A relegation six pointer at the bottom of the table with potential managerial jobs on the line meant that Everton versus Southampton was being labelled as a monumentally important game for both.
Everton did in fact not cope with the pressure as Nathan Jones got his first league win as Southampton boss to turn the mood inside Goodison Park from toxic to unfathomably nervous for what lies ahead.
The day started in poor fashion with a statement from Everton themselves stating that the board of directors would not be attending the game due to fears for their own safety which set the tone for a damning day.
However Everton started the game in a decent enough fashion with a five at the back system which fans had been calling out for to try and get the best out of the squad.
Frank Lampard listened and it looked like it was going to pay off as not long before half-time Amado Onana got his first goal for Everton to put them ahead at the interval lifting the mood at Goodison Park.
It didn’t last long though as inside the first minute of the second half Southampton had equalised through James Ward-Prowse who sat down one before striking the ball past Jordan Pickford who had already saved one of his efforts onto the post.
Then the fear in the ground seeped in with a sense of inevitability creeping in about what would happen next and it wouldn’t be nice.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin came so close to restoring the lead though as he smashed the crossbar with the ball bouncing the wrong side of the line so The Blues were certainly not down nor out.
With 15 minutes to go Everton hearts sank as Ward-Prowse lined up for a free-kick from a long way out.
His effort hit the wall and they had got away with one, for four minutes.
Anthony Gordon mindlessly bundled Che Adams to the ground conceding a free-kick right on the edge which is practically the same as conceding a penalty with Ward-Prowse around.
He stepped up and this time everyone knew what the outcome was going to be as he buried it over the wall and into the back of the net with Pickford statue like in goal.
That won The Saints the game and sent Goodison Park into uproar at full-time with Lampard’s time at Everton hanging by a thread as he shook Jones’ hand before walking straight down the tunnel with the look of a defeated man.
What has been made abundantly clear by Everton fans though is that it is certainly not just on Lampard with the incompetency of those running the club to blame for the state of one of England’s biggest sides.
