Toffees Teasers: The 2018-19 season recap

With no football in sight as the world tackles the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been doing an Everton-themed trivia every weekend, looking at each season at a time. We first looked at the 2019-20 season a week and a half ago, and hopefully you all aced that test since it’s this current season after all!

Over the past weekend Matthew then went back a year previous with this 2018-19 season quiz, where you should have done just as well, considering it was just last season, duh. As we delve further and further into history though, memories will continue to fail us hence this recap article where we’ll dig a little deeper into the questions and the stories behind them.

1. Who was Everton’s first summer signing in 2018?

In his first summer since taking over, Marco Silva grabbed the player he would often say was like a son to him, first bringing Richarlison over from Brazil’s Fluminense to Watford FC, and then making him his first signing at Goodison Park.
It was a busy summer as six new faces were added to the Everton squad, but none who have consistently had the impact the Brazilian has had since coming to the Blues.

2. How many goals did Everton score in their pre-season friendly against Austrian minnows ATV Irdning?

The Blues thumped the fifth-division side 22-0 in what was quite a spectacle for the fans, getting the Silva era off to a flying start. We did however realize that form would not carry into the Premier League, and it didn’t.

3. Which player did Marco Silva label ‘the present and the future’ for Everton before the start of the season?

Everton fought off suitors left and right for Ademola Lookman, but despite his words about the youngster, Silva never quite warmed to him. In his defence, Lookman didn’t necessarily give him reason to select him too often either.
Eventually the youngster would be loaned out to suitors RB Leipzig, who completed the permanent transfer at the end of the season. Can’t say the Blues have missed much going by what he has produced since then in Germany, but who knows if Carlo Ancelotti could have gotten more out of the undoubtedly talented forward.

Photo by Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images

4. Phil Jagielka was sent off in the season-opener at Wolves. Who was substituted off as a consequence?

Gylfi Sigurdsson was yanked off much to his chagrin as Silva chose to send on Mason Holgate with the Blues leading after 40 minutes. Wolves equalized soon after, but RIcharlison’s second goal on his debut put the Blues ahead again, a lead they held until ten minutes left to play when the hosts equalized to make it 2-2.
Jags’ sending off was controversial, in that his diving lunge definitely made contact with the ball and marginal contact with Diogo Jota, but he went crumbling to the floor to get the captain sent off.

5. What was the most consecutive league games in a row that Everton won last season?

The Blues hit a streak of good form in the spring after muddling through a tough winter, almost invincible at home but the longest run of league wins was just three, with a 2-0 win over Chelsea, beating West Ham United 2-0 away and then Arsenal 1-0 at Goodison in the end of March to early April.

6. Having missed the start of the season due to injury, who did André Gomes make his Everton debut against following his loan move from Barcelona?

Despite a deadline day loan move to the Toffees, the Portuguese midfielder didn’t make his debut for nearly two months. He had picked up a hamstring issue with the Spanish side in preseason, and then had another setback in August that ensured he didn’t get any competitive minutes with the Blues until mid-October when he started in a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace.

7. Who conceded the controversial penalty in Everton’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United in October 2018?

One of Idrissa Gueye’s best traits is his tackling ability, and he showcased it at Old Trafford with an excellent tackle on Anthony Martial to win the ball. The referee Jon Moss (surprise surprise) insisted it was a penalty however, with Paul Pogba then taking a comical run-up before seeing his shot saved by Jordan Pickford. Unfortunately for the Blues, Pogba was quickest to the rebound and knocked the ball home.
The poor decision cost the Toffees at least a point, as a strong performance in the second half led to a Sigurdsson goal in a 2-1 loss, also from a penalty.

8. Who clashed with Jordan Pickford to allow Son Heung-min to score for Tottenham in Everton’s 6-2 defeat to Spurs in December 2018?

In a comic bit of miscommunication, on-loan defender Kurt Zouma clattered into an onrushing Pickford and the ball popped free for the South Korean forward to tuck home. What makes this worse is that Everton were leading from a Theo Walcott opener, were denied a second when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header was chalked off for a foul, and would go on to crumble to a heavy 6-2 thrashing at home.
The Blues winter of discontent was in full force at this time, with this being their fifth game without a win and 11 goals conceded in just three games.

9. Everton played 11 league games from the start of December 2018 to the end of January 2019. How many did they win?

More on that winter of discontent – the Blues played a total of 13 games including two FA Cup clashes, losing seven of those with two draws, pretty much blowing any chance they had of contending for European positions, though it did come pretty close in the end.

10. In Everton’s 3-2 FA Cup defeat to Millwall in January 2019, what was controversial about Lions defender Jake Cooper’s goal?

Milwall’s time-honoured strategy of Route One football at home worked wonders with Silva’s defensively-fragile horrific-setpiece-defending side conceding thrice to balls hoofed into the area. Pickford and his defenders did themselves no favours either with poor communication equally at fault on all, and it was no surprise that the referee did not see the handball that led to the hosts’ second equalizer.

11. Who invaded the Goodison Park pitch during Everton’s 3-1 defeat to Wolves in February 2019?

With seventh place beckoning, the Blues took on Wolves at home in what was basically a Europa League qualifier. And like they often have when there have been stakes to play for, the Blues bottled it. In a terrible display in front of their own fans, Everton gifted the visitors all three of their goals and the three points.
There were two redeeming moments in this game though – Gomes’ weaving run and thunderous shot for the lone Everton goal, and a black cat that sauntered onto the pitch in the second half, refusing to leave and generally making an adorable nuisance of himself.

Photo by Molly Darlington - AMA/Getty Images

12. How many points did Everton take off the three newly-promoted sides last season (Wolves, Fulham and Cardiff)?

It wasn’t as bad as you might have feared, but the points dropped were crucial - a brace over Cardiff, one win over Fulham and just the one draw against Wolves for ten points. However, the loss at Fulham was ignominious considering the hosts had lost nine straight games before that. The abovementioned game against Wolves at Goodison was effectively a six-pointer, and the Blues ended three points behind them when the season was done.

13. Which of these teams did Everton beat home and away in the league last season?

Aside from doing the double over Cardiff, the Blues also beat Burnley home and away, exorcising their Sean Dyche demons with a 5-1 win away at Turf Moor on Boxing Day, and then a 2-0 win at home on the penultimate matchday, the last at Goodison for the season.

14. Who was the last opposition player to score at Goodison Park last season?

The Toffees were ominous at home in spring 2019, reeling off four wins on the trot to close out the season after a Merseyside Derby stalemate. But the last goal conceded at home was actually in the game before that, with eventual champions Manchester City winning 2-0 with goals from Aymeric Laporte and then Gabriel Jesus.

15. How many players made Everton first team debuts during the 2018-19 season?

The Blues made six signings - Richarlison, Zouma, Gomes, Yerry Mina, Bernard, Lucas Digne - and all six were regular performers. Strikingly, not a single youth squad player made the step up with their first senior team appearance.