A serious case of the Blues: Everton’s last-gasp defeat breaks unwanted Premier League record

Everton’s early season woes continued on Saturday when a seemingly impossible-to-lose lead turned into last minute heartbreak, as Bournemouth came from two goals behind to defeat the Toffees 3-2 at Goodison Park. 

It leaves the Blues pointless after their opening three league matches, having lost 3-0 to Brighton on the opening day before falling to a heavy 4-0 defeat against Tottenham on Matchday 2. Sean Dyche’s men lie rooted to the bottom of the table heading into the international break and already it looks as though this season will be another challenging one for the Merseyside outfit, who have found themselves in relegation contention throughout the previous three campaigns. 

Saturday’s heart-breaking loss has unsurprisingly dominated paper talk over the last couple of days, with growing pressure mounting on the players and manager Dyche. It was almost inconceivable that Everton would squander a two-goal advantage with just nine minutes (inclusive of injury time) left on the clock, but a late flurry of goals from the visiting Cherries, scored in the 87th, 92nd & 96th minutes respectively saw the Dorset side depart the north-west with three points to their name – leaving the Toffees with a hugely unwelcome Premier League record in the process: 

Since the league’s inception in 1992-93, no club leading by two goals as late as the 87th minute has gone on to lose. 

The record was taken from West Brom, who allowed a two-goal lead to slip against Reading in 2013, eventually losing 3-2 after leading the Royals 2-0 up until the 80th minute thanks to three late goals from Jimmy Kebe (81st), Adam Le Fondre (88th) and Pavel Pogrebnyak (91st). 

Bournemouth have made somewhat of a habit out of late comebacks in recent seasons, it must be said. In 2022-23, the Cherries scored three second-half goals after trailing Nottingham Forest 2-0 at half-time to win 3-2, and last season the south coast club forged an unlikely comeback against Luton, winning 4-3 after finding themselves 3-0 down at the break. Resilience appears to be etched in their DNA.

Bournemouth also inflicted late misery on Everton way back in 2015, when a last minute Junior Stanislas goal deprived the Blues of a win away from home. The visitors went into the half-time interval leading 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium courtesy of goals from Ramiro Funes Mori and Romelu Lukaku, before a late Bournemouth comeback saw Adam Smith and Stanislas find the net on the 80th and 87th minute respectively to draw the hosts level. Ross Barkley then snatched what appeared to be the winner in the 90th minute of the game to put Everton 3-2 ahead, before Stanislas immediately responded with a leveller from the restart and the game ended a point apiece.

Thanks to a wonderfully timed international break – just as we were all getting right into the new season – the next round of top-flight matches are not until September 14th, and things don’t get any easier for Everton, with a daunting televised trip to Aston Villa on the slate on Matchday 4. Things need to change quickly for the Merseysiders if they want to avoid another long season of fighting against the strengthening tide of relegation, and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory cannot become a habit for them if they are to remain sitting at England’s top table beyond this season. 

Saturday’s performance ended disappointingly but their display up until the last 10 minutes highlighted a number of positives and was a marked improvement on the two games beforehand. It is still early days and the landscape at the bottom can at this stage be drastically changed by just one win and a booster shot of momentum. Further defeats, however, will soon prove catastrophic.

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