Match Preview

It's 3rd Round day in the FA Cup once more; that romantic date on the footballing calendar when the big fish enter the competition to face those minnows who have made it this far through the qualifying and early rounds proper of the world's most famous domestic cup competition.

Just as they did when they were flying high in the Premiership two years ago, Everton are away to lower division opposition... and we all remember what happened at Shrewsbury Town of the then Nationwide League Division Three in January 2003!  This time the opposition are Plymouth Argyle who are treading water in the lower reaches of The Championship (the former First Division, and Division Two before the advent of the Premiership, for those who are confused!); in other words, a very real banana skin for David Moyes's unpredictable charges.

There is some fairly recent FA Cup history between these two clubs.  In 1989, the Blues escaped from Home Park with a 1-1 draw thanks to a controversial Kevin Sheedy penalty and comfortably won the replay on their way to the Wembley final with Liverpool.

This time, the focus will be on James Beattie who became Everton's record signing last week when he joined from Southampton for £6m.  He wasn't eligible for the home win over Portsmouth but should play some part in this televised encounter — match fitness concerns might keep him out of the starting line-up.

The painful memory of the Shrewsbury embarrassment could prevent David Moyes from resting too many of his first-choice regulars even though many of them are due for a full rest.  Marcus Bent and Kevin Kilbane, two of the most obvious candidates, were benched against Portsmouth and could return;.

Having made so many changes in recent matches, it's difficult to guess who the manager will select for this one.  Kevin Campbell may keep his place up front — if rumours of his imminent departure to West Bromwich Albion are false — as could Joseph Yobo and James McFadden.

On the injury front, Steve Watson is a doubt, while Duncan Ferguson serves the third and final game of his suspension for elbowing Hermann Hreidarsson against Charlton on December 28th.

For our hosts, new signing Scott Taylor is ineligible because he is cup-tied but defender Graham Coughlan returns from injury.

This FA Cup campaign marks 10 years since the Blues last won a major trophy.  The trip to Argyle will be a tricky tie, but the momentum from Tuesday's dramatic last-minute win over Pompey, coupled with Beattie's first game in the No 8 shirt will hopefully be enough to propel us into the Fourth Round.  One thing is for sure, Blues fans are due a decent cup run — Everton haven't been beyond the 6th Round since '95.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Stats

This will be the 11th meeting between Everton and Plymouth Argyle in all competitions, and the 7th at Home Park.  This match will be the 5th meeting in the FA Cup and the 4th at Home Park.

Everton's full record against Plymouth is:

Our record away to Plymouth Argyle is:

The last match between the sides was an FA Cup 4th round replay on 31 January 1989, when goals from Graeme Sharp (2), Pat Nevin and Kevin Sheedy secured a 4-0 victory after the sides drew 1-1 at Home Park 3 days earlier, with Everton’s goal that day coming from Kevin Sheedy.

There have been three Everton hat-tricks against Plymouth, with the last being scored by John Willie Parker on 27 February 1954 in an 8-4 victory at Goodison Park in the old Division Two.  The other two hat-tricks were scored in Everton’s 9-1 victory on 27 December 1930 when Bill ‘Dixie’ Dean and Jimmy Stein both scored 4 goals – the only instance in Everton’s history that two players have scored 4 goals each in the same match.

The most common victory for Everton is 2-0 which has happened twice in Everton's 7 victories.  Plymouth’s only 2 victories over Everton were by different scorelines – namely 1-0 and 4-0.  The only draw between the sides ended 1-1, which was the 4th round match between the sides mentioned above.

Everton's record for 8 January is:

This is the first time that the sides have met on this day.  The last match on this day was a 4th round FA Cup tie at home to Birmingham City in 2000, with David Unsworth getting both goals in a 2-0 victory.  The last away match on this day was in 1994, when Everton drew 1-1 with Bolton Wanderers in a 3rd round FA Cup tie, with the Everton goal coming from Paul Rideout.  This was Mike Walker’s first game in charge of Everton.

Bert Sharp was born on this day in 1876 in Hereford.  Signed from Aston Villa in August 1899, Bert made just 10 appearances for the club before being sold nine months later in May 1900 to Southampton.

Milestones that can be reached in this game:

·          If Alessandro Pistone plays, then this will be his 100th appearance for Everton in all competitions.

·          If he plays as expected, new signing, James Beattie, will become the 783rd player to appear for the club in all competitions, and the 490th in FA Cup matches.

 Steve Flanagan

Three cheers for Chadwick!

Hip hip...........

Now there is a match report title you wouldn't expect.  Heh heh...

For today's cup-tie, I had the luxury of choosing whether or not I could sit in the Devenport or Barn Park End as I am a season ticket holder at Plymouth.

I hadn’t had any tea and was starving, so I nipped to a burger van and got some chips that were very suspect indeed, I didn’t realise chips could be that hard inside, but that's burger vans for ya.

I am really concerned about Plymouth’s fans' intelligence as they were chanting – ‘Who are ya?’ at us, rather a silly question when we are 3-1 up, don’t you think?

But onto the day of events – I met up with my brother and made my way to my seat, which was on the aisle so any Everton goals down our end were going to be celebrated up close with the players in our case.  I glanced across to the portakabin in which Gary Lineker and Co were stationed and from a distance I swear on my life Gary looks like he should be in Madame Tussauds Waxworks Museum.

The game started evenly with Argyle going forward at times and Everton pressing as well, but it was the debutant James Beattie who played a neat one-two with Leon ‘The Oz’ Osman and Ozzie calmly chipped the ball over Romain Larrieu’s head and gave Everton a 1-0 lead.  As my brother and I were calming down from the goal James McFadden brilliantly got free of three Argyle defenders and tucked the ball underneath Larrieu’s legs and sent Everton into a 2-0 lead and Home Park into a deafening silence apart from the three or four blocks of the ground which were going mental.

For the next 15 minutes Everton and their fans were playing/singing their hearts out as we looked ever so comfortable, then disaster struck as Joseph Yobo (who had just come back on the pitch and was well out of position) let Mickey Evans get the better of him and he put Bjarni Gudjohnssen through who tucked the ball away to make it 2-1. Game on.

We made it to half-time without anymore goals or scares and we were comfortably in the lead.

Then the second-half came along, Plymouth were out of the blocks faster than a greyhound and were having the better of play, but credit to Everton’s defence; despite sailing a bit close to the wind at times we soaked up the pressure and had some good chances – Marcus Bent nearly sealing the game had it not been for a fine stop from Larrieu’s legs.  David Friio had a good chance for Plymouth but fired just over the angle of the crossbar.  There was a shout for a penalty against Tim Cahill but to no avail – television replays showed that the Australian international had used his arm to knock the ball to Zinedene Kilbane but, in my opinion it was un-intentional as his head was going for the ball.

On came Gravesen and Chadwick replacing Bent and the outstanding James McFadden respectively (earlier Tim Cahill replaced debutant, James Beattie – who had a good game in my book).

Not much happened in-between those subs and the replacement of Lee Hodges who was sacrificed for Marino Keith, but a minute later Everton broke after a midfield scramble in which Cahill put an unintentionally great ball through for Nick Chadwick who controlled and ran 30 or 40 yards before slotting home past the flailing keeper as he scored his second Everton goal this season (the other being against Bristol City in the League Cup). He ran over to celebrate with the fans, and apparently some fool ran onto the pitch and hugged him (wouldn’t be an Everton game without a pitch invasion).  My brother and I legged it after police came over to usher us away from the pitch.  The final 9 minutes afterwards were just a formality, Everton just relaxing, we were through to the fourth round, no problems.

In the 92nd minute Carslinio was knocked over by Tony Capaldi and the resulting free-kick was well within the target range of either Gravesen, Carsley or Stubbsy.  It turned out that Carsley laid the ball off to Stubbs who from 25 yards + hit a scorcher off a shot but it was turned away by Larrieu.  The final whistle went, I was delighted, the Argyle fans were leaving in their scores before the whistle went anyway so it was mainly Everton fans left in the ground.

As we walked to the car, we heard some ignorant and hurt Argyle fans singing Scouser insults to the tune of You Are My Sunshine, if I was a bit older and braver then I would have turned around and just shouted out, 3-1 is all that counts ya b@$^@*(s!

All in all, a deserved victory for Everton, we came to Devon looking to win, we did.  It wasn’t a great game, it wasn’t a fantastic performance but we defended when we needed to and the tactics paid off a treat from Moyes, especially with the introduction of the lively Gravesen with 10 minutes to go.

The one regret I do have is not betting on my prediction of 3-1, I was amazed when it came true, even worse, I didn’t bet with my best mate (who is an Argyle fan) that Everton would win, missed out on a fiver but at least we have a fourth round draw beckoning at 13:30 on Monday 10th January.  I would love it if we got Yeovil away as I would make the trip there as well and hopefully see an Everton win.

Everton for the cup?  Possibly.

Thank you and good night.

Dave Moore

 

Premiership class tells at Home Park

A trip to any team in the division directly below is never easy, as Everton have found to their cost in the past, so it's nice that the little banana skin posed by Plymouth Argyle was neatly side-stepped with what was overall a fairly pedestrian display by a Blues side tiring from a glut of festive season matches.

It was a luxury afforded them by two well-worked goals in as many first half minutes that put them 2-0 up and coasting. Argyle kept themselves in it, however, with a goal before half time and ensured that the visiting defence was kept busy for many of the 90 minutes. A Nick Chadwick goal in the closing stages killed off their challenge, though, and booked Everton's passage to the fourth round.

David Moyes made more changes to his squad for visit to Devon, resting Tim Cahill and Thomas Gravesen by dropping them to the bench and handing James Beattie his debut following his £6m move from Southampton earlier in the week. James McFadden made his expected start in a similar role to Marcus Bent, both forwards playing in withdrawn roles behind Beattie. Joseph Yobo continued in defence, with Alessandro Pistone switching to right back and Gary Naysmith making a rare appearance in his stead on the left.

There was little action to speak of before Everton made the breakthrough in the 16th minute thanks to a lovely goal by Leon Osman, the hero against Portsmouth four days earlier. The diminutive midfielder played a neat one-two with Beattie before advancing into the area and deftly lifting the ball over the 'keeper to make it 1-0.

Two minutes later, McFadden brought a long Pistone throw down in the area, wriggled past a couple of challenges and slotted the ball under the goalkeeper to double the Blues' advantage. For those hopeful of a cup shock (and here I include the BBC commentator who did his best to talk up Plymouth's chances despite the fact that the result was never really in doubt after tthe 18th minute) it was a disappointing double salvo, but for Everton fans it was ideal.

Moyes's side did visibly ease off the pedal, however, and after Lee Hodges had forced Richard Wright into turning the ball over the bar, Bjarni Gudjonsson pulled a goal back for the home side following an error by Yobo. The Nigerian had been on the touchline in discussion with Moyes when Argyle launched the attack and although he made it back into position on time, he was obviuosly distracted by a finger injury and allowed a punt forward to bounce off his knee and into Gudjonsson's path. The Plymouth midfielder made o mistake, planting the loose balll past Wright with the outside of his boot with 32 minutes gone.

The Blues could have restored their two-goal advantage five minutes later when Bent fed Osman down the right but his low cross was slightly behind Beattie and as the ball squrimed under a defender's leg, Everton's new No. 8 could only turn it over from close range.

The second half was mostly about Plymouth's attempts to force an equaliser but the Devon side were mostly restricted to shots from the edge of or outside the area. Friio went outside Naysmith and fired narrowly wide in the 55th minute, and with 19 minutes left, MIckey Evans saw a curling shot saved by Wright. In between, the home fans bayed for a penalty when McFadden tussled with Connolly in the Everton area but referee Matt Massias waved played on. It was Gudjonsson who again had theirr best chance, blasting over from 10 yards out.

At the other end, Bent missed two excellent chances but was in any case called offside on both occasions before Nick Chadwick, on for McFadden, finished Argyle off with the Blues' third with 6 minutes on the clock. The ball broke to him on the halfway line and he raced clear of the defence to calmly slip the ball under the advancing 'keeper and make it 3-1.

Plymouth did have two more efforts on goal — a back-post header that was saved by Wright a stunning drive by Wooton tha flew inches wide — but it was Everton who had the final word when Alan Stubbs' fierce injury-time free kick was smothered by the 'keeper.

This was an unspectacular victory sealed by three tremendous finishes and, ultimately, Moyes's men moved comfortably into the next round. Beattie's contribution was minimal but he will have beneifited from the match practice and the confidence from laying on the first goal. Having played just twice in the last three months, he will be some way short of match practice.

Lyndon Lloyd