Everton had the opportunity to secure Premier League survival in their game at Goodison Park this evening and instead of taking their opportunity chaos ensued on Merseyside instead.
There is no doubt that Frank Lampard will be absolutely livid with his team after a disappointing and self-destructive performance that cost them crucial points in one of their final games of the season, and now they only have two chances to escape their first-ever relegation from the Premier League.
The first half got off to a promising start with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring his first goal for Everton since August 2021. It wasn't the most glamorous goal the striker has scored as he chested it into the back of the net but he will claim it after a long-running goal drought.
Unfortunately, Everton were unable to hold onto their lead when the first mistake from the Toffees was made by Seamus Coleman who headed the ball into the back of the net in a mistimed attempted block that saw the captain head the ball into the back of the net to give Brentford their equaliser.
The hosts were handed a lifeline when Richarlison was taken down by Sorensen in the box and the foul led to a penalty that the Brazilian comfortably converted to put his team back in front ahead of halftime.
Everton at the halfway point were in a position to secure safety if they could just hold onto their lead for another 45 minutes. Despite going down to ten men after Jarrad Branthwaite was sent off in the 18th minute of the game the Toffees showed resilience against Thomas Frank's side even a man down.
In the second half, the chaos continued but not in the home team's favour as the side went into freefall with Brentford finding the back of the net twice and another player in blue was sent off the pitch with Salomon Rondon only lasting four minutes on the pitch after being substituted on for Coleman.
On the subject of the Irish defender, he completely let his manager down with a shocking performance that has made a direct impact on the team's missed opportunity to win safety in the league, something you would not expect from a player who is captaining his side.
According to SofaScore, the defender only made a measly 13-passes during the contest. He wasn't just lapse in possession of the ball, however.
The full-back lost 100% of his defensive duels and made no interceptions or tackles. He also made no attempts to dribble and no blocks over the course of his awful 84-minute performance before Lampard finally called Coleman back to the bench.
Luckily for the Everton manager, the fight against relegation is still in their hands after Leeds United took a draw and Burnley lost this afternoon meaning they still have a two-point cushion above the bottom three.
Lampard will be hoping they can complete their survival mission when they host Crystal Palace at Goodison Park on Thursday in their final home game of the season.