Match Summary

Mikel Arteta: Makes a welcome return from a one-match ban

For the last of the festive season matches, four crammed in to just eight days, Everton entertain a Charlton side low on form.  David Moyes makes three changes: Matteo Ferrari replaces David Weir; Mikel Arteta returns from suspension in midfield for the injured Simon Davies; and Duncan Ferguson leads the team out as captain, Jamie McFadden making way.

Everton started reasonably well but the first shot on goal came from Darren Bent, who was allowed to run through and fire in at Martyn.

After just 7 mins, Osman laid in a great ball through for Kilbane, who was wrestled to the round by Rommedahl, Penalty!  Perhaps a little harsh.  Former Everton keeper Thomas Myrhe saved James Beattie's penalty well but the rebound was an easy put-in for him.  Rommedahl was booked for his protests.

Everton then allowed Charlton to respond, dropping back and ceding possession.  Lax defending of a Charlton free-kick saw Young get the ball in and Matt Holland volleyed easily past Martyn from the edge of the area: 1-1.

Everton had been poor since the goal and continued to labour with little inspiration.  A highlight was a great ball in from Kilbane that produced an amazing overhead kick from Duncan Ferguson of all people but it was too far out and too weak to beat Myrhe.  Arteta was doing his best to change things, and he released Osman on a good run, finished with a superb cross, but Kilbane's excellent header on the run hit the outside of the post!  Nice move!!!

But Charlton knew they could also penetrate Everton's left side, and Hughes got in a dangerous header with Martyn stranded.  But a superbly flighted quick free-kick from Arteta lifted into the Charlton area was set up perfectly for Tim Cahill to head strongly in off the underside of the bar... GOAL!

The second half started out as a nervy affair with neither side really imposing until 15 mins had passed.  But then it was another perfect free-kick in from Arteta, and other perfect run and leap from Tim Cahill and a lovely headed THIRD goal for Everton!

With a magnificent two-goal cushion, a very rare comfort for the Blues, Everton could finally start to play with more confidence and composure.  Tim Cahill did get the ball in the net for his hat-trick but Rennie blew up for some invisible infraction inside the area.  And at the other end, a real let-off as the ball bounces back off the post and into Nigel Martyn's hands.

Everton relaxed a little more as the final whistle approached and it meant the danger of further reply from Charlton was never far away.  A great Kilbane run relieved some of the tension but Everton were being sloppy and living dangerously.  Martyn needed to be alert to make a terrific point-blank save off Ambrose.

Just before the end, Captain Duncan Ferguson left to a standing ovation, with Marcus Bent replacing him.  Bent got in well near the  end to lay the ball off beautifully for Cahill and his fantastic volley smacked off the the angle of the woodwork. So close! 

It was a great result in the end, and would have been even better if Cahill had managed to make that hat-trick.  Excellent work from Arteta and Cahill, with Kilbane also playing far better, but a lot of uncertainty in defence.

Michael Kenrick

Match Preview

2005 was heading for an uninspiring conclusion on Saturday when Tim Cahill popped up with that injury-time goal at the Stadium of Light to end the year on a relative high, but no one should kid themselves that Everton's second-half performance against the worst team of the division was anything other awful.

Yes, it was the penultimate game of a hectic festive programme that has involved four games in eight days and definitely taken its toll on the Everton squad in terms of injury, fatigue and suspensions.  But those were only partially mitigating circumstances.

2006 offers no respite, with the visit of Charlton Athletic coming just two days after the trip to the northeast, which has given those player who picked up knocks in recent games little time to recover for what is another crucial home game against an out-of-form team.

Simon Davies and Per Krøldrup will have late fitness tests on their respective ankle injuries and there is no word on James McFadden, substituted at half time against Sunderland with an apparent injury, so the assumption is that he will be fit.

Gary Naysmith will once again feature on the bench after completing his long road to recovery from multiple knee surgeries, but Andy van der Meyde, Lee Carsley and James Vaughan are still in rehabilitation with no imminent return dates.

Of course, the biggest plus for Everton will be the return from suspension of Mikel Arteta.  Like Phil Neville, he picked up two yellow cards — awarded somewhat harshly by the bane of Everton's existence, Graham Poll — in the Merseyside derby but, having already served a ban for accruing five yellows only recently, the Spaniard was only handed a one-match sentence.  Neville will sit out one more game as his double-yellow infraction lead to the second red card for him this season.

Charlton have listed Alexei Smertin doubtful with a knee injury and Jerome Thomas has been laid low with a virus.  Gonzalo Sorondo will undergo a fitness test on a bruised foot but ex-Red, Danny Murphy, is expected to return after serving a suspension.

As our resident statistician, Steve Flanagan, highlighted yesterday, it's the Blues' home form that has been so damaging this season.  Monday's game offers the opportunity to start addressing that situation against a Charlton side that had lost eight games in nine before yesterday's 2-0 win over West Ham.

Everton have lost this fixture on the last two occasions; Charlton have actually earned maximum points from the Blues in each of the last three match-ups between the two sides, so there's yet more incentive to turn it on there.

But with the squad visibly jaded, it remains to be seen whether the tonic of the last-gasp win at Sunderland will provide the adrenaline shot the players need to get another badly-needed three points.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Stats

This will be the 50th meeting between Everton and Charlton Athletic in all competitions and the 45th League meeting between the sides.  This will also be the 26th meeting at Goodison Park and the 23rd in the League.

Everton's full record against Charlton is:

Our record at home to Charlton Athletic is:

There has been just 1 Everton hat-trick against Charlton over the years which was scored by Bill Dean on 7 February 1931 in a 7-0 victory at Charlton Athletic in a Division Two match.

The most common victory for Everton is 2-1, which has happened 7 times in Everton's 21 victories.  Charlton’s most common victory over Everton is 1-0, which has happened 5 times in their 18 victories. The most common draw between the sides is 2-2, which has happened 5 times in the 10 draws between the sides.

Everton's record for 2 January is:

This is the first time the clubs have met on this day.  Everton’s last match on this day was in 1999, when Everton beat Bristol City 2-0 at Bristol City in an FA Cup tie.  The last league match on this date was in 1995 when Everton lost 2-1 at Wimbledon.  The last home league match on this day was in 1965 when Burnley were defeated 2-1.

Steve Seargeant was born on this day in 1951 in Liverpool.  After signing professional forms in July 1968, Steve made 90 appearances for Everton as well as scoring 1 goal, before his contract was terminated in February 1978.

Scot Gemmill was also born on this day in 1971 in Paisley.  Signed from Nottingham Forest in March 1999 for £250,000, Scot made 110 appearances and scored 5 goals, before he moved to Leicester City in June 2004.

Milestones that can be reached this game:

·          If he plays, Kevin Kilbane will be making his 100th appearance for Everton in all competitions.

·          If he starts, Tim Cahill will be making his 50th league start for Everton.

·          If he plays, Joseph Yobo will be making his 100th league appearance for Everton.

Steve Flanagan

Jekyll and Hyde

Gordon Bennett, watching Everton is never boring, is it?  In this Jekyll and Hyde season (unfortunately, more scary monster than brilliant scientist), you just never know which Everton is going to turn up.  Our only consistent feature is our total lack of consistency.

After ruining the new Monopoly set he'd been given for Christmas by playing the Get Out Of Jail card at Sunderland on Saturday, Moyes was forced into making a number of changes with Ferrari coming straight back into the defence, Arteta in for the injured Davies, and Dunc replacing McFadden upfront, Arteta and Cahill forming the central midfield partnership.

We started off well and after 7 minutes, Killer broke into the box and was impeded by Dennis Rommedahl.  Uriah Rennie, in his usual lugubrious style, vaguely indicated a penalty to us!  Rommedahl was only shown a yellow card when he could easily have received a red.  Beattie lined up to take the penalty at a very acute angle, making it very difficult for him to place the ball anywhere apart from to Tommy Myhre's left.  Myhre obviously realised this too and saved the spot kick easily.  However, our wretched luck of late changed — Myhre couldn't control the save, the ball trickled straight back out to Beattie who put it in the back of the net.  Great start — we had to build on it.

Of course, this being Everton, we didn't.  Within 10 minutes, a free-kick wasn't cleared, the ball came out to Mattie Holland on the edge of the box and, with no-one closing him down, it was a relatively simple task to volley it into the back of the net.

Rather than capitulate as has been the norm recently, the goal seemed to galvanise us.  On their day, Holland and Murphy in the middle of the Charlton midfield can be a force to be reckoned with.  However, Cahill and Arteta began to take control and bossed the midfield.  We won a free-kick in the middle of the Charlton half.  Arteta looked up and saw Cahill making a good run into the box.  Arteta beautifully floated the ball onto Cahill's head who beat Luke Young and headed in off the bar.

It could have been 3 by half-time as a few minutes before that, a good cross by Osman was met on the run by Kilbane who hit the outside of the post with his header.

Second half, we played even better (though the MotD stats implied that Charlton had more possession than us) — everyone was working hard, none more so that Beattie who ran, chased and harried the Charlton defence brilliantly.

Just before the hour mark, Arteta floated in another free kick and Cahill rose, as he did on numerous occasions last season above everyone else and powered in another header. 3-1 — dreamland in this season of such paucity.

With Everton now relaxing and a certain amount of tiredness creeping into both sides play, the game opened up with Charlton finally having some chances.  One amazing escape saw Jonathan Fortune's header hit the inside of the post and rebound back into Martyn's hand.  Then another attack saw Martyn finally called into action palming away a goalbound shot.

At the other end, an amazing decision by the increasingly bizarre Rennie saw Beattie head the ball back across goal for Cahill to complete his hat-trick, only for the ref to blow for a foul by Ferguson.  TV replays clearly showed that Rennie had invented the indiscretion.  In recent weeks, that decision would have gone against us at 0-0...

Finally, in injury time, with Bent on for Ferguson, he flicked a cross on to Cahill at the corner of the 18-yard area.  His technique was superb as he waited for the ball to drop beautifully before crashing a volley into the angle of upright and post.  What a goal that would have been!

Ratings:

Martyn: 7 - Didn't have much to do apart from one excellent save
Hibbert: 7 - As solid defensively as ever.  One beautifully weighted ball forward to Beattie shows what he occasionally is capable of.
Yobo: 8 - Apart from one terrible back-pass to Martyn continued his form of late
Ferrari: 8 - Considering this was his first game back from injury, he coped with everything very well and also marshalled the defence.  Note to Krøldrup: get a copy of the video and watch it!
Valente: 8 - Looking better and better in the left back role.
Osman: 6 - Was anonymous for most of the first half and got pushed off the ball far too easily
Arteta: 9 - Superb in the centre.  Whilst Davies has improved in this position, its a criminal waste to stick Mikel on the wing when Davies is fit.  Centre is his best position
Cahill: 9 - Shades the MotM award by virtue of his two goals, both provided by Arteta.  Robbed of a hat-trick by the ref.
Kilbane: 8 - Exceeded my expectations by a long chalk.  Still thinks he's quicker than he actually is though.
Ferguson: 8 - worked his socks off without too much reward.  Actually got an overhead kick on target in the first half.  Now, that would have been a story.
Beattie: 8 - Also worked hard chasing every lost cause.  Loses a mark by virtue of the missed penalty.

Jonathan Martin

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