Jordan Pickford aims subtle dig at penalty critics as David Moyes Everton message revealed

Jordan Pickford aims subtle dig at penalty critics as David Moyes Everton message revealed

Jordan Pickford was speaking following Everton's win over Brighton & Hove Albion

Jordan Pickford

Jordan Pickford couldn’t help but issue a subtle dig at those who believe his water bottle penalty sheet should be banned. The Everton goalkeeper played a key role in ensuring his side started life at Hill Dickinson Stadium with a win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon.

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Jack Grealish put in a man-of-the-match display as Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner were on target. But with just over 10 minutes of normal time left, the Seagulls were awarded a penalty after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall handled Yankuba Minteh’s shot.

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However, Pickford guessed correctly, diving the right way to keep out Danny Welbeck’s spot-kick.

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But before the penalty was taken, the Sky Sports cameras zoomed in on Pickford’s water bottle, which included a sheet of information about Brighton’s possible penalty takers.

Speaking on talkSPORT following Everton’s defeat to Leeds United last week, former Premier League midfielder Jamie O’Hara called for the sheet to be banned.

And the Everton goalkeeper couldn’t help but aim a subtle dig at his critics by saying: “I didn’t want to look at my bottle because I know people are gunning for it to be banned.

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“It’s my trick. So, I’ll keep doing it. You haven’t seen the little detail above [the graph] I had keeper’s left. So, I was never changing my mind, but that’s what I’m there to do.

"I expected [Matt] O'Riley to take it and I didn't want to look at my bottle. I decided to go left so I was never changed my mind. I thought I was a bit unfortunate against Leeds the other night, but that's football."

Reflecting on the win, the England international told BBC Sport: "Brighton are a really good side, we know they are really good off the ball. The manager said we are going to have to work hard which we did.

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"We defended like Everton does. Sometimes that is what it takes to get an Everton result and the fans have gone home happy so it's a great day.

"It's amazing, the fans are always behind us whether we go home or away, we've got great support and we can't thank them enough.

"It's about letting them go home happy which we have done today. It's a start and we want to keep building momentum at this place and be resilient so that's what we'll try to do."

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