Joao Virginia’s fingertips have played a bigger role in this season than anyone could have imagined 48 hours ago.
With eight minutes of the nine added on already played at Selhurst Park, Everton were inches from being knocked out of the FA Cup. Spoiler alert: They were not. That was because Virginia, at full stretch, just about made it to Eberechi Eze’s low drive and - courtesy of those fingertips - was able to glance the ball wide of the post.
Whether that becomes a big moment in this season remains to be seen. But it has changed the face of January and that is important.
There was a certain cruelty to the way in which Wolves dismantled Everton at Molineux in what would be the club’s final league game for more than two weeks. It was Everton’s worst performance since defeat in the summer sunshine at Aston Villa in August. It extended a losing run to four games and left the table paused with just one point separating the club from the bottom three for what would feel like an age.
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The real story is far more positive, of course. Everton are close to the relegation zone through off-the-pitch issues and not performances. The recent run of results is frustrating but Wolves, though a horror show, was the only bad display in that sequence and there were mitigating factors as injury and exhaustion got the better of a small squad that had produced magic over previous months.
But had Everton lost at Crystal Palace - had Virginia’s fingertips not reached Eze’s goal bound effort - the picture would have felt so much more uncomfortable. Five consecutive
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