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Dominic Calvert-Lewin makes emotional admission over Everton pressure - 'I ended up crying'The Everton striker told of his battles with injury and the pressure he placed upon himself in an

emotional interview with the High Performance podcastCommentsSportJoe Thomas16:53, 03 Jun 2025Updated 16:54, 03 Jun 2025Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores Everton's winning goal, to secure

survival, against Crystal Palace at Goodison Park. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Dominic Calvert-Lewin has opened up on his battles with injury and the weight of responsibility he felt

to help Everton through the club’s recent struggles. The striker said he found himself crying on his bedroom floor on his birthday in the final throes of the 2021/22 season, desperate to

try and make a difference to the team’s plight but unable to because of injury.

He recovered to score the goal that, weeks later, confirmed Everton’s Premier League survival as his diving header secured a memorable comeback win over Crystal Palace on the penultimate

game of the season.

‌ It was a campaign that had begun well for Calvert-Lewin, the forward scoring in the opening three league games and being called up to the England squad. But that form came at a cost as he

played through the pain of a broken toe. Reflecting on that period on the High Performance Podcast, he recalled having to pull out of the international squad and, as he fought to compensate

for his injury, picked up the first of a series of quadriceps problems that have since blighted him.

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invest' Calvert-Lewin suffered an injury-plagued campaign that year, one that started under Rafa Benitez and ended with Frank Lampard guiding the Blues to safety in the final week of the

season. He did play a role in between his setbacks, combining with Alex Iwobi to create the stoppage time goal that gave 10-man Everton a priceless win over Newcastle United that March and

then scoring the opening goal in what went on to be a frustrating home defeat to Brentford.

It was his diving header to meet Demarai Gray’s free-kick and seal a comeback win over Palace that proved crucial though, his goal sparking wild scenes of joy at Goodison as Everton

celebrated survival.

Revealing the emotion that surrounded that historic intervention, Calvert-Lewin said: “That feeling, I’ll never be able to describe it. It was the weight of my own pressure, the football

club. I am quite an emotional person so I put that responsibility on my shoulders. I thought: ‘It’s my responsibility to save everybody, save people’s jobs.’

Article continues below “So when I scored that goal it was a relief. The biggest relief ever. On my birthday, which would have been 4/5 weeks before I scored that goal, that was a low point

for me. I can’t remember why, I think it was built-up emotion, I ended up crying.

“I was on my own on my birthday, crying on my bedroom floor for whatever reason, feeling a little bit sorry for myself. I think it was not knowing how to express what I was feeling in that

moment, that feeling things were getting away from me, feeling you have all the pressure of the football club on your shoulders and you just want to go out there and play.

“And at that moment I couldn’t play because I had picked up another injury and it was overwhelming. But I remember thinking to myself: ‘This is a rock bottom moment.’ In my mind I was

thinking it doesn’t get worse than this, you need to pick yourself up and go again.

‌ “So that was a catalyst for me because I felt better after I cried. I let out that emotion, all that pressure I had put on myself, and thought I am going to save Everton Football Club. I

ended up scoring the winning goal.”

Calvert-Lewin also spoke of opening up about his emotional struggle when that season ended, taking to Instagram to write how talking had saved his life. He told podcast host Jake Humphrey he

had meant to write that talking had changed his life, and the attention of the media that followed created another layer of pressure for him to deal with.

‌ The 28-year-old said his message remained important, that people can overcome their struggles, and explained: “Hindsight is a beautiful thing. What I actually did was almost put more

pressure on me because I put myself in the spotlight for a non-footballing reason.. We all have problems and that is what I was trying to portray.”

Attempting to re-live the moment his header hit the back of the net, he added: "I’ve never heard a stadium erupt like that in my life. I remember the ball coming in. I remember heading the

ball. I remember feeling like I had lost sight of the ball. Looking back up. And it had just gone past the keeper. And it was like [tries to replicate the crowd noise], it was like a noise

that was almost still. It was that loud it was silent, if that makes sense. Everything just faded out and I remember just wheeling off, running, I don’t know what I was doing… it was the

most euphoric thing I have ever felt playing football.”

Calvert-Lewin’s injury issues have continued to hamper his career but, despite them, he produced big moments to help Everton survive relegation battles in the two following campaigns. His

penalty at Leicester City was crucial in the final month of the next season, which ended with Abdoulaye Doucoure securing survival on the last day of that campaign.

Article continues below Last year, his brave last-minute penalty to earn a draw at Newcastle was a useful platform for the resurgence that soon followed and in which he scored the winner

over Burnley and the second goal in the 2-0 Merseyside derby win that all-but ended fears of relegation.

He has missed much of the second half of this season after suffering a hamstring injury at Brighton and Hove Albion and his future remains unclear with his contract set to expire at the end

of this month.