#6 Unlucky miss(es)
(a) Cesc Fabregas (vs. Swansea City)
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The fixture was evenly poised at 1-1 after Fernando Llorente’s header cancelled out the Blues’ lead scored by Fabregas.
A few minutes into the second half, Marcos Alonso’s pass down the left flank found Eden Hazard and the Belgian nudged the ball to the onrushing Fabregas who had run to the edge of the box.
The Spaniard’s shot struck the underside of the crossbar before going over, with Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianski well-beaten. Fortunately, the former Arsenal man’s miss did not prove to be the Blues’ undoing.
(b) Tom Davies (vs. Sunderland)
The Toffees midfielder had a go at goal in the final minute of the first half but saw his volley come off the outside of the post with Jordan Pickford having no chance of clearing it otherwise.
Earlier, an Everton free kick was cleared in the box before Morgan Schneiderlin headed it down in the box. The ball was intended for Lukaku; Billy Jones intercepted it but his clearance was half-hearted and only found the lurking Davies on the edge of the six-yard line.
(c) Jermain Defoe (vs. Everton)
The underside of the bar and a hair’s breadth is all that kept Sunderland from scoring a crucial equaliser against the Toffees.
Darron Gibson had won the ball in his own half and touched it on for Adnan Januzaj who started off on a brilliant run before sliding the ball beautifully for the incoming Defoe.
The Sunderland striker’s shot cleared the keeper but was blocked cruelly by the crossbar, giving Everton a lease of life. Could the storyline have been different if the Englishman had scored?
(d) Michail Antonio (vs. Watford)
West Ham were by far the better side at Vicarage road but it was Walter Mazzarri’s side who had the lead, courtesy of a Troy Deeney penalty just a couple of minutes into the game.
As the Hammers launched wave after wave of attack, one particular counterattack breached the Watford defence as Antonio received the ball and launched into a run, leaving the Hornets backline in their wake.
In the box, Antonio’s shot struck both posts but remained clear of the goal-line, proving to be extremely unlucky for the Englishman. Fortunately, Andre Ayew had run into the box to bury the simple tap-in after the second rebound from the post to bring Slaven Bilic’s side on level terms.
