Incredible! amazing!Everton have found attacking weapon to rely on as baffling sequence continues

Everton added to their tally of set-piece goals with two more against Spurs on Saturday in the Premier League

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“Control the controllables” preaches Sean Dyche and if there’s one thing that epitomises such a mantra it’s the importance of set-pieces to Everton.

The Blues boss implores his players to stay focused and ignore what he calls “the noise” in terms of all the external factors impacting on their Premier League position but when it comes to shaping their destiny on the pitch, dead ball situations can hold the key – at both ends of the field. Everton’s elusive quest for a penalty goes on and while Dyche has tried to remain stoic about it in press conferences, he’s only human and in the heat of battle against Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park, he was shown his third yellow card of the season by referee Michael Oliver for protesting that his side should have been awarded a spot-kick for a foul on substitute Beto.

But as Dyche himself has also said, Everton “don’t get penalties.” Well they get them against them in the shape of 10-point deductions – the biggest sporting sanction in 135 years of English top flight football for a single Financial Fair Play breach – the appeal against which was concluded on Friday, but they don’t get them given to them.

Self-styled amateur comedians who follow rival teams like to quip: “You’ve actually got to get into the opposition area to win a penalty.” Well as the tumbleweed blows past after such side-splitting japes, the fact of the matter is that Everton’s 420 touches in the box so far this season is more than seven other Premier League teams – Wolverhampton Wanderers (two penalties); Luton Town (three penalties); West Ham United (four penalties); Burnley (one penalty); Nottingham Forest (one penalty); Crystal Palace (three penalties) and Sheffield United (three penalties).

Before every home match, the Blues display their total number of top flight games on the big screens at Goodison Park. That record-breaking figure now stands at 4693 but with their Premier League existence continuing to be threatened by an on-the-field punishment, perhaps the total number of minutes they’ve played without being awarded a penalty – now up to 3135 and that’s without adding on the ample amounts of stoppage time we get these days – might make a poignant addition to ‘the stats and facts’ to use another Dycheism.

Despite the head-scratching absence of penalties that adds fuel to Evertonian fears that those running the game have got it in for their club as well as those shaping the general narrative having allegiances to their rivals – it wasn’t a rarity that whichever way you looked at Goodison in the game against Spurs, there were a legion of former Liverpool players chatting away as pundits – Dyche’s team showed the crucial role that set-pieces can play in what is now a fight for survival in a third successive year.

The Blues have just come off the back of a last day of the season escape from relegation last term and in 1994, the first time the club endured such a situation, the following campaign under Joe Royle they used set-pieces as a potent weapon as Andy Hinchcliffe’s inswinging corners were curled in at pace towards Duncan Ferguson and company.

A generation on, the current crop can do the same. Dwight McNeil’s corner-kick was flicked on by James Tarkowski at the back-post to find the head of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and go into the net via Jack Harrison for Everton’s first goal against Spurs. The second of course came from James Garner’s right-foot free-kick on the left, deflecting off visiting captain Cristian Romero for Jarrad Branthwaite at the back post.

Only a week earlier, Luton Town had knocked the Blues out of the FA Cup at Goodison Park with a brace of corners but as the tallest team in the Premier League, Dyche’s men should be dominating both boxes. The two goals against Ange Postecoglou’s side significantly shifts the balance of Everton scoring more goals from set-pieces this term (13) than they’ve got from open play (12, one other is classed as ‘counter attack’).

The spot-kick anomaly remains baffling but just Arsenal (14) have more set-piece goals in the Premier League than Everton this season with relegation rivals Luton Town (10) the only other team to have reached double figures. The Blues’ Carabao Cup progress was halted by a penalty shoot-out defeat to Fulham – is it surprising given how little practise their players have had from 12 yards out? – but as well as the upcoming verdict from their appeal, the hopes of ensuring Goodison Park is still hosting top flight football for its final campaign could be determined by a set-piece shoot-out up and down the country over the next three months.