Jordan Pickford: ‘It’s all about staying up but I hope my save will prove vital’

Seasons can be turned on a single moment, for better or worse. Jordan Pickford’s brilliance in Everton’s hard-fought victory over Chelsea may provide his side with a springboard to beat the drop.

After Mason Mount’s drilled shot beat a diving Pickford and bounced off the inside of one post and on to the other before falling into the path of César Azpilicueta, it looked a certain goal. However, the goalkeeper leapt off the floor and dived full-length to palm away the ball and preserve three precious points.

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When Pickford rose to his feet, chest out, blood pumping and mouth roaring, Goodison was in raptures, knowing they had witnessed a save of the season contender. “Hopefully when we look back in five games, that has a bit of legacy,” Pickford explains at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground.

“For me it’s always nice to have that legacy of a save but I’m a team player, a club player, and it’s all about staying up. We have got five games, we need to focus on each individual game, but I will look back at the end of the season with a smile on my face and say that was a vital three points and a great save.”

It was not his only important save of the match; a close-range Antonio Rüdiger shot was repelled in less stylish fashion after the ball smashed into Pickford’s face. “I don’t know if I can remember it, it was that hard. I’ve still got a headache now,” Pickford jokes. “That’s what goalkeeping is all about, getting in the way of the ball. You always do technical work day in day out, but the main thing is stopping the ball from going into the net as best as you can and however that comes across is vital for the team.”

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