Safety within Everton's grasp after controversial win over Nottingham ...

The job is not completely done yet for Sean Dyche, but victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League’s ‘El Deductico’ means safety is within Everton’s grasp. 

It’s that time of the year when the Merseysiders get a result to save their season and potentially safeguard their future.

We should all be acquainted with this much-repeated storyline. A turgid few months involves at least one existential crisis amid performances oscillating between the underwhelming and the embarrassing. Eventually there is a communal agreement that the recriminations should pause and players must be encouraged to shoot from distance.

As the Evertonians clear their throats in a final, last ditch attempt to avoid the abyss, midfielders unaccustomed to scoring regularly – let alone spectacularly – let fly from 25 yards. Think Barry Horne versus Wimbledon in 1994, Gareth Farrelly against Coventry City in 1997 and, most recently, Abdoulaye Doucoure in 2023.

This time it was Idrissa Gana Gueye who stepped up as the unlikely game-changer, his 29th minute opener settling the nerves in this season’s mother of must-win games. Dwight McNeil replicated it in the second half.

Everton rode their luck a little when Ashley Young was the right side of two penalty decisions from referee Anthony Taylor. There is sure to be more on that to follow from Nuno Espirito Santo. But Everton carried more physicality and belief than a Forest side whose passing rarely rose above the pedestrian, and never carried penetration.

Dyche looked dressed for sport more than business. He usually resembles one of Sir Alan Sugar’s henchmen from the Apprentice, full of brooding determination in the technical area. He was barely recognisable in training gear, bellowing his instructions on a predictably tense afternoon.

Such was his proactivity appealing for every free-kick and throw-in, this was a day where he was hoping his energy would be reflected on the pitch.

The game plan manifested itself early, Everton peppering set-pieces while Forest hoped their pace might pierce a well-drilled defence. It never did.

Everton had the platform they craved when Gueye beat Matz Sels, whose slow reaction enabled the well-placed strike to bounce in off the post.

After Forest’s penalty appeals, Everton desperately needed a second to relieve their nerves. McNeil obliged. Only an ugly injury to substitute striker Beto soured the mood.

The gap to the bottom three is now five points and it is those below who need to find a saviour.

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