[Sport] Carlo Ancelotti says he wants Everton to experience the feeling of "touching" the top four after a win over Southampton that sets them up for a chance to overtake their rivals on Thursday.

[_Happy boy]

Carlo Ancelotti says he wants Everton to experience the feeling of "touching" the top four after a win over Southampton that sets them up for a chance to overtake their rivals on Thursday.

Richarlison rounded Fraser Forster to score the only goal of the game against the struggling Saints as Ancelotti's side moved level on points with Liverpool and two points behind fourth-placed West Ham with a game in hand.

If they beat West Bromwich Albion on Thursday they will move into fourth ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea, who play each other later the same evening.

"We have a great opportunity," said Ancelotti after a first league win at home since 19 December. "I don't know for how long it will be, maybe for one day, or two or three, but we would like to touch the position, so we have to put all our fight into the game on Thursday.

"We have to try to see how we feel if we are there."

Richarlison's goal, which came from Gylfi Sigurdsson's pass, was one of two shots on target in a game where both sides failed to find any consistent rhythm.

Michael Keane's effort was ruled out for offside while Dominic Calvert-Lewin did well to head James Ward-Prowse's free-kick clear.

The best chances for the visitors came at the end when Moussa Djenepo fired just wide of the far post after a promising move before Jordan Pickford saved from Jannik Vestergaard, leaving Danny Ings kicking a post in frustration.

Defeat for the injury-hit Saints was an eighth in nine games as they remain seven points clear of the relegation zone.

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Relive the action at Goodison Park
Allan return helps Everton end poor home run

Saints' alarming slump since the turn of the year was summed up by Ings' frustration towards the end of this hard-fought game.

After beating Everton's Merseyside rivals at Anfield on 4 January, Hasenhuttl's side were sixth, equal on points with fourth-placed Tottenham.

Since then, however, a single point from nine games has engineered a slide to seven points above the drop zone. While relegation looks unlikely, they look a shadow of their former selves, especially with Oriol Romeu being ruled out for the rest of the season, joining the likes of Takumi Minamino, Kyle Walker-Peters and Theo Walcott on the sidelines.

Renowned for their unrelenting press, the visitors retreated to a deeper position on a chilly night at Goodison Park, and were picked off by the hosts' more direct approach.

Forster was preferred in goal to Alex McCarthy in an attempt to reverse their slide, but one of the first actions for the England goalkeeper was to pick the ball out of the net.

The visitors improved midway through the first half, but lacked a punch up front even though Ings was restored to the attack alongside Che Adams.

Yet it was not until the final stages where they truly caused problems for Everton as Djenepo had Hasenhuttl holding his head in hands as the winger missed the target after good play from Stuart Armstrong.

It looked as if they might finally eke out a leveller when Djenepo's shot was blocked by Mason Holgate and fell to Vestergaard, but he slipped at a vital moment and a tame shot - Southampton's first on target after 90 minutes - was pushed aside by Pickford.

Richarlison among best Brazilians in Europe
Since the start of last season, Joao Pedro (30) and Neymar (19) are the only Brazilians to score more goals in the top five European leagues than Everton's Richarlison (18, level with Gabriel Jesus).
Only against Manchester Utd (9) has Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson been involved in more Premier League goals than against Southampton (7 - 5 goals, 2 assists).
Everton scored with the first shot of the game, the fourth time they have done this in a Premier League match this season (also v Fulham in November, v Wolves in January and v Liverpool last time out) with no side doing so on more occasions in the competition this campaign (level with Man City).
With 43 points, Everton have their highest points tally after 25 games in a Premier League season since 2013-14 (45 pts), going on to finish fifth that campaign.
Southampton have won just one point from the last 27 on offer in the Premier League (P9 W0 D1 L8), losing five consecutive away matches in the competition for the first time since May 2015 under Ronald Koeman.
Southampton's James Ward-Prowse made his 83rd consecutive Premier League appearance, the longest current run of any outfield player in the competition and bettered only by Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (102). He last missed a Saints league game in December 2018 (v West Ham).
What next?
Everton travel to West Brom on Thursday, 4 March (18:00 GMT) while Southampton face a trip to Sheffield United on Saturday, 6 March (15:00).