There was a brief pause in play midway through the second half as Jarrad Branthwaite and Carlton Morris required treatment on the ground.
Everton were battling to regain the momentum that had propelled them into halftime on the crest of a wave that had given them a footing in the game thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. They needed it following a dreadful first ten minutes in which the hosts were given enough warning of the threat presented by Luton Town but were unable to prevent the ball from crashing into Jordan Pickford’s net twice.
With about a half-hour to go until the injury halt, there was still plenty of time to change the game. This team is filled with talent. The audience was fully behind the players. This was a moment for calm minds and steady feet. It was time to make a plan.
Despite the attention devoted to Morris and Branthwaite, there was no indication of a plot forming on the pitch. There were several hands on hips. Only Amadou Onana went to the sidelines to meet with club officials. And it was evident. Nothing changed when the game was restarted. A disorganised, hurried ending was lots of effort but few actual opportunities. It was much too simple for a team that many had already relegated to the Championship to break up, disrupt, and predict anything Everton threw at them.
The same lack of clarity contributed to the confusion that put Everton at a disadvantage. The Gwladys Street sighed a sigh of relief as Tom Lockyer thundered a header over the bar, and the failure to stop him went unpunished.
When Luton broke the deadlock from another corner, Everton couldn’t claim they hadn’t been warned. This time, it was Carlton Morris’ thunderous header that found its way to Lockyer’s foot through the bar, Pickford, and Ashley Young.
Seven minutes later, Morris, a constant menace, went unmarked to the back post and slammed home from a free-kick. It was again another worrying reminder of this team’s apparent problem protecting the dead ball. Questions will be raised about who was responsible for devising a strategy to thwart the delight Luton had derived from set pieces – both at Finch Farm and on the pitch.
Everton needed to respond, and they did so. If there was any panic, it fueled haste, which Royal Blue utilised to gain momentum. It seemed inevitable that Everton would score their first goal in League Four this season. While Garner’s superbly timed run to the outside of the six yard box was another hopeful evidence of his growing influence, he should have done better than to head Dwight McNeil’s cross against the bar.
When the goal came, it came in a whirl of commotion. Before the ball was passed to Onana, Calvert-Lewin and James Tarkowski fought for it in the opposition area. He was unable to obtain a clear strike, owing primarily to being pushed back, but the ball dropped to Calvert-Lewin via Abdoulaye Doucoure in the bustle that followed Thomas Kaminski’s save, and Everton had a footing in the game. The celebrations came after a lengthy wait during which VAR reviewed a slew of concerns and correctly decided in favour of the home team.
That was supposed to be the tipping moment. Everton’s control and maturity in the second half against Brentford last week proved decisive. It seemed like a watershed moment for a team that, as Dyche explained in his post-match comments in west London, had played admirably without being rewarded in previous early-season games. Everton appeared to be on a roll after winning the league and then the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa. It was, instead, another false dawn.
Everton had began the game strongly, looking like a side that had won two games in a row, both on the strength of excellent performances. The Blues made five attempts in the first 15 minutes. The image of Dwight McNeil waiting for a clearing to descend from the rain-soaked heavens to volley first time from the edge of the area was a symbol of the confidence surging through Blue veins. It missed by one inch. When teed up in space 16 yards out, Idrissa Gueye side-footed wide, then Garner cut inside from the right and curled a left-footed attempt just wide of the far post.
This setback is made all the more worrisome by the way in which it occurred. Dyche has often urged his players to alter the narrative that surrounds them. They appeared to have put in the effort, and their reward was two great chances at home against Luton and Bournemouth. Instead, another week of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty awaits. Dyche will need to find solutions, but it is also up to his players to supply the answers. They are also the writers of their Goodison tale, and they scripted yet another happy ending for someone else against Luton.
