Panicky Everton waste their opportunity to pick up points against ten-man Brentford

There are only 13 Premier League games left at Goodison Park. Sean Dyche remains none the wiser as to whether he will be in charge when the club relocates.

Failure to defeat a Brentford side reduced to ten-men for 49 minutes does nothing to help his cause, the brief jeers at full-time more in frustration at another stalemate than full protest, but typifying another anxious Merseyside afternoon.

The panic here – and it was tangible even during the home side’s better moments in a game they should have won – is due to a sense of foreboding as much as malcontent at Everton’s predicament.

Everton’s next seven fixtures include meetings with Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Their fifth draw in eight games, the last three without a goal, have made the natives fretful.

This was a wasted opportunity.

Six minutes of the first half were left when Christian Norgaard challenged Jordan Pickford in what, at first glance, looked like an innocuous attempt to connect with the ball at the far post.

A slow-motion replay later and Norgaard’s studs had clearly caught the England number on his knee, the freezeframe looking more damning with every review. Depending on allegiance, VAR was compelled to urge referee Chris Kavanagh to have another look. On doing so, the red card was produced two minutes later. Thomas Frank was booked in the aftermath.

For Everton, the pressure intensified to get a result. Dyche’s side had started well, five goal attempts in the first six minutes typifying their sharpness. Iliman Ndiaye, the winger who when on form looks like he trained at Hogwarts, was a potential matchwinner. Unfortunately for him, the longer the first half progressed, the less he saw of the ball.

Norgaard’s dismissal eradicated any excuses for not utilising attacking power and Dyche made a tweak in the second half, moving Ndiaye into a number 10 role. Vitalii Mykolenko and Beto came closest to a winner, but Brentford’s defence was resolute for their first away point of the season.