Part three of five on the ECHO’s potted summary of Everton’s 2023/24 season

The 2023/24 season was one of the most tumultuous in Everton’s history and that’s saying something given all the club has been through both on and off the pitch in recent years.

But despite being hit by two separate points deductions, Sean Dyche steered the Blues to safety with three Premier League matches still to play.

Over five parts, here is a potted summary of Everton’s 45 matches in all competitions and how the ECHO – the only major independent news outlet to cover all the club’s games home and away – reported on them. Today is the third instalment.

Verdict (Joe Thomas): In the fourth minute of stoppage time Everton had already clinched a win over Chelsea but Jarrad Branthwaite was celebrating for a different reason.

Lewis Dobbin had just doubled the Blues’ lead with his first Premier League goal and almost 40,000 home fans were partying in the stands. The players could have been forgiven for joining them. Perhaps sensing the chance for personal glory, Conor Gallagher surged through on goal before being brought down in a crashing heap by a sliding Branthwaite.

The youngster ignored his tired legs and leapt up to be congratulated by his teammates for preserving a third clean sheet in a week.

It was fitting that, as important as the rise of one of Dyche’s newest stars has been to Everton’s stunning progress, the player who has done more than any other to preserve the club’s Premier League status and then push it forward under this manager should once again provide the game’s defining moment.

Everton player ratings star man (Chris Beesley): Lewis Dobbin (9).

December 16: Burnley 0 Everton 2

Verdict (Joe Thomas): When Everton last visited Turf Moor, then Burnley manager Sean Dyche suggested the defeated Blues had lost the ability to win. This club certainly knows how to win now.

This victory over Burnley made it four consecutive league wins. It made it four away wins in a row. It made it 10 wins in 14 games in all competitions. Whatever data you think is the most important, from form guide to xG, the different metrics all tell the same story of sustained success.

Had Everton not been deducted 10 points the club would now be one point outside the European spots. They could be deducted another 10 points and still be just one win from safety.

By the end, the singing turned festive as thousands joined to chant a song that has felt like a distant dream across two previous seasons that spawned a combined four league away wins. Everton have now won five so far this season so it is only fitting to hear. “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to see Everton win away.”

Everton player ratings star men (Chris Beesley): Michael Keane, James Tarkowski, James Garner, Amadou Onana (all 8).

December 19: Everton 1 Fulham 1, 6-7 on penalties (Carabao Cup quarter-final)

Verdict (Joe Thomas): Everton have found a new hero but even his efforts were unable to save the Blues from Carabao Cup heartache.

Beto’s late header saved his new side once again in the competition after the striker had been the spark that ignited a comeback against Doncaster Rovers just days after he arrived in the UK. It took this game to a penalty shootout the striker kickstarted by scoring in front of the Gwladys Street.

Jordan Pickford’s save from Bobby De Cordova-Reid then gave Amadou Onana the opportunity to send Everton into the semi-finals.

But it was Fulham who were left celebrating after Bernd Leno saved before Idrissa Gueye hit the post in sudden death, allowing Tosin Adarabioyo to send his side through.

This ultimately proved a test too far for Everton yet, amid the heartache, were the positive signs of progress from a side that is still unbeaten in 90 minutes this month. Chief among them was Beto, the Dominic Calvert-Lewin foil that can finally provide big moments in Royal Blue.

Everton player ratings star man (Connor O’Neill): Beto (8).

December 23: Tottenham Hotspur 2 Everton 1

Verdict (Joe Thomas): Andre Gomes produced a striking comeback display that suggested he could still play a role as Everton’s stunning away form ended in controversy.

The midfielder scored one and should have left north London with two assists but was thwarted by VAR and Guglielmo Vicario’s save from Jack Harrison. Both Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored the goal that was ruled out, and Harrison were played in with cute balls by Gomes after he replaced the injured Idrissa Gueye for his first competitive minutes under Dyche.

The visitors had left themselves with a major challenge to claw their way back into the match after a sloppy 10 minutes allowed Tottenham Hotspur to open an early two goal lead. Yet Gomes’ ingenuity held his side back from a collapse and provided a platform for a performance that should have led to his side’s unbeaten away run being extended.

For all the resilience and perseverance on show, and which had the away end singing to the end, Dyche’s side could not find a deserved equaliser though – Vicario’s superb fingertip save from Arnaut Danjuma denying them at the death. It remained the latest example of how far this side has progressed, however.

Everton player ratings star man (Chris Beesley): Andre Gomes (8).

December 27: Everton 1 Manchester City 3

Verdict (Joe Thomas): Everton suffered at the hands of another controversial decision as they pushed the club world champions to their limit in a battling defeat at Goodison Park.

Three second half goals allowed Manchester City to become the first team to come from behind to beat a Blues side managed by Sean Dyche.

But for all the frustration in the home stands, the celebrations in the away end when Everton gifted the visitors their game-clinching goal told a story of their own. The hosts forced the title holders to work hard for a victory that looked in doubt as they took a first half lead and came inches from doubling it. Even at 2-1 down Everton posed a threat, Dominic Calvert-Lewin almost slotting in a Jack Harrison cross to level.

Dyche’s side was chasing that goal after Amadou Onana was adjudged to have handled when a Nathan Ake shot was fired at him from close range in the box. Referee John Brooks paused before awarding the spot kick, his decision later backed by VAR. But few will be able to explain what else Onana could have done as he was drawn into a brave block at near-point blank range.

It was the second game in a row that a contentious decision proved pivotal against Everton as they fought against a side competing at the top end of the table. On Saturday, VAR intervened to disallow a Calvert-Lewin goal at Tottenham Hotspur when the on-field officials, two of whom had a clear view of the tackle by Andre Gomes to start the move, deemed there to have been no foul play.

This time it was Onana who was on the other end of a tough decision. The Belgium international had little opportunity to avoid the ball when Ake’s shot was hammered at him from close range. Brooks delayed his decision before deciding in the away side’s favour.

Everton player ratings star men (Chris Beesley): James Tarkowski, James Garner, Jack Harrison (all 8).

December 30: Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Everton 0

Verdict (Joe Thomas): Everton have put to bed many of the problems that haunted them in 2023 but were undone at Molineux by a ghost of Christmas past.

The Blues end the calendar year with three consecutive Premier League defeats, and this loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers was the most disappointing performance of the run. A side stretched by injuries and forced into tactical adjustments was second-best throughout this game. It finished 3-0 but could have been far worse had it not been for the reflexes of Jordan Pickford and two offside flags.

A major factor was the role of playmaker Matheus Cunha. Last year, he was on Everton’s radar before Wolves pieced together a deal that blew any rival to his signature out of the water. On Saturday, the playmaker scored one and created another as he tormented an Everton side that was out of this game by the hour mark.

Perspective is needed. This was a hammering, but it was a match that, for the points deduction, should have been a feel-good end-of-year duel between two sides that started the year in a survival battle and were now fighting to end it in the top half.

This loss to Wolves may go down as one of Everton’s worst displays of the same period, but a lot has changed over the past 12 months, and, in almost every department, this club ends the year stronger.

Everton player ratings star man (Chris Beesley): Jordan Pickford (7).

January 4: Crystal Palace 0 Everton 0 (FA Cup third round)

Verdict (Joe Thomas): Same story, same outcome, same anger and frustration. During a tough festive fixture list, VAR has haunted Everton like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. That feeling has now been extended into the new year.

The pull on Amadou Onana in the box at Tottenham Hotspur that was dismissed as an irrelevance. The foul by Andre Gomes in the same game that was waved away by officials just yards away but then reviewed to cost Everton a route back into a game they were the better side in.

The handball at Goodison Park that gave club world champions Manchester City the penalty that helped them edge clear when Onana could do little to evade a close-range rocket fired at him in the box. And now a new venue, in a new year, has witnessed the latest in the growing list of questionable decisions going against the Blues. This time it was a straight red card for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Same story, same outcome – Everton punished on the pitch and in games to come.

This latest decision did not cost Sean Dyche’s side a place in the FA Cup. A tangible marker of how far they have come was that even with 10 men they created the best opportunity in the final minutes at Selhurst Park. But once again they leave a stadium feeling justifiably aggrieved. That is the feeling in the stands and in the dressing room. Blues boss Dyche remains at pains to stress he supports the use of technology in making key decisions. But he is running out of patience.

Everton player ratings star man (Chris Beesley): Andre Gomes (8).

January 14: Everton 0 Aston Villa 0

Verdict (Joe Thomas): As the chaos unfolded a familiar battle cry rang out from the Gwladys Street: “Sixty grand, sixty grand…”

Everyone reading this should know what comes next because it is a song that has echoed around the hallowed stands of Goodison Park for 15 years. The homage to Seamus Coleman was sparked by the sight of the club captain hurling himself into a fight to back up a teammate. James Tarkowski had crashed into Alex Moreno as the Aston Villa wing-back defended near his own corner, prompting a melee. There was no way Coleman would hold back when there was a chance to stand up while wearing Royal Blue.

It was a flashpoint that said so much about Coleman, a 35-year-old who spent most of last year dealing with an horrendous knee injury but who has returned to overlap Jack Harrison and bounce into brawls on behalf of his mates.

Coleman’s inclusion in the starting XI gave him a record-breaking 355 Premier League appearance for Everton. It was a landmark achievement for an important personality whose face adorned a new banner on the Gwladys Street that was unfurled to the sound of Z-Cars.

There will be some frustration that Everton did not exploit a chance to turn a good draw into a valuable win but, after a run of five winless games and three consecutive Premier League defeats, this was at least a foundation for 2024 to be built upon.

Everton player ratings star man (Chris Beesley): Vitalii Mykolenko (8).