Key events
63 min Now Southampton win a corner and when it’s headed clear, Fernandes leathers closer to the goal at Bramley-Moore than Goodison.
61 min Mykolenko crosses, Wellington flicks away; Garner flicks to Young, again his cross is a goodun, and Garner hurls himself at it but can only head wide.
60 min Changes for Saints: off go Aribo, Wood and Sulemana; on come Smallbone, Archer, and Stewart.
59 min Again, Everton attack down the right, and again, it’s Young swinging out a cross. This time it’s Doucoure attacking it and he really does attack it, but can only bundle wide.
56 min Everton sweep forward, Doucoure sliding to Garner, outside him, and his shot is blocked. They keep the pressure on, though, Young swinging over a cross and Beto’s up early, he well wants a goal today … but can only head over.
55 min Sulemana tries going at Branthwaite, who is far too physical; he’s maturing into a very fine defender.
53 min At full time, we’re told, there’ll be music and a parade of old players; if they can just get Hazel Irvine conducting interviews, we’ll have everyone greeting in nae time.
52 min Meantime, Everton win a corner then another, but play is soon stopped as Harwood-Bellis and Wood clash heads.
50 min The photo at the top of this blog is lovely: the ascent of Ev.
48 min There’s such a lack of fire in this Southampton team, and also a lack of leadership. I guess they’ll get decent money to reinvest by flogging Dibbling, but they’ve a lot to do if they’re to challenge for promotion next term.
46 min Everton win a free-kick, McNeil to curl in, and Southampton struggle to clear but eventually get it away.
46 min Goodison’s final half of Premier League football is under way. Can Everton give the Gwladys something to cheer about?
Half-time email: “On the Southampton job,” says Mac Millings, “I agree that Will Still would be excellent, but a quick word for ma boy T-Clevs. Watford owner, Gino’s Pozzo, has made a mistake in sacking him – but, y’know, it’s Watford, it’s part of the brand now. (In fact, word is Pozzo wanted to fire Tom in January, and would have but for considerable fan pushback.) We (those fans) almost universally adore him. Cleverley’s coaching ability and maturity grew all season, even as results fell away after injuries to key players. Any club willing to give him time to build (are there any clubs like that any more?) would be lucky to have him.”
I guess no manager with options will fancy Watford for that reason. I’d be surprised if Soton appoint him should Still be up for it, but interested to see how he got on if he took it.
Half-time entertainment: one of the great Goodison games.
HALF-TIME: Everton 2-0 Southampton
Saints have nowhere near enough to ruin Goodison’s day.
45+3 min …it looked fine though, I’m sure Ndiaye timed his run, and shonuff the goal stands.
45+3 min VAR wants a look…
GOAL! Everton 2-0 Southampton (Ndiaye 45+2)
An ill day for Iliman Ndiaye! McNeil drives at the heart of the Southampton defence, slides Ndiaye in, and for reasons known best to himself if anyone, Ramsdale goes at him with feet not hands, is bundled through, and the finish is slid into an empty net.
45 min We’ll have two additional minutes.
44 min Another lovely Goodison goal…
42 min Southampton have barely had a kick inside the Everton half; they’ve been unfathomably dreadful this season.
40 min And another Goodison memory: mates of mine were at this as Sunderland fans, came out the ground, found they’d been towed.
38 min Another great Goodison afternoon…
36 min What does next season look like for Everton? They’ll be excited to be in their new home, but so will their visitors. Goodison, on the other hand, has helped them a lot during the years, especially the season before last when they nearly went down; there’s no guarantee the impact can be replicated.
34 min I’d love to see Will Sill in the Premier League. If you missed his appearance on MNF, do try and seek it out – he was excellent.
32 min Southampton aren’t making this difficult for Everton – they’ve not got much physically though, as I type, Dibling leaves one on Ndiaye. Everton will put another ball into the box, it’s cleared, then Doucoure sweeps a lovely ball wide and goes back to Young, whose cross is headed home by Beto … only for the flag to go up a second time.
30 min A ball in behind, a cross, and Beto finishes … but he went way too early and was offside
29 min Everton win a free-kick on the right, deep inside the Southampton half, and when they win the second ball, Garner will shoot … but his effort is blocked at source.
27 min A poor touch from Ramsdale, well out of his goal, allows Beto to mug him but , from out on the right and a narrow angle, he opts not to go for goal, instead rolling back for Doucoure … whose goalwards sweep is blocked.
24 min Another classic Goodison challenge:
22 min Southampton are not playing like a side that thinks they can get anything out of this; it’s classic end-of-season fare. I’m a little surprised Simon Rusk benched Ugochukwu, whose legs and feet are being missed.
20 min Everton should score again! Again, it’s Ndiaye driving forward and this time, he waits for Beto to run across him then tickles a pass into stride; Beto opens body, looking to feed into the far corner, but he’s wide and wins a corner … which comes to nowt.
18 min Ah, shame for Seamus, who can’t continue and is replaced by Young; the former will remain at the club next season, in what capacity we don’t yet know, while Young has been told he’s leaving. What a reception the skipper gets, though, an unarguable Everton legend.
16 min It’s gone a bit quiet but then Dibling breaks forward, but when he slides right, Branthwaite is over quickly to tidy up. His channel defending is excellent – you’d love to be the full-back on his side.
15 min Fernandes moves through midfield but Everton close the gaps well and force Southampton back. There’s not much intensity in their passing or movement.
13 min Ashley Young is warming up – I’m afraid Coleman has some kind of ankle situation that he’ll hopefully run off.
11 min Now live for you:
9 min Southampton have a bit of possession and, in comms, Ally notes that there’s a player in Sulemana, unable to quite recall when he was impressed by him earlier in the season. Here you go, old mate.
8 min Goodison is jumping.
