'Woeful': Goalkeeper slams his own 'disgusting' blunder
Everton goalkeeper and England international Jordan Pickford admitted he made a "disgusting" error during his side's 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
The keeper was left embarrassed early in the second-half of the clash at Goodison Park when a tame shot from Christian Benteke on a difficult angle went straight through Pickford’s arms.
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The goal cancelled out Bernard's early opener for the home side and gave Everton cause for concern, but they were able to restore their lead through Richarlison before Dominic Calvert-Lewin put the game beyond doubt.
Pickford has faced criticism this season for his disappointing performances for the Merseyside outfit and the pressure will only increase in the wake of his latest blunder.
And he was disappointed with the calamity, though he is proud of the way he responded as his side recovered to collect the three points.
"Yeah, disgusting," he said to BT Sport when asked about Benteke's strike.
"It was unfortunate, the first goal. I'm disappointed with myself, I think my studs got caught. I hold my hands up. It shows my character and mentality, I reset, I didn’t let it affect me."
While Pickford made up for the blunder with a brilliant close range save later on, fans on social media were . quick to call out the England international.
Many called for Dean Henderson to represent England at Euro 2020 instead of Pickford.
Pickford doing a Pickford. pic.twitter.com/HrUqArPwbO
— LFC Introspective the Unbearable🏆🏆🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 (@LFCintrospect) February 8, 2020
Jordan Pickford is absolutely woeful and he’s somehow England’s No.1. Everton are crying out for a new ‘keeper.
— Leanne Prescott (@_lfcleanne) February 8, 2020
Pickford is awful, Dean Henderson should be England's No 1 in the Euros
— KORAIN (@MKorain) February 8, 2020
This Pickford guy is always making mistakes but some how will start for England at the Euros.
— Adam McKola (@AdamMcKola) February 8, 2020
Awful stuff from Jordan Pickford and not for the first time this season . Dean Henderson or Nick Pope have to be starting for England in the summer
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 8, 2020
It's really simple. Jordan Pickford based on form and ability is not England's current no 1.
— BA Analytics (@Blades_analytic) February 8, 2020
Pickford was not the only one who failed to impress for the hosts. Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti was not happy with his team's display despite the win, which keeps them in contention for a place in Europe next season.
Ancelotti said: "The best thing today is the result as the performance was not good. It was a difficult game with a lot of interruptions, so we were not able to keep the intensity.
"The target since I arrived was to get into Europe - now we have a possibility to think about the Europa League."
Now unbeaten in their last five matches in the English top-flight, Everton are seventh in the table and sit just one point behind Tottenham, who occupy the final European qualification spot.
After the two-week winter break for Premier League teams, the Toffees will return to action on February 23 when they travel to north London to face Arsenal before they host Manchester United the following week.
With Goal.com
