Match Summary
Everton did just enough to overcome struggling Norwich City and re-establish their seven-point lead over rivals Liverpool, but it took another crucial intervention by substitute Duncan Ferguson to secure the three points.
The Scot, who 6 weeks ago appeared to have irrevocably blotted his copybook with an entirely unnecessary red card at Charlton, scored the winning goal in the reverse of this fixture at Carrow Road earlier this season and, while Gary Doherty may eventually be credited with an own goal, Ferguson can take the plaudits here as well.
David Moyes restored Nigel Martyn to the starting line-up at the expense of the shaky Richard Wright and, with new signing Mikel Arteta ruled out due to a knee ligament complaint, pushed Joseph Yobo into midfield and deployed James McFadden wide on the right alongside Lee Carsley and Tim Cahill. James Beattie played as the lone striker.
Kevin Kilbane had the first chance of the game after 2 minutes when he cut in and fired narrowly over from close range.
At the other end, Dean Ashton's pace caused problems at the back but when the ball broke for a Norwich man, the ball was put harmlessly over the bar.
Two minutes later, Alan Stubbs fired a long-range free kick well over the bar.
Beattie was almost put in by a McFadden cross but it just eluded his leap. Yobo's effort from the resulting Pistone cross was blocked by a defender and Norwich were able to clear the danger.
Cahill had a great chance in front of goal after 25 minutes from McFadden's corner but as he tried to volley it home, he slipped and the ball harmlessly bounced off his midriff.
Two minutes after that, Kilbane had a flying header saved after terrific Hibbert cross and Beattie couldn't get the rebound.
Right on half time, a McFadden shot deflected off a defender and was saved by goalkeeper Robert Green.
Arteta was paraded before the fans at half time following a disappointing first half that had been lit up only by David Moyes falling flat on his backside while trying to trap a loose ball in his technical area.
Everton came out from the dressing room with more purpose and Carsley just lost the ball under his feet in the area after a great ball from Hibbert. Kilbane the let fly with a left footer that Green saved when it looked like it might creep inside the post.
Beattie then cut in and unleashed a fantastic shot that flashed just over the bar.
Cahill headed the ball back across goal a couple of minutes later but Holt headed it behind for a corner to deny the advancing Carsley.
Cahill fed Beattie from the left but he turned a left-footed shot over the bar from 6 yards. Another good chance spurned. At the other end, an acrobatic Huckerby scissor-kick from very tight angle was caught by Martyn.
On 62 minutes, Ferguson replaced Weir, with Yobo moving into the back four. Green then flew across goal to save a Lee Carsley free kick.
Norwich remained a threat, though, and Ashton planted a header straight into the chest of Martyn when he should have done better after superb work by Huckerby.
Huckerby beat the offside trap a minute later but Martyn saved comfortably when the striker should really have scored.
Ferguson had his first crack at goal with 22 minutes left, a fairly tame effort from distance. A minute later, Kilbane headed the ball downwards but just wide of Green's goal. Bent replaced Beattie in the 76th minute
A minute after that, Bent's point-blank header was brilliantly saved by Green but as Duncan Ferguson headed the rebound back in, Doherty appeared to have the last touch. An own goal?
As time ticked down, Norwich furiously claimed a penalty for handball against Alan Stubbs but the referee waved the protests away.
Once again, this was not a stellar Everton performance, but three points are all that matter. The Blues stay two wins and a draw away from Liverpool and pull within four points of Arsenal in third place. Next up, a trip to relegation-threatened Southampton.
Lyndon Lloyd
Just Enough
We arrived in plenty of time today and even managed to get a seat in the pub. Being students it’s easy for me and Ste to go as and when so we were in the pub easily by six. I guess the majority of supporters are not long home from work by this point. Well we’ll be joining the majority next season so I guess we better make the most of it.
We were all hoping for the same line-up as the one which destroyed Sunderland at the weekend. This was unfortunately impossible as Osman was injured meaning something of a re-shuffle. Stubbs and Ferguson were both declared fit so Stubbs kept his place in the team and Ferguson was back on bench duty. Beattie played alone up front with McFadden wide on the right. Yobo was the holding player with Carsley and Cahill instructed to drive the team on and get forward. Kilbane played on the left as usual. The back line was the same as usual too and I reckon they all breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard Martyn was playing instead of Wright. That was fair enough. Wright’s been pretty hopeless since he’s been in the net to be honest. Just one clean sheet and even that might not have happened when he spilled a shot at the end and Bridges somehow missed an open goal against Sunderland. I think everyone was glad to see Martyn back. This will affect Wright’s confidence big time but I don’t think Moyes had much choice there.
Everton won the toss and attacked the Park End in the first half. The pitch is a mess and certainly had an effect on the rhythm of play for both sides really, particularly Everton. In the early exchanges Norwich weren’t giving us any time on the ball and they scrapped for everything and even knocked it about quite well themselves at times but there was very few chances for either side in the first half.
McFadden was certainly the danger man though. He’s playing superb at the moment and with a great deal of confidence. Reminds me a bit of, dare I say it, Rooney in his Everton days. He’d get the ball and everybody expected something to happen. The same could be said of McFadden last night. The thing is now that McFadden believes himself that it can happen and he was superb last night. At times the only one offering any sort of inspiration, particularly in the first half.
I think Everton’s best chance of the half came through McFadden when he ran down the right wing and whipped in a great cross for Kilbane who got a connection on it but I think it was blocked by the defender and out for a corner. At our end I can’t really remember Norwich offering too much either. Darren Huckerby was a constant menace and did cause us problems all night but we were never severely tested I don’t think although Weir was not quite at his best and at one point appeared to tug back Huckerby as he was darting through towards goal. The ref didn’t give it though and Huckerby stayed down for a while. He got up and started jogging back sheepishly so his physio came darting down the touchline to assist him. At this point Huckerby ran away from him without so much of an acknowledgement that he was OK. Ignorant little git.
I really don’t remember much else from the half to be honest. I remember Yobo and Carsley playing well with Beattie doing well up there on his own up front. The whistle went for half time and I think the match as a whole needed to improve in the second. My thoughts from the first were that we should go straight for a 4-4-2 such was the immobility of the Norwich defence, the pitch and the fact that it worked so well against Sunderland whom I don’t rate as any worse that Norwich really.
Well it didn’t happen and we came out to the same team and same formation. We were playing a little bit better but so too were Norwich who bought on Graham Stuart at the break to a rousing applause from both sets of fans. He was pretty anonymous all half though to be fair.
The second half was much the same with McFadden again by a mile our biggest threat but somewhat wasted out wide on the right. We didn’t really create too much really until about the hour mark when Ferguson came on to replace the shaky David Weir. This meant Yobo went back into defence and Everton went 4-4-2. Are best chance until then was a James Beattie effort from about 20 yards which dipped probably about a foot over. It was a good hanging effort which I thought was going a good 20 yards over the bar at first and I even turned away in disappointment only to hear an “oufff” from the rest of the crowd. The replay showed me it was a lot closer than that.
Ferguson’s impact was immediate with Doherty pushing him in the back from a long ball and Everton awarded a free kick about 20 yards out on the keepers left hand side. We could see a gap from where we were sitting in the Lower Gwladys and Carsley steadied himself for it. I was wanting Ferguson to take it only because of that one he took in the derby last season which rattled back off the underside of the bar, but Carsley was probably the best choice. His curling free kick was heading for the top right corner until Green made a fantastic diving save to divert the ball round the post. Things were getting better but Norwich weren’t giving this one up and continued to press on the counter attack with good running from Huckerby and new signing Dean Ashton forever a threat with his height and movement. It was from a counter attack where Huckerby fed Ashton with a great cross only for Ashton to head tamely into Martyn from about 10 yards. Another opportunity fell to Norwich when Huckerby found himself in a bit of space and his half volley was well stopped by Martyn with Yobo clearing up the rebound.
Next was Everton’s turn to apply a bit more pressure and it was in this period, somewhere between the 75-80 minute mark where we made the pressure count. Duncan Ferguson certainly had an impact and Norwich were definitely distracted by his presence. He had a shot from about 20 yards which was well saved as he tried to cut it across Green. A bit of head tennis inside the Norwich penalty box resulted in Beattie hooking the ball towards the other side of the box and Kilbane arriving only to plant his header agonisingly wide. Beattie then had a header in the box which was goalbound before Gary Doherty’s timely headed intervention. That was to be Beattie’s last action of the game as he was then replaced by Marcus Bent. I was a bit surprised by this and didn’t really feel it was the right decision purely because Beattie is more prolific than Bent. As usual, nice to be proved wrong!
Bent’s introduction won Everton a free kick in a similar position to where Carsely nearly scored about 15 minutes earlier. This time McFadden struck and struck a head in the wall and the ball bounced out for a throw in. McFadden’s long throw was headed out and back towards McFadden. He played the ball to Hibbert who gave it him back. McFadden whipped in a great cross and Bent simply wasn’t picked up by either centre back. His header was well saved by Green but he may feel he could have pushed it away further or in a better direction. As it was it fell back to Duncan Ferguson from about four yards and he slid the ball back into the net. Goodison erupted in absolute relief. As it turns out it was Doherty who was unfortunate to deflect the ball back into the net but that doesn’t matter. There was really nothing he could do and Ferguson would surely have scored anyway. 1-0.
Norwich weren’t done though and continued to try to their credit but I don’t think they had too many chances if any really. They had quite a loud shout for a penalty when someone’s shot hit Stubbs, apparently on the arm. A lot of the Norwich players appealed but Alan Whiley said no. I couldn’t really see where I was sitting but it was noticeable that the Norwich players only appealed at the time and weren’t really moaning about it when the ball was dead. If it really was a penalty then I think they would have appealed more. Either way you win some you loose some. Norwich lost this one. Not through lack of effort but I think generally a lack of quality and perhaps a bit of luck, but hey, I don’t mind taking a bit of luck. God knows we’ve had plenty of bad luck.
On the way back some Norwich fan phoned up Spooney on 606 to say that Everton were “havin’ a larrf” if they though they were gonna make the Champions League. Sounded like sour grapes to me. If he’s gonna judge it on that one performance then, yes, we are having a “larrf. But we’ve been consistent all season and we DO deserve to be fourth. Maybe if Norwich had played like they did last night all season then they wouldn’t be second bottom with the second worse goal difference.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Player Ratings:
Paul Traill
Match Preview
Having returned to winning ways with the emphatic dismissal of Sunderland from the FA Cup, Everton turn their attentions back to the Premiership and their attempts to breathe life into their flagging form.
The Blues haven't won in the league since Leon Osman's last-gasp winner secured a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth a month ago and there are now three clubs persuing them for the fourth and final Champions League spot.
The visit of relegation-threatened Norwich has long been viewed as a home banker and while Nigel Worthington's plucky outfit shouldn't be so easily underestimated, the fact is that Everton simply must take three points from this game, particularly as two of three in that chasing pack — Charlton and Liverpool — meet at The Valley the night before.
David Moyes's attempts to bolster his squad with two new midfield faces before the transfer deadline were dashed by Tottenham Hotspur's refusal to accept a realistic price for Simon Davies, but the Blues' boss was able to secure Mikel Arteta on loan from Real Soceidad for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, the 22 year-old is not fit to make an immediate debut, Moyes choosing not to risk him because of a knee injury.
That means he will be selecting from a familiar pool of players but could, assuming Leon Osman gets over a slight knock, decide to retain the four who started against Sunderland if he feels confident enough about again starting with James McFadden alongside James Beattie up front. The two seemed to strike up an impressive-looking partnership on Saturday which, coupled with Marcus Bent's recent dip in form and a slight injury to Duncan Ferguson, could sway the manager's thinking.
At the back, Joseph Yobo has been enjoying a run in the team so it will be interesting to see if Moyes reverts to what has been first-choice defensive duo of Alan Stubbs and David Weir for this one. Stubbs didn't play against the Black Cats and is a slight doubt for this one. Alessandro Pistone is likely to reclaim his place from Gary Naysmith with Tony Hibbert on the opposite side.
Between the posts, Moyes faces yet another selection dilemma. Nigel Martyn is fit again following a calf strain and is many fans' choice to walk straight back into the starting line-up at the expense of the shaky Richard Wright.
Norwich will throw new loan signing Graham Stuart straight into their starting XI — the former Blue was an unused substitute at Goodison 10 days ago when Charlton plundered a 1-0 win. Simon Charlton won't make it for the East Anglians because of injury.
The signs that could be gleaned from the Sunderland game suggested that Everton really clicked as an attacking unit. Much of that was down to imperious displays by James McFadden and Kevin Kilbane but the Blues are going to need to go all out against a very unpredictable Norwich side who emphasised their never-say-die spirit by fighting back from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 against Middlesbrough in their last match.
Moyes's men proved too much for them at Carrow Road earlier in the season, running out 3-2 winners on that occasion, and while goal difference is something of a concern, we would take that scoreline again this time around!
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