Leighton Baines believes Everton can still force their way into the Premier League's top four this season if they learn how "to manage games better", having been denied a first victory at Chelsea[1] in 22 years by an assistant referee's oversight eight minutes into stoppage time when John Terry's equaliser should have been ruled out for offside but was allowed to stand, much to the disgust of Roberto Martínez and his players.
It was the second time this season Everton have drawn 3-3 after conceding with 98 minutes on the clock – the first was at Bournemouth[2] – maintaining a worrying trend of letting in stoppage-time goals that cost points. It left them in the bottom half of the table after one Premier League win in nine league matches.
"We've only got ourselves to blame for not managing the game well enough really," said Baines, whose crosses had established Everton's 2-0 lead on Saturday. "We went in front again, 3-2, and threw it away. The goal was offside but we have to manage games better. If we're better at doing that we're right in the mix for the Champions League but, over the course of the season, you end up where you deserve to be.
"There are positives in how well we played to get 2-0 up. To go to Stamford Bridge and score three goals is great but we weren't hanging on. We just didn't do well enough for a short spell that the champions are always going to have at home. We're disappointed in the manner we've come away with a point. We just hope we can improve because it's an open league. We've got some good games coming up, the Capital One Cup [semi-final, second leg] game as well. We want to finish the season as strong as we can and see where that leaves us."
The club hope to convince the Leeds full-back Sam Byram he should swap Elland Road for Goodison Park, having agreed an initial £3.7m deal with the Championship club. West Ham United are also competing for the 22-year-old, who was not involved in their defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Martínez, whose team have drawn 11 games this season, is also targeting Champions League qualification with the gap from fourth place Tottenham Hotspur still 10 points. "We are thinking we can get sucked into the top four positions and we are allowed to think that way," he said after seeing Terry's own goal and efforts from Kevin Mirallas and Ramiro Funes Mori come close to securing a first league double over Chelsea since 1978-79. "We are excited about the team we have and the squad that we have produced in the last three seasons. We've been investing a lot of time and effort giving young players a real opportunity.
"Now you're starting to see players that, while they're very young, are mature enough. They're ready: you see John Stones, the way he performed at Chelsea, Ross Barkley, the way he performed, Romelu Lukaku … you're talking players who are 21, 22 but have big roles in our team. That's why we're very proud and pleased."
References
- ^ Chelsea (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ the first was at Bournemouth (www.theguardian.com)
