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 FA Premiership (13); Goodison Park, Liverpool; Saturday 22 November 2003; 3:00pm
 
Radzinski (16')
Kilbane (19')
 
 
Attendance: 40,190
Halftime: 2-0

Facts
Reports




Referee: Mike Riley
 

Match Summary

An incredible full house at Goodison Park for a critical bottom-of-the table clash.   A fairly predictable team selection sees Unsworth start, with Rooney and Radzinski upfront as Moyes steadfastly refuses to use Rooney in a deeper role.  Nyarko is relegated to the bench, where Clarke and Osman are present [Shome mishtake, shurely?].

Everton made a reasonably lively start although Wolves look dangerous early on.  But after 10 mins, Radzinski and Rooney combined well in a great forward move with some excellent running but the header from Rooney was saved.  Rooney then had another go at goal from 25 yards but it was easy for Oakes in the Wolves goal. 

Then, out of the blue, Wolves defenders backed off, Radzinski hammered one from 25 yards, right foot, bottom left-hand corner: 1-0!  And two minutes later, Kevin Kilbane outsmarted Denis Irwin to head home a great cross from Wayne Rooney: 2-0.

Everton continued to dominate and create some good chances for Kilbane and McFadden.  Gravesen was a rare revelation, getting fully involved and actually showing some skill!

Another great break came from Rooney just before half-time, out to Radzinski, but the ball back to Rooney was a shade too strong.

Everton played fairly solidly in the second half, with little of note to record.  A free-kick given away by Paul Ince on the Dee was driven into the wall by Stubbs.  Wolves in truth should have scored when Blake had a free header that Martyn blocked with his leg.  Worrying!

Blake was then in trouble from Mike Riley for an elbow but all he got was a long lecture and a yellow card.  McFadden then pushed someone over and he got yellow carded. 

Moyes, with 8 minutes left, decided to make a really bold move, bringing on Leon Osman for all of 8 minutes, along with Jeffers.  They replaced Rooney and McFadden, whose efforts at International level had worn them out.  Osman immediately wins a corner and Unsworth nearly scores. 

Jeffers still couldn't score despite more good work from Gravesen the dying minutes as he slipped in the area trying to finish a good chance.  Poor second half but a solid result.


Wayne Rooney: All hopes will rest on the England star to kick-start the Blues' season


Everton v Wolves:
Prior League Games
 Overall  
 Everton 35
 Wolves 11
 Draws 11
 Premiership  
 Everton 0
 Wolves 0
 Draws 0
 Last Time (1984):

Everton 2-0 Wolves


Premiership Scores
Saturday 22 Nov
Birmingham 0-3 Arsenal
Everton 2-0 Wolves
Leeds United 0-2 Bolton
Leicester 1-1 Charlton
Man United 2-1 Blackburn
Middlesbro' 0-0 Liverpool
Newcastle 3-0 Man City
Southampton 0-1 Chelsea
Sunday23 Nov
Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa
Monday 24 Nov
Fulham 2-0 Portsmouth


View from the Other Side:
WolvesCentral.com Preview
Match Facts
 Everton   (4-4-2)
 Blue shirts, white shorts, blue socks
 Wolverhampton Wanderers   (4-4-2)
Gold shirts, black shorts, gold socks
  Martyn
Hibbert
Yobo
Stubbs
Unsworth
Gravesen
Linderoth
McFadden (Osman 82')
Kilbane
Rooney (Jeffers 82')
Radzinski

Subs not used:  Simonsen,
 Nyarko, Clarke


Yellow Cards: Linderoth (14'),
McFadden (72')

Red Cards: —


Unavailable:

(In disgrace:) Ferguson
(Injured:) Carsley, Gemmill, Naysmith, O'Hanlon, Pistone, Watson, Weir, Wright.
Oakes
Naylor
Craddock
Butler
Irwin
Newton (46' Miller)
Rae (65' Gudjonsson)
Ince
Kennedy
Iversen (46' Blake)
Camara
 
Subs not used:  ,
Clyde,  Marshall 


Yellow Cards: Blake (71').
 Butler (87')

Red Cards: —
 
Match Reports

2003-04 Match Reports Index


Everton Web Sites
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EvertonFC.com Match Report
When Skies Are Grey Match Report
Blue Kipper Match Report
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Premiership Table
Pos Team Pts
1 Man Utd 49
2 Arsenal 46
3 Chelsea 42
4 Charlton 31
5 Liverpool 29
6 Newcastle 29
7 Fulham 28
8 Southampton 27
9 Aston Villa 27
10 Birmingham 26
11 Everton 24
12 Middlesbrough 24
13 Bolton 23
14 Man City 22
15 Blackburn 22
16 Tottenham 21
17 Leicester 19
18 Portsmouth 19
19 Leeds 17
20 Wolves 15
After 9 Jan 2004


Match Preview

Well, after the dire performance at Ewood Park, the Wolves are really at the door this Saturday.

Since Moyes arrived with a win over Fulham, Everton have avoided the "must-win" games.  This perhaps explains the lack of focus and preparation that appeared evident against Blackburn.  Such a poor start simply cannot be contemplated against Dave Jones's boys who — unfortunately for us — are running into a bit of form and have now only tasted defeat once in their last eight games.

Forget "can't afford to lose"...  this is the ultimate in early season "must wins"!

The mess over Ferguson is the last thing that we needed this week and has managed to overshadow some very promising International performances from the best up-and-coming talents in British football: Rooney and McFadden.  Even if Ferguson apologises to Moyes, it is hard to see him making the starting line up on Saturday.  Jeffers's goal for the reserves (2-2 against Villa) may see him get the nod but, with Campbell also struggling, it is hard to see past a Rooney/Radzinski frontline with Jeffers on the bench.

We also have the chance to possibly see two wingers at Everton in McFadden and Kilbane.  Gravesen showed how useless he is on the right and must come central again (where of course he was outstanding against England).  With Watson still struggling, McFadden must take the right flank, and Moyes must choose between Naysmith and Kilbane for the left flank.

At the back, Stubbs should thankfully return and provide some experience; Moyes must decide whether Unsworth's spirited second-half showing at Blackburn gets him a start — one hopes not!

For Wolves, their resurgence has simply been sparked by hard work and commitment — shown clearly when they came back from 3-0 down against Leicester to secure a stunning 4-3 victory.  However, the key player in that fight-back with 2 goals from midfield, Colin Cameron, missed both Scotland's games this week and is a big doubt.

Upfront is where Wolves should struggle and we must return to last season's defensive base — am I repeating myself again?  The defending against Blackburn was simply shocking and cannot be repeated — hopefully Stubbs will exert the control and leadership that is needed.

Wolves are a poor side and, not long ago, were being tipped as the worst ever Premiership side (what, worse than Leeds?).  We should batter them and I fully expect us to do so.

3-0 to the Boys in Blue!

Blue4Ever

Lee Doyle


Report

A very satisfying match. The first half was superb, and we passed the ball on the ground for most of it.  Even Unsworth fell in line.  Everton gave a good professional performance that won the game in the first half.  You can't get too carried away about beating a poor side like Wolves but this was a massive game for us psychologically and we got the 3 points. 

Gravesen was immense — Man of the Match by a mile.  The England-Denmark game has obviously boosted his confidence.  He consistently got his foot on the ball and played some superb passes that cut through their midfield time and time again.  In short, he ran the show in the first half.  If he can get performing at this level on a consistent basis then I think he might silence a few of his critics; however, he needs to show he can do it against quality opposition.

Good game from Kilbane too — he may not set the world on fire in terms of skill but he's an intelligent player who uses the ball well.  He was obviously chuffed to bits to get his first goal for us; the £1M we paid for him doesn't look like such a bad bit of business.

Rooney and McFadden did a good job in drawing defenders out, creating space for us to work with.  Not their greatest ever displays individually but they worked hard for the team which was good to see.

We were solid in defence — Blake caused a few more problems than Iversen had in the first half but Stubbs rarely looked troubled.  Yobo looked a class act as usual but one minor gripe is that he tends to dilly-dally on the ball sometimes when a hoof upfield is the safer option.  It looks great when he dances round an opposing forward and then lays it off to a team-mate but I've just got a feeling it's going to go horribly wrong one of these days.

J The second half was forgettable, and much like the first half v Blackburn, but we had won, and the only criticism that I would make would be when we are up, we need to add more. Clean sheet great.

Just to note, we need to work on those free kicks. No one in the side can really bend it like Beckham. Give it up lads, even he rarely scores from them. Also, a few more shots from outside the area would not go amiss either.

  • Martyn: Surely on the path to England Footie. Marsahlled his defence well. 7
  • Hibbert: A few wayward passes, caught out of position a few times but solid. 6
  • Yobo: Solid as ever 8
  • Stubbs: Same 8
  • Unsworth: Best game this season, contained himself 7
  • Linderoth: Tidy came. Came forward a few times. 6
  • McFadden: Still worried about his first touch, but he can dribble and shimmy past the best of them 7
  • Gravesen: Best match he has had. Only two passes going amiss all game. Drove us forward. Finally the leader we have wanted? 9
  • Kilbane: Proving his critics wrong by the week. Very skillful, and great goal. 8
  • Rooney: Tucked in nicely, caused plenty of problems, but I suspect that it will be a few more weeks before the Rooney of old is really back with us. 6
  • Radzinski: A most annoying player you can't find (apart from Gravesen). Scores from 30 years, misses from 10. 6 Subs not on long enough to mark, but good to see Osman at last. And he made a corner.

Second half was pretty dull and the atmosphere was a bit subdued.  We are going to face tougher tests than this though — we were good yesterday but they made it easy for us. The next few weeks are going to shape our season...

From Deep Blue and Black Toffee on The People's Forum



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