over the goalkeeper?
“But Pickford, excellent.”
Hero to zero
The save from Pickford was an example of the number one at his best, and it made his mistake a few minutes later all the more of a kick in the stomach.
With a commanding first half and a great start to the second period it looked like it could be another day where the 28-year-old produced heroics at the back against a big team, just he did in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool earlier in the campaign (3 September), and last season in the Chelsea win (1 May).
It wasn’t to be in the capital this time, on a frustrating day where Everton failed to take their chances and were ultimately undone by a mistake.
Pickford spilled a shot and put out an arm, which Kane duly went over, and despite there being no evidence of actual contact VAR didn’t refer it back to Paul Tierney.
Lampard though should be encouraged on the whole because there were pretty fine margins between a win and a loss, when Demarai Gray and Amadou Onana should have scored before the break.
That it felt so disappointing for fans is also a measure of how far Everton have come in the past eight months under the former Chelsea boss, having been hammered 5-0 on 7 March in a display that showed nothing of the fight and quality present this time around.
Two defeats in a row is never a good thing, but it is no disaster to lose a tight game against Manchester United and then put up a good fight away to Spurs after a six-game unbeaten run.