Everton played a good last two-thirds of the Premier League campaign; unfortunately, the first one-third was terrible.  They finished 8th on the Table, just missing out on Europa League.  It was a disappointing finish after the previous year’s finish had left high hopes for Champions League qualification.

The season started off dismally with a 6-1 home loss to Arsenal.  Everton then proceeded to lose half of their first 14 matches before finding a good rhythm and only losing two matches the rest of the way.  The highlight of the campaign had to be the 11 day stretch in which they defeated both Chelsea (2-1) and Manchester United (3-1) in back-to-back league matches sandwiched around a first-leg victory over Sporting Lisbon (2-1) in the Europa League.  Unfortunately, overall they suffered too many poor first halves of matches which led to either frustrating losses or draws that kept them from advancing up the table.  They finished with 16 wins, 13 draws, and 9 losses for 61 points.  After starting off -5 in goal differential after the first match, they managed to finish +11.

Everton were knocked out in Europa League by Sporting Lisbon (losing 0-3 in the second-leg) at the last 32 stage.  Their Carling Cup run ended with a loss to Tottenham.  Their FA Cup run ended with a home loss to Birmingham.  After making the FA Cup Finals last year, it was especially disappointing to lose so early and at home.

Hopefully, Everton can build on the momentum of the latter part of the season (no losses in March, April, and May – an 11 match streak) and play their way back up the table and compete for a Champions League spot next season!  Can’t wait until August gets here!