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Jonjo Shelvey penalty rescues point for Swansea as Everton pay for calamity Jonjo Shelvey penalty rescues point for Swansea as Everton rue careless hand
(about 3 hours later)
Séamus Coleman’s error allowed Jonjo Shelvey to earn Swansea a share of the points in a feisty end-of-season encounter at the Liberty Stadium, and allow the home side to equal their highest Premier League points tally. They say you cannot please everyone, but referee Michael Oliver succeeded in pleasing neither Roberto Martínez nor Garry Monk in this feisty encounter which belied the mid-table comfort Everton and Swansea currently enjoy.
Swansea had by far the better of the opening 30 minutes, but fell behind four minutes before the break when Aaron Lennon coolly slotted in his second goal in an Everton shirt as Roberto Martínez weighs up a permanent deal for the on-loan Tottenham winger. The visitors had been on course for a fourth-straight win, thanks to Aaron Lennon’s second goal for the club four minutes before the interval, when Séamus Coleman conceded a penalty for handball after stumbling under pressure from the Swansea substitute Marvin Emnes.
But hopes of a fourth straight win to continue the Toffees’ late-season revival were undone by Coleman’s calamity. The full-back felt he had been fouled by Marvin Emnes as he retreated into his own box, but the referee Michael Oliver did not think so and when Coleman reached out to bring in the ball with his hand the official pointed to the spot, from where Shelvey scored the equaliser. Related: Southampton 2-0 Hull City | Premier League match report
While Everton’s season has been one of disappointment, Swansea’s first under Garry Monk’s stewardship has been a great success and they had history to play for knowing a win would take them past their previous best Premier League points tally of 47, accomplished when Brendan Rodgers was at the helm during the 2011-12 season. The Republic of Ireland international clearly handled as he fell to the turf, having anticipated that Oliver would award him a free-kick following contact with Emnes, and looked up in horror as Oliver pointed to the spot and Jonjo Shelvey dispatched the penalty to earn Swansea a point they merited.
Their confidence was clear to see during a bright opening, with the in-form striker Bafétimbi Gomis heavily involved after scoring three in his previous two appearances. Monk felt Oliver, who had infuriated the Swans manager earlier this season when awarding Victor Moses a penalty at Stoke, could have given the spot-kick for either the handball or Coleman forcing Emnes over as he surged around him. Martínez, unsurprisingly, did not agree.
The Frenchman first beat Phil Jagielka to Ángel Rangel’s pass but found his shot blocked by John Stones, before turning the Everton captain and unleashing a curling effort that Tim Howard had to tip round his post. It proved to be the former Lyon forward’s last involvement as he tweaked a hamstring in the process and was replaced by Emnes. He said: “Séamus felt there was contact. The defender gets in front, the striker is trying to get there. If you don’t press the brakes quick enough you are going to get some contact. The referee at that point needs to make a decision. Séamus loses his balance and as he falls he ends up touching the ball with his hand.
It took Everton half an hour to register an effort on goal, by which time Martínez had taken off Leon Osman and sent on Steven Pienaar in the midfielder’s place, and even then it was a tame effort from Ross Barkley. “There was no goalscoring threat whatsoever. I think it was very harsh. The referee should have applied a bit of common sense. From my point of view, I would have wanted to see a free-kick awarded to us. Two or three actions straight after it were exactly the same and given as a free-kick. That is disappointing, you want some consistency. It is a huge punishment after a good performance.”
Shelvey’s strike at the other end was far more purposeful as his stunning volley flew past Howard into the net, but it did not count as Oliver blew for a foul by Wayne Routledge on Leighton Baines in the buildup. But Martínez could not argue Swansea did not deserve their share of the spoils as, motivated by their desire to secure a win which would see them surpass their previous highest Premier League points tally of 47, the hosts had the better of the opening half-hour.
The moment appeared to rouse the visitors from their sluggish start, with Coleman forcing Lukasz Fabianski into a full-length stop with an angled drive. The in-form striker Bafétimbi Gomis was lively, turning Phil Jagielka and forcing Tim Howard into an acrobatic save. Unfortunately for the Frenchman he tweaked a hamstring in the process and will undergo a scan to determine the severity of the problem.
But the Swansea keeper had no chance of preventing the opener as defensive errors cost the home side. Ki Sung-yueng’s failure to track James McCarthy proved costly as the Everton midfielder exchanged passes with Arouna Koné down the left. McCarthy’s cross should have been cut out by Ashley Williams, but the Wales captain’s missed header allowed the ball to drop to Lennon, who took one touch before easing the ball into the bottom corner. Shelvey had the ball in the back of the net with a magnificent long-range volley, but the goal was chalked off, to Monk’s chagrin, by Oliver for a foul by Wayne Routledge on Leighton Baines.
It was harsh on Swansea, but they could easily have trailed by more at the interval had Pienaar got more power on to his shot after smart work by Coleman and Barkley. Everton took advantage of the let-off and, after Coleman had Lukasz Fabianski at full stretch with a low angled drive, they took the lead. James McCarthy and Arouna Koné exchanged passes down the left and when Ashley Williams missed the former’s cross, Lennon controlled and calmly finished.
Fabianski then held a firm Gareth Barry header from a Baines corner early in the second half but Swansea, now playing with Emnes wide and Gylfi Sigurdsson as a false No9, were reasserting the authority they had shown during the opening 30 minutes. Related: West Ham United 1-1 Stoke City | Premier League match report
Emnes dragged one effort wide after robbing Lennon with ease, while Ki used a lovely delicate touch to loft Routledge’s pass over Barry, but he blazed wildly over. The lead could have been greater had Steven Pienaar, on his first appearance in four months, put more power into a strike from a Koné lay-off or Fabianski not kept out Gareth Barry’s firm header.
Swansea continued to press but when the equaliser arrived it was in unusual fashion. Coleman went to ground under pressure from Emnes as he tried to shepherd the ball over his own goalline; anticipating a free-kick the Republic of Ireland international reached out for the ball and to his horror found Oliver awarding a penalty against him for handball. But Swansea reasserted their authority, with Ki Sung-yueng firing over having beaten Barry with a lovely piece of skill, before the penalty arrived and Shelvey earned them a point to move level on their 47-point target.
Shelvey made no mistake as he fiercely dispatched the spot-kick into the bottom corner to set up an intriguing, not to mention fiery, final 21 minutes. It left Monk rueing Shelvey’s disallowed strike, while also questioning why Oliver did not send off Koné, rather than book the forward, for an aerial challenge on Federico Fernández in the first half.
It may have been an end-of-season fixture but Oliver had his hands full keeping tempers in hand as strong challenges from Koné, Jagielka and Williams threatened to ignite matters. He said: “I thought with the [Koné] challenge on Federico in the air, you see players get sent off for less than that. I thought he was lucky. But I was more disappointed with the disallowed goal. I thought it was very harsh, it was a soft free-kick, on what could have been one of the goals of the season.”
In the end it was Swansea who came closest to a winner, but Howard was just about equal to Sigurdsson’s dipping late free-kick.