Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Manchester United are not the reigning Champions or current Premiership leaders for nothing. Put as many men behind the ball as you like, they're still going to beat you, even with Ruud van Nistelrooy on the bench.

That is hopefully the lesson that David Moyes learned from this open but often bad-tempered encounter at Old Trafford that perpetuates Everton's miserable record against United in the Premiership and snaps their two-game winning streak.

The refreshing thing about Moyes when he first arrived was that he feared no one and was determined to play attacking football irrespective of the opposition. Whether 18 months in the Goodison hotseat has jaded his enthusiasm or he's been talking to Walter Smith who knows, but his strategy of stringing five men across midfield (the fact that one of them was Wayne Rooney was immaterial because he played so deep as to be ineffective) was doomed from the start.

In hindsight, with the 18 year-old having been substituted in the second half following another booking for an immature challenge and being berated by the home fans, it's easy to say that Moyes handled the Rooney factor all wrong by playing him from the start. However, the manager's hand was forced by injury to Tomasz Radzinski who would surely have got the nod up front alongside Kevin Campbell had he been fit.

After a lively opening during which Cristiano Ronaldo had a stooping header stopped by Nigel Martyn, it took United just seven minutes to get on the scoresheet. A dangerous Kleberson cross was cleared by Alan Stubbs straight to Nicky Butt and he fired first time into the bottom corner off the goalkeeper's hands.

Three minutes later, Diego Forlan cut the ball back for Kleberson but, fortunately, the Brazilian side-footed well over the bar.

At this point, with United having found their groove, it looked likely to be another long afternoon at Old Trafford. However, after 12 minutes, the scores were suddenly level when Thomas Gravesen's inswinging free kick glanced off the head of Gary Neville and past Tim Howard with Campbell in close attendance.

Fortuitously level, Everton retained the gameplan with which they had entered the game and United continued to tease and probe from the flanks and down the middle. In the 20th minute, Quinton Fortune picked out Forlan with a cross and Martyn had to save athletically from the Uruguayan's header, parrying the ball over the bar.

Ronaldo, a thorn in the side of Tony Hibbert and Rooney all afternoon, then cut inside and bore down on goal before toe-punting an effort wide before Hibbert scythed him down on the edge of the area three minutes later. Fortunately the winger's direct free kick was easily smothered by Martyn.

With two minutes to go before the half time break, more poor defending allowed the home side to regain the lead. Neville swung a cross into the area from the right that beat Alan Stubbs' mis-timed jump and Kleberson headed downwards past the stranded Martyn to make it 2-1.

That probably changed Moyes's half-time pep talk but it didn't have any visible effect on strategy because the same players lined up in the same formation for the second half, which contined where the first had left off.

United continued to come forward and Hibbert was forced to make a superb saving tackle in the area on Ronaldo, whose swan dive and and feigned agony didn't fool the referee.

By the 58th minute, Ronaldo's antics, coupled with his jinking runs and succession of crosses, had become too much for Rooney who blatantly chopped him down on the touchline with the inevitable consequence of a yellow card. It also served to heighten the torrent of jeering from the crowd.

After 62 minutes, Moyes was finally tempted to make a change, removing Linderoth and Campbell in favour of Francis Jeffers and Duncan Ferguson. But it was Sir Alex Ferguson's men who nearly scored again, Bellion heading over the bar from four yards out as he was picked out by another unchallenged cross from the left flank.

Three minutes later, Bellion did score in acres more space than his previous effort. Ronaldo again provided the center which found its target in the six-yard box and Bellion swept home unchallenged to make it 3-1.

Everton's next response was to pull Rooney and throw McFadden on and suddenly the Blues came into the game a little more. It was all too little too late but they were at least going to go down with a little more fight.

McFadden almost notched his first goal for the club four minutes after his introduction. A great first touch set him up perfectly for a left-foot shot from the edge of the area but Howard was able to paw his effort wide with a full-length dive.

Jeffers then sent a snapshot too close to the 'keeper and was denied before great play by Gravesen set up Ferguson, but from a tight angle he rapped a shot into the side-netting when it might have been more prudent to cross.

The big Scot was to have the last, albeit inconsequential, word though when he stooped to power a header into the net in the 90th minute to set up a nervy injury time period for the home side. Naysmith's cross should have been buried by Jeffers but he missed and it came through to Ferguson at the far post. However, Everton's persistent ability to give the ball away far too easily prevented a shock third goal and a share of the spoils.

Ultimately, it's easy to just consign this one to memory and look ahead to a home clash with erratic Birmingham City, but there was a nagging feeling about this game that we could have nicked something from it had we approached it in a more positive manner.

Playing so deep and leaving Campbell to plough a lonely furrow up front meant that any time a loose ball broke in what would normally be Radzinski territory, there was no one there to capitalise on United's complacent rear-guard.

When the Blues did push forward, they were rewarded with two goals (no mean feat at Old Trafford) but they failed where Fulham were so successful because Moyes afforded them too much respect and too much possession through his Smith-esque strategy.

• Martyn 7 - More crucial saves kept the Blues in the game
• Hibbert 6 - Had his work cut out for him today having to contain Ronaldo and did a fair job
• Unsworth / Stubbs 5 - Between them they must shoulder the blame for goals 2 and 3. Time for Yobo and Weir again?
• Naysmith 6
• Rooney 6- Tried manfully to make things happen but was thwarted by a lack of support and Campbell's lack of pace
• Li Tie / Linderoth 6 - Unspectacular and still unconvincing as the answer to our problems in midfield
• Gravesen 7 - Creative and profligate in equal measure, it was typical Tommy but he at least makes things happen
• Kilbane 7 - Seems to be settling in nicely after an iffy start with the club. Had a pretty good game down the left flank
• Campbell 6 - Unable to really make anything happen without any real support and his knockdowns were going nowhere
• Jeffers 6 - Struggled to get into the game and in the end his main contribution was a fortuitously legal tackle that ended Silverstre's involvement because of injury.
• Ferguson /McFadden 7 - Dunc's introduction, coupled with that of McFadden, provided a definite spark and both could have scored, although only Ferguson did with a well-taken header.

Lyndon Lloyd

2003-04 Match Reports Index