Jarrad Branthwaite makes ‘probably the best’ admission after Everton win v Liverpool
Jarrad Branthwaite has hailed Everton’s “mentality”, with the Toffees winning back-to-back games since their heavy 6-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 15 April.
Following their thrashing at the hands of the Blues, Everton have claimed successive 2-0 victories at Goodison Park against Nottingham Forest and Merseyside rivals Liverpool.
The victories mean Sean Dyche’s men now sit eight points clear of the relegation zone, and Branthwaite – who scored in the derby against the Reds – revealed his pride at how the team have bounced back following a humbling loss.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Branthwaite said after beating Liverpool on 24 April: “It’s a brilliant feeling [to score against Liverpool], probably the best moment of my Everton career. We were the underdogs and it was a massive result for us as a team and the fans. We had that setback at Chelsea and I think it shows our mentality to come back and win the next few games.
“I said after Chelsea it was about how we react to that [defeat]. It was a disappointing night. Everyone was disappointed. How we’ve reacted after such a bad result shows the mentality of the team.
“It was just about the standards we set from the start of the season. When you look at that game, it wasn’t good enough. We all realised that. It was about how we rectify that and bouncing back, which we have done.”
Everton have hit form out of the blue
After the 6-0 defeat against Chelsea, there were widespread concerns that Everton’s form would not recover and that the team would slip out of the Premier League for the first time.
A 1-0 win over 10-man Burnley at Goodison Park the game before had only just put an end to an unwanted club record of 13 winless Premier League matches, sparking hope that enough momentum could be generated to secure survival.
However, that hope appeared a distant glimmer following the nature of the Toffees’ collapse at Stamford Bridge, with Cole Palmer scoring four times and Nicolas Jackson and Alfie Gilchrist adding a strike apiece.
Since then, though, Everton have reacted strongly.
First, they claimed a crucial win over Forest, who had been just one place and one point below them after suffering their own points deduction for a breach of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
That was a step in the right direction but few expected Everton to claim a first Merseyside derby win on home soil in 14 years in their next match – a result which puts Dyche’s side on the brink of safety and has acted as a significant morale boost around the club.
If Everton can maintain this mentality over their final four games, their top-flight status is all but assured.
In other Everton news, a Toffees shareholder was left raging over an “utterly ridiculous” incident against Liverpool.
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