It was a familiar tale for the Swans at Goodison Park this afternoon after an afternoon where they dominated possession and chances but were beaten again to remain just four points above the relegation zone with eight games to play.
It is certainly becoming a bit of a tale of woe and what much of the 13/14 season will be remembered for when you see a team that dominates possession, creates the most chances but cannot convert them and is undone by poor defending before a late strike puts respectability back into the score.
It is doubly frustrating when you watch the replays of all three goals and cannot help but shake your head at how soft all three of them were the second two being the result of poor marking and the first from a needless challenge from Chico that resulted in a penalty with Leighton Baines making no mistake from the spot.
At that point I have to say I feared the very worst on what was always going to be a difficult afternoon but from the moment Baines beat Vorm from the spot there was only one team that looked like scoring in the first half as the Swans came forward at every opportunity.
That endeavour was rewarded when Wilfried Bony scored the equaliser in a well constructed move as he tapped in an Angel Rangel pass to bring the Swans level. Chances were coming our way on a frequent basis but all too often we seemed to want one touch too many before striking at goal or just didn't connect as cleanly as we needed to. If there is one thing that we have learnt in recent weeks then it is that we need to take our chances when we are on top and the fear that this could be another change around at half time was there for most Swans fans I would imagine when the half time whistle blew.
And those fears were realised less than fifteen minutes into the second half as Everton scored twice at the start of the second half to seemingly put the game out of our reach. Lukaku and Barkley both scoring for the home side with both of them as soft as each other as the Swans defence seemed to lose all organisation and not for the first time in recent weeks.
But even then it was the Swans that looked the most dangerous for the remainder of the game with chances coming our way and certainly more than enough chances to get something out of the game with Bony, Pablo and others all guilty of wasting decent chances as we looked to fight back from the two goal disadvantage.
We did grab one back though in the second minute of stoppage time when Ash rose to head home a corner to leave the scoreline just at a one goal differential but it was always too little too late at that point and the three points had gone.
In fairness I guess there was never an expectation that we would take anything from this game and the same expectation is there for Tuesdays visit to Arsenal. The fear for me now is that a Norwich win today means they move above us and a win next Saturday is essential. Cardiff and Fulham are just not looking like having any capability of putting anything more than 5 points on the board between now and the end of the season and Sunderland have lost form just at the wrong time for them (as have we)
I still think we will stay up but 3 points at least between now and this time next week is just what we need right now please.