Everton’s relegation struggles continued as they lost at home to Wolves.
Conor Coady broke the deadlock early in the second half when he rose above Ben Godfrey to meet Ruben Neves’ cross from the right with a headed effort.
The Blues were reduced to 10 men in the final 15 minutes after Jonjoe Kenny received his second yellow card for a rash challenge on Raul Jiminez.
Frank Lampard’s side now sit outside the Premier League’s bottom three by the sole virtue of having a superior goal difference on 18th placed Watford.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Lampard can’t mask survival scrap
Virtually from the outset of his tenure, Frank Lampard has routinely dismissed the notion that Everton are on the verge of staring myriad crises in the face.
But he can no longer hide the stark reality of the club’s predicament after a fourth successive Premier League defeat left them scrapping for survival.
Only the fact that Watford have conceded seven more goals is keeping Lampard’s side teetering above the drop zone instead of falling into it.
Thursday’s visit of a resurgent Newcastle United is has become all the more imperative if the Blues are to avoid being dragged further into the mire.
The Blues’ fractional advantage was almost reduced by more than just a goal as Wolves fashioned a host of chances after Conor Coady’s headed opener.
What little opportunities they fashioned mostly arrived during the first half, where Jose Sa was able to repel efforts from Richarlison and Demarai Gray.
Lampard continues to try and put a brace face on Everton’s predicament yet there is no running away from it – they are in the thick of a relegation battle.
Goodison’s apathy is symptomatic
If Everton’s predicament had not become clear to their players in-game, it was spelled out to them after the final whistle in a rare and unsual fashion.
There have been times this season where the Goodison crowd barely mustered a sound of indignation despite witnessing some abject displays.
Only the 5-2 humiliation by Watford and a forgettable Merseyside derby provoked the ‘Grand Old Lady’ to unleash its incandescent levels of rage.
Yet the muted response to this latest defeat should set alarm bells ringing.
It may not have been the first time that Evertonians have shrugged their collective shoulders but apathy has set in at a critical stage of the campaign.
That in itself highlights how beaten down fans have become by watching a team which seems incapable of repaying their faith on a consistent basis.
No amount of pre-match rallying cries will make up for the ebbing belief; Everton’s players need to show constructive actions instead of warm words.
Failure to do so will see Goodison potentially bowing out of the English top flight after an unbroken spell of 68 years without so much as a whimper.
Doucoure goes off the boil
Even in troubled times, Abdoulaye Doucoure remained Everton’s key constant.
The midfielder, however, was alarmingly off the boil in this game.
Doucoure’s heatmap often envelopes several crucial parts of the pitch but the closest he got to those areas was through pointing aimlessly towards them.
Although he is more comfortable in a two-man holding bank, the 29-year-old struggled to contain the visitors’ routes through that middle of the park.
He and midfield co-anchor Donny van de Beek were routinely bypassed as Wolves racked up back-to-back leagues wins after just one in six beforehand.
Whatever issues are permeating in the Goodison dressing room, they have clearly had a knock-on effect to one of their side’s most consistent performer.