BETO LATE THAN NEVER
Everton star Beto breaks down in tears on Goodison Park pitch after last-gasp equaliser to rescue point against Fulham
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BETO broke down in tears after rising out of the Goodison gloom to claim the late, late equaliser that got Sean Dyche and his anonymous players off the hook.
The big striker, who could yet be dumped in the January transfer window, delivered just when he was needed most four minutes into added time.
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Sub Beto’s output since arriving for £26million from Udinese in the summer of 2023 has been little short of under-whelming.
This was only his fourth Prem goal and a return to Italy may still be imminent.
Yet how he celebrated as he denied former Everton star Alex Iwobi from claiming the points with his fine finish just over half an hour earlier.
That dramatic equaliser left ex-Toffees boss Marco Silva gutted for it seemed certain that his side would rise to eighth in the table.
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Instead, yet again, they let a lead slip at the end of what for most of the time had been a dull, dull, dull encounter.
And the emotion was clear to see for the Portuguese forward as the waterworks burst open.
Beto said: “It means TOO much for me.
"I work hard, even when I don’t play I work hard and keep my head up every day, I try and improve to be better and help the team.
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“It’s emotional. These last few weeks have been difficult for me but I’m happy I scored a goal.”
Dyche did say pre–match that there’s always another cloud waiting to sweep over Goodison Park.
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So it proved just when he might have expected a little brightness after his players had spent the previous four games climbing out of their early-season depression.
Two wins and two draws should have created optimism and a sense of urgency but it never seems to go that way with the Toffees.
The home fans were gloomy and fretful from the off, a first-half display that may have been the worst for the manager in his 21 months in charge did nothing to lighten the atmosphere.
To say Everton were lacklustre would have been paying them a compliment.
At times during the first 3O minutes, England No1 Jordan Pickford shook his head in frustration at the lack of movement in front of him.
On the touchline, Dyche was spitting blood for his team were there for the taking.
Left-back Vitalii Mykolenko summed up the lack of drive – and intelligence – in offering a gift to the Cottagers.
His attempt at a clearance was pathetic, hitting straight to Raul Jimenez.
The striker rolled the ball into Adama Traore’s path but Pickford, at least, was alert and alive.
The winger delivered a near-post pile driver but the ‘keeper reacted superbly to block the attempt.
Still, Everton were on their heels and Emile Smith Rowe blasted a volley over from 15 yards when a clear head and more control would have produced the opener.
Not that Silva’s side were exactly electrifying.
The power switched off for them as Idrissa Gueye was given all the room in the world to have a pop from almost 30 yards out.
He gave it a real go, too, but his strike smacked against the crossbar.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin tucked away the rebound but his attempt was correctly signalled as offside by VAR.
And now it was Fulham’s turn to go into their shells, Dwight McNeil unmarked as he met a good cross from Mykolenko.
But as things had been through the whole first half, there was no dynamism from the winger-turned-No10 and Bernd Leno didn’t have to be a hero to save the header.
The entertainment, if you could call it that, only got worse.
Yet in the 61st minute, Smith Rowe suddenly illuminated the proceedings with the dazzling run that brought Iwobi’s fine winner.
Fulham’s £34m record buy shrugged off the torpor that had dragged him and so many around him down.
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He powered his way through four tackles before slipping to the attacking midfielder who still had work to do, but sent a fine low shot inside the near post and beyond Pickford’s desperate stretch.
That gloom around Goodison just deepened until Beto rose to meet Ashley Young’s volleyed cross – and suddenly at least some of those storm clouds rolled away.
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