Blues have to settle for a point

With Chelsea having lost to Newcastle earlier in the day, David Moyes knew that a point would be enough to return to the Champions League places, but he was without question going for a victory that would keep the pressure on the top three as well.

So, he will come away rather disappointed that his team weren't able to make the most of their superiority and earn the victory they deserved on the balance of play.  Another failure to exact the killer blow and destroy the opposition... which is just what Everton could have done to win this one.

Everton started brightly, obviously carrying the confidence gained from the impressive come-from-behind win over Southampton a week ago, with some neat interchanges and attacking moves that allowed them to settle quickly and test the 'Boro defence early on.  Kevin Campbell, starting for the first time since the beginning of the year in place of Brian McBride, almost got in behind the defence in the 4th minute but the through-ball had just too much pace.  He had another half-chance on 10 minutes but couldn't dig the ball out from under his feet to get the shot in from eight yards out.

Tomasz Radzinski, visibly brimming with confidence, was a constant threat down the channels.  After 20 minutes he sped down the left and delivered a wonderful cross but there was no one in a blue shirt on hand to capitalise.  Two minutes later, though, the same move paid off: Radzinski's phenomenal pace allowed him to beat Chris Riggott out wide and his square pass was deflected behind Campbell who turned, knocked it back to Steve Watson and the Geordie got in ahead of Queudrue to loop the ball into the opposite corner of the goal to break the deadlock.

Middlesbrough, who started with new signings Michael Ricketts and Malcolm Christie up front, and Juninho and Ugo Ehiogu on the bench, responded by applying more pressure and provided an opportunity for Geremi but the Cameroon international, open on the right side of the area, blasted well wide.  Defender Colin Cooper then tried his luck from distance and Richard Wright was just about equal to his piledriver, blocking the effort out for a corner.

However, an impressively organised Everton rearguard action was keeping the home side in check.  With a fluid midfield combination of the busy Scot Gemmill and Thomas Gravesen, Steve McClaren's side went into the half-time break frustrated and a goal down.

There were no changes for the Blues at the interval, but Middlesbrough moved into a more attacking mode by replacing Cooper with Juninho, Christie with Maccarone and also brought Ehiogu on for Riggott.  It was Everton, however, who had the first chance, Watson heading back to Campbell from the right side of the box but the striker was well wide with the snapshot.

After 65 minutes, Brian McBride joined the fray at the expense of Kevin Campbell, who had looked less than sharp and is probably short of match fitness.  His first touch won a corner for the Blues that culminated in a chance for David Weir who couldn't get above the defender to connect properly with Watson's cross and the ball went wide.

The American was in the action again a minute later when, with Blue shirts pouring forward, he met Pistone's cross but under pressure he couldn't get enough purchase on it to guide the ball goalwards.  Then, he linked up with Gary Naysmith on the left but the latter's cross was knocked out of Radzinski's path by Gareth Southgate.

With 19 minutes to go, Everton dictating the game and pressing for a second goal, 'Boro broke through the centre and when the ball eventually found Maccarone on the right, he crossed low and hard and Juninho couldn't miss from two yards out to level the scores totally against the run of play.

It was at this point that you were looking to see if Moyes had learned from the Charlton experience but he made the expected change of Wayne Rooney for the increasingly ineffective Gravesen only after 7 minutes had ticked by.

And it was Rooney who came within a whisker of winning it in injury time when he raced onto a through-ball and bore down on Schwarzer with three defenders for company, but his shot was deflected wide by a lunging tackle from Southgate.

On balance, although we would have settled for a point before the game, Everton did enough over the 90 minutes to take all three despite not really making all that many clear-cut openings.  However, with neither Campbell nor McBride looking as sharp as Radzinski, and Gravesen and Naysmith failing to make any real impression on proceedings, you're left wondering, as we often are, if Rooney should have been introduced earlier as opposed to waiting until the lead had been lost.

If there is a case for him being involved from the beginning, there is certainly scope to bring him into the action sooner if he is on the bench in order to kill off the opposition.   He showed again today that he typically seems to need at least 10 mins to just get into the swing of things.  Something for Moyes to think about for some vital games in the coming weeks...

On the plus side, Steve Watson and Scot Gemmill were outstanding for Everton today, the former rewarded with a goal and the latter proving that he fully deserves the run in the side he is being given by Moyes.

 Lyndon Lloyd