Match Summary
Wayne Rooney started this one alongside Duncan Ferguson, with McFadden and Kilbane both on the field. Jeffers, Radzinski and Campbell were on the bench.
Everton put the pressure on from the start, with Rooney, McFadden, and Ferguson going close in the early minutes, the last being a golden chance for the Big Yin, laid on by excellent work from Kevin Kilbane. Gravesen and Rooney then had more chances, with McFadden setting up Rooney at 10 yards. Two wonderful chances spurned...
Finally, the goal came from a Gravesen free kick, with Ferguson distracting the canary defenders, allowing Kevin Kilbane to sneak in behind and nod the ball home for only his second Everton goal. Another brilliant chance for Ferguson was set up by Rooney but Green saved well.
Everton were then caught napping as Brennan fired one in off the post out of nothing from a free kick. And a few minutes later, they put together a great move and got the ball in the net again but it was thankfully ruled offside!
Rooney then put the ball in to Stubbs who was dumped in the area: penalty. Ferguson converted with aplomb to put the Blues ahead again.
Everton's dominance in the first half was almost absolute, despite the odd flurry from the canaries, but the Blues abject performance in terms of finishing (20 shots at goal, with only one scoring from open play) continues to cause concern.
Thomas Gravesen failed to appear for the second half after putting in an excellent performance in the first half. Concerns about mild tendonitis led Moyes to withdraw him early, raising more eyebrows over why his pre-match selection of substitutes lacked any cover at all in midfield. Yobo came on in his stead but went into the back line, with Stubbs strangely moving to midfield.
The disruption to Everton's control of the game after the removal of Gravesen was like night and day. Norwich should have equalized as they game out of the traps more like ravens, with Huckerby just failing to convert as Everton stood back. 2-1 is always such a nervy scoreline...
The error of playing Stubbs in midfield eventually became obvious to Moyes, who instructed him to swap with Yobo. It makes you wonder, knowing as one does that Joseph Yobo plays quite comfortably in midfield for his native Nigeria.
Hibbert than had to bring down McVeigh and went in the book, giving away a free-kick that Brennan fired in very fiercely, saved by Martyn. Everton proceeded to concede their dominance back to Norwich, who showed a real resurgence after the break, taking full advantage of Gravesen's absence.
Stubbs then won another penalty as he was pulled back by Euan Roberts on a corner. Ferguson slotted it home to make it 3-1, much against the run of play in the second half.
Jeffers and later Campbell came on, but could do no better than the players they replaced, and Everton held on for an important win — David Moyes's first with Everton in the FA Cup.
Everton 5-0 Norwich
2003-04 Match Reports Index
Match Preview
A relatively successful Christmas period leads us into a very challenging start to the New Year. Our next five league games see us play teams sitting in the top seven places in the Premiership! Even last season saw us take only 5 points from the equivalent games — and that included 3 against Arsenal of course!!
With that to come, it is important that we maintain our somewhat better home form as we welcome Norwich to Goodison for the 3rd Round of the FA Cup.
When the draw was made, it may not have appeared that tough; however, Norwich have won their last four games and are unbeaten in their last eight games giving them a 4-point lead at the top of the 1st Division — great!
They arrive buoyed by the impetus of having signed fans' favourite jet-heeled Darren Huckerby (he of a hat-trick at Anfield only 3 seasons ago). They have also signed Matthius Svensson from Southampton and Leon McKenzie who has scored three times in his first three games for the club.
However, it is at the back where they have most impressed, conceding only 21 goals in their 26 1st Division games, mainly based on the experience of Marc Edworthy and Craig Fleming — both of whom have plied their trade in the Premiership. With the likes of Euan Roberts and Malkay Mackay also in the team, they will not be lacking in belief.
For us, I imagine that Moyes would have liked to say same again after the win against Birmingham; however, a chipped bone in Nyarko's foot (my own MoM against Birmingham) means that won't happen.
Elsewhere, the rehabilitation of Big Dunc is likely to continue and Unsworth's commitment at centre-back is likely to be rewarded with another start — if not a longer-term contract. Rooney's success from the bench suggests that he is likely to be there again giving Radz the starting berth.
We will have to be up for this as Norwichare understandably flying, but we should have too much for them and as usual midfield will be the key. If they get too much ball, their pacey frontmen will definitely cause Stubbs and Unsworth problems.
But I believe we will have too much for them and a 3-1 start to 2004 beckons!
Happy New Year
Blue4Ever
Lee Doyle
Matchday Stats
This will be the 47th meeting between Everton and NorwichCity in all competitions, and the 24th at Goodison Park. This will also be only the third meeting between the sides in the FA Cup. The tie might actually be a good omen, as the previous two times we've met Norwich in the Cup, we've gone on to the final:
The first meeting was in the 1989 semi-final, when the tragic events at Hillsborough rightly overshadowed a 1-0 victory at Villa Park, with Pat Nevin scoring the only goal.
The next meeting was in the 1995 cup run when we beat Norwich 5-0 at Goodison Park in the 5th round. The goal scorers that day were Anders Limpar, Joe Parkinson, Paul Rideout, Duncan Ferguson and Graham Stuart.
Everton's full record against Norwich City is:
P
W
D
L
F
A
Premier League
6
1
2
3
4
11
'Old' Division One
34
13
10
53
41
FA Cup
0
League Cup
Screen Sport Super Cup
TOTALS:
46
18
15
68
55
Our record at Goodison Park against the Canaries is slightly better:
7
17
8
32
19
5
23
27
The last match between the two sides was the Fifth Round FA Cup tie mentioned previously on 18 February 1995.
Everton are currently enjoying a 3 game unbeaten run against Norwich with the last defeat being a 3-0 reversal at Carrow Road in March 1994, which was Mike Walker's tenth game in charge of the club.
There have been just 2 games at Goodison Park since Norwich last won there thanks to a 5-1 victory on 25 September 1995, with Everton's goal coming from Paul Rideout.
Everton's biggest victory was the 5-0 FA Cup victory which is also the biggest win at Goodison Park.
Everton's biggest defeat against Norwich was the 5-1 defeat in 1995, which is also the biggest defeat at Goodison.
The most common margin of victory at Goodison against Norwich is 1-0. The most common draw is 1-1 with Norwich most common victory being shared between 1-0 and 2-0.
Everton's record for 3 January is:
16
21
'Old' Division Two
9
33
37
This will be the first meeting between the two sides on this date.
Milestone's that can be reached in this game:
Steve Flanagan
Report
Steve Milne
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