Frank Lampard insists ‘anything is possible’ after Everton battle for point
Everton manager Frank Lampard insists ‘anything is possible’ if his relegation-threatened side continue to show the fight that saw them score a late point in a 1-1 draw at home to Leicester.
Richarlison snatched the equalizer – his 50th for the club in his 146th appearance – in the second minute of added time after the visitors failed to add to Harvey Barnes’ fifth-minute opener.
It meant the Toffees recorded back-to-back unbeaten Premier League matches for the first time since October, having beaten Manchester United last time out, and moved them four points above 18th-placed Burnley.
But while they could still be in the bottom three by the time they arrive at Anfield on Sunday afternoon for the Merseyside derby as Burnley have home games against Southampton (Thursday) and Wolves Lampard focus on the positives .
“A late goal that gives you a draw is really positive,” he said.
“That’s something we want to change. As the odds came and went towards the end of the game – Seamus (Coleman) has a good chance, Richy (Richarlison) had a good chance – you worry.
“What we haven’t been able to do well enough in my time here is draws when we don’t play as well as we should – I think that was the case in the first half- time but not in second – and other games recently against West Ham and Burnley where performances were good and we got nothing.
“As long as we stay in games and keep fighting in games, anything is possible.
“It’s a small run but it’s the rebound from a good result against Manchester United to get another point on the board.
“It can be an easy thing to tell players they lack spirit or desire and they certainly don’t.
“We are not at the time of pretty patterns and an idea of our philosophy for the next two or three years, the first phase is whether we can fight or show character to stay in this league and they showed it tonight.”
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers felt the only thing missing from the display was a tip.
“I thought we were great in terms of performance,” he said.
“Once we got into the second half, we just needed a bit more composure in the final third of the pitch to close the game.
“At 1-0, you always have to go all the way and unfortunately just at the end we conceded the goal.
“You think about the great result Everton had here 11 days ago (beating Manchester United); it’s our fourth game in this period.
“The level at which the players played was really very high. Overall, I’m happy with the way we played.