What Richarlison did against Liverpool shows Tottenham what Everton already knew
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Liverpool Echo IconSportFootballEverton FCRicharlison put his body on the line to save Everton and he showed with his goal and all-round performance against Liverpool that is likely to do the same for Tottenham HotspurThere is a lot you would want in a Premier League relegation fight that Tottenham Hotspur are missing.Interim boss Igor Tudor has failed to provide a new manager ‘bounce’ and instead has appeared to cause more division at a time when unity is essential. The forward is once again showing he is willing to fight when the situation is dire, a characteristic that saved the Blues and could now save Spurs.The 28-year-old (can you believe he is only 28?) led from the front at Anfield on Sunday.
Latest EFC news and analysis from via the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated FB pageYet he carried on and dragged a depleted, threadbare side on its worst losing streak in generations to an unlikely point that started to look more and more of a possibility as he kept going.The warning signs were there for Liverpool - the Brazil international forced a good save from Alisson Becker with a header from a corner and then was agonisingly close to meeting an Archie Gray cross when any touch would have led to an equaliser.But relegation-fighting Richarlison is a different beast and he got his goal in the 90th minute, earning Tottenham a vital point.As he celebrated inside a stunned stadium it was hard not to think back to how he pulled Everton from the mire under Frank Lampard four years ago. It was his goal just after half-time - created by him hunting down the ball - that gave the Blues the win over Chelsea that kickstarted the run to survival.His celebration, in which he picked up a smoking flare, was one of several iconic moments on a day in which Evertonians held their first coach welcome in the tight streets surrounding Goodison Park and when Jordan Pickford made one of the great saves of the Premier League era.Ten days earlier he had rescued a point at home to Leicester City through sheer force of will and the forward would pop up with six goals in the last nine games of the season that mattered - including the equaliser in the comeback win over Crystal Palace that guaranteed survival and made a final day trip to Arsenal meaningless.There are several players who deserve immense credit for hauling Everton from the mess that year.
We had no choice.”Richarlison said he refused a medical ahead of the Crystal Palace game because he feared he would stopped from playing, something he could not contemplate. He played, he scored, the Blues stayed up.That summer he moved to Spurs but his connection with Everton has remained strong, as did his love for the club - he spent the second half of that season teasing Arnaut Danjuma, questioning his 11th-hour U-turn away from a move to Merseyside and to north London instead.He is now tasked with saving Spurs from catastrophe and, as he showed on Sunday evening, there should be little doubt he will be up for the fight.Joe ThomasJoe Thomas is the Everton FC correspondent for the Liverpool ECHO.