Everton future could be terrifying as VAR explanation of Dominic Calvert-Lewin decision emerges

Everton added another nightmare to their collection of hellish trips to Bournemouth by snatching defeat from the jaws of a fortuitous draw.

There can be no clearer indication of the misfortune overshadowing the Blues’ season than the manner of this loss - one that took the winless Premier League streak to a joint-club record 12 games and sparked cheers of ‘going down’ from the home crowd.

Everton entered stoppage time level after a goalkeeping howler from Neto provided the away side with a rare slice of luck in what has become another tortuous campaign.

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Even then they were unable to take advantage, conspiring to a late defeat through a calamitous mix-up at the back. This 2-1 loss was about far more than bad luck, however. It is one that raises serious questions about how a side desperate for a shot of positivity will find the boost required to save it from another fight to the death.

This is a club so unused to fortune that the away end took 90 seconds to erupt in celebration when Beto finished into an empty net after Neto dropped a harmless cross onto the head of his centre back, Chris Mepham. Everyone stopped, assuming some official, somewhere, would find a reason to disallow the goal. They did not because they could not and all of a sudden Everton were on the brink of a valuable point after a laboured effort to respond to Dominic Solanke’s 64th minute goal. The forward, who met the ball after drifting between James Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey to head in from close range, had set the Cherries on the way to a win that would cement their mid-table status and cast further shadow