Match Summary

An unchanged team was Moyes's selection for this vital game to show Everton's determination for the fight, a win being essential to build on the superb start made so far this season.  A disappointing first half saw the sides go in 0-0 with Everton doing it through better play but few real chances. 

The second half was barely under way as Everton really turned on the pressure and Cahill nabbed the ball off a Wigan defender to drive forward to the byeline.  His measured cross caused chaos, and fell to Andy Johnson three yards out... GOAL!  Just what the Goodison crowd had been yearning fro and it was AJ again who delivered — his fifth in as many games.  Everton piled on the pressure and camped out in Wigan's half as some great spells of dominance looked to build on AJ's opening goal, with David Moyes's intervention stating his intent by bringing on James Beattie for Lee Carsley, in a push for a good result. 

But it was at the other end that Yobo's poor clearance allowed Wigan some dangerous possession and Kevin Kilbane, now playing for Wigan, swung over an excellent cross for Paul Scharner to head powerfully into the corner past Howard.  In any analysis of the build-up, and the shift in midfield power that preceded the goal after such an impressive period of sustained Everton pressure, you have to wonder about the effect of removing Carsley, who had been performing such a wonderful but unsung role in protecting the back four. 

But Everton came right back into it, with Arteta and Osman repeatedly getting fouled.  From one free kick the ball came to Osman who was cut down again from behind  — this time in the penalty area, and Wiley had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.  James Beattie, just on as a sub for Carsley, delivered with conviction and ferocity well past Kirkland in the Wigan goal, and everyone went delirious.

But once again, more lax defending — this time it was Naysmith at fault — allowing a second goal for Wigan and for Scharner who delivered an excellent low shot from Johansson's ball in.  Everton struggled to reassert the dominance that had been a major feature of an absorbing second half and they had their chances with Kirkland forced to make good saves from Johnson and Osman, who seems to be imposing himself more and more on every game. But the Wigan goal held out and it ended 2-2, with kopite Paul Jewell the far happier of the two managers, having stolen a point from Fortress Goodison.

Michael Kenrick

Defensive lapses cost Everton dear

Everton received something of a reality check to the wild optimism that followed the impressive wins over Tottenham and Liverpool as Wigan twice came from behind through Paul Scharner to earn an undeserved share of the spoils at Goodison Park.

The Blues started the day harbouring hopes of going top of the table for 24 hours but by the time 5pm rolled around it was Portsmouth who had scored their fourth win in five games while Everton will feel unfortunate not to have done the same.

As expected, David Moyes opted for an unchanged line-up from that which won the derby a week earlier. That meant Andy Johnson leading the line with Tim Cahill, Leon Osman and Mikel Arteta in support. James Beattie again started on the bench, with Andy van der Meyde making the squad of 16 for the first time this season.

Unlike against Liverpool — though not unlike their modus operandi last season — Everton started the game slowly and struggled to assert much control on proceedings. Tim Howard watched an early Wigan free kick onto the roof of the net while Moyes's side took a quarter of an hour to muster their first genuine chance when Phil Neville split the defence looking for Johnson. Fritz Hall should have dealt with it but gifted the ball to the Everton no. 8 who advanced into the area before hitting a tame left-footer that Chris Kirkland smothered comfortably.

A minute later, a terrific cross from the right picked out Lee Carsley whose diving header flashed narrowly wide of the near post.

In the same minute of the half, an altercation broke out, first between Anton de Zeeuw and Cahill and then Kirkland and the Australian midfielder. Cahill had legitmiately challenged the 'keeper for a clearance from Howard that bounced high into the Wigan area. De Zeeuw took umbrage and shoved Cahill before Kirkland marched up and did the same. Cahill pushed back, Kirkland got in another shot before referee Alan Wiley broke up the skirmish with some harsh words and yellow cards for the two Wigan players. Another referee might have flashed a couple of reds.

Football-wise, Everton continued to shade matters and Cahill forced a save from Kirkland's feet when he rose to meet an Arteta free kick from wide left before Valencia almost caught the home side cold when he was put in behind the defence but, thankfully, he pulled his shot from the angle across the face of goal and wide of the far post.

And Cahill was involved in the last meaningful moment of the first half when he earned a free kick 25 yards from goal in injury time. Arteta stepped up and forced Kirkland into a diving save with a typically well-struck shot.

Neither side made changes at the break but Everton emerged from the interval with increased verve and were ahead within four minutes of the restart. Joleon Lescott picked Johnson out with a lovely floated ball and after the striker and taken the ball wide, fed Naysmith, only for the Scot to pass straight to a defender, the chance looked to have gone. But Cahill quickly intercepted the next pass, advanced to the byline and cut the ball back which squirmed away from Kirkland and into the path of Johnson who couldn't miss from six yards out. 1-0 and goal no. 5 for AJ!

The Blues then looked to turn the screw with 15 minutes of concerted pressure on the visitors' defence. A claim for handball in the box went unrewarded and Osman curled the loose ball goalwards from the edge of the box forcing Kirkland to paw it behind for a corner.

A minute later, Osman hammered a headed clearance from Arteta's free kick that the 'keeper did well to parry to safety and, two minutes after that, he picked out Johnson's great run with a slide-rule pass but AJ dragged his shot wide when he was odds-on to at least hit the target.

The Blues were to pay for their failure to drive home their superiority when, in the 63rd minute, Yobo dallied and failed to clear, allowing Kevin Kilbane, making his Wigan debut after transferring to the JJB Stadium on transfer deadline day, to cross and Scharner stretched impressively to power a header into the top corner.

The scores were level for just two minutes, though. Osman, who was heading out of the area inexplicably had his legs swept from underneath him by Danny Landzaat and the ref duly pointed to the spot. James Beattie, who had only been on the field for a few minutes afrer coming on for Lee Carsley, stepped up and buried the penalty emphatically past Kirkland to restore the Blues' lead.

Only a further three minutes passed, though, before Wigan were back on level terms when Cahill went to sleep and allowed Johanssen to slip in behind him and cut it back for Scharner to turn the ball past Wright.

Whether it was the shock of being pegged back again so suddenly or the change in shape to 4-4-2, but Everton were noticeably less effective and less fluid as they chased a third goal in the last quarter of the game.What will be a concern for the management is how bereft of ideas the Blues looked with Beattie and Johnson up front and how many times they fell back on the tired old long ball from the back.

Wigan, emboldened, tested Howard again with nine minutes to go when Johanssen forced a good save from Howard who clawed the ball behind for a corner, while Everton's last shot at a winner came in inury time when Osman half-volleyed over the bar.

The unfortunate thing is that Everton did more than enough to win this game and should have done fairly comfortably. Paul Jewell may feel that his side deserved a share of the spoils but he would be wrong. The Blues carved out better and more frequent chances and, but for some good saves by Kirkland and some off-key finishing by Johnson, they might have won despite their two defensive lapses.

But it was those frustrating mistakes at the back that ultimately cost Everton a third successive home win and will serve as a warning sign that they cannot afford to be complacent against any opposition if they hope to qualfy for Europe in what is shaping up to be a very competitive league this season.

Lyndon Lloyd

Match Preview

As if our start to the season hadn't been good enough, Everton only went and hammered the dreaded enemy from the Dark Side 3-0, thereby recording their biggest derby win in four decades and elevating the club to third in the Premiership.

10 points from 12 represents the Blues' best start in the Premiership; indeed it's apparently our best start to a season since the 1970-71 campaign.  Next up, with Evertonians riding a wave of euphoria, are Wigan Athletic who made a similarly exciting start last season before their form tailed off and they finished 10th, a place above Everton in the final table.

This time out the Latics have registered just one win so far from three games having struggled to significantly add to their squad in the close season.  So, David Moyes's side will no doubt fancy their chances of registering another victory and the possibility of going top of the table by 5pm.

Of course, there is the nagging doubt that hovers at the back of the Evertonian mind any time things start going well!  Will Wigan prove to be a banana skin or another ramp to aid the Blues' upwards curve?

With Andy Johnson proving so adept at spear-heading the side as a lone striker and supported by the cast in midfield, Moyes appears to have once again found a reliable system founded on 4-5-1... only this time, given Johnson's pace and effervescence, it won't be quite so easy for opposition sides to shut down.

And, while the manager has suggested he will continue to rotate his players, it would not be surprising if he went for something close to an unchanged line-up this weekend.  The departure of Kevin Kilbane to Wigan — coincidentally he is in line to make his debut for his new team at Goodison after serving a one-match ban last week — and an injury to James McFadden mean that Moyes doesn't have many options in midfield.

Assuming he is fit, Andy van der Meyde, the forgotten man of Goodison, is perhaps a possibility from the bench seeing as the team has started so well.  Otherwise, perhaps only Nuno Valente coming into left midfield (at whose expense, though?) or replacing Gary Naysmith would be viable changes.

Given our terrific early season form and the rising expectations it is generating, this one really is a game we should win, and the home defeat we suffered at the hands of Paul Jewell's side last year should also provide sufficient motivation.  It is also a more suitable game than the derby for the Blues to build on the new-found passing game that proved so devastating at Tottenham three weeks ago.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Stats

The 4th match against Wigan Athletic sees Everton currently third in the league table on goal difference, and with the last two wins against Tottenham and Liverpool, the majority of Evertonians will be hopeful that, should Portsmouth mess up against Charlton and United have problems against Arsenal on Sunday, Everton may be able to take top spot for a bit longer than 2 hours, last Saturday.

In fact, should Everton remain unbeaten, then they will match their longest unbeaten start to a Premier League season, having gone 5 games unbeaten in the inaugural 1992-93 season – although there is still a long way to go before they match the club record of 19 games unbeaten from the start of a season which was set in 1978-79, and which, ironically included another famous victory over Liverpool – the Andy King 1:0 derby!

Whilst Everton against Wigan Athletic may not be the most common fixture in English football, no doubt David Moyes and his men will be looking to avenge the 0:1 home defeat at the hands of Wigan in the very first League meeting on 24 September last year, with the reverse fixture ending in a 1:1 draw and a Duncan Ferguson red card on 31 January.

Everton's full record against Wigan Athletic in all competitions is:

Whilst Everton’s overall record against Wigan sees a 50:50 record, hopefully David Moyes’ regenerated side can match the FA Cup meeting between the sides over 26 years ago rather than last season’s result.  In fact these are the only two matches when Everton have faced Wigan at Goodison Park, with the following record:

As we have seen, Everton lost 0:1 at Goodison Park and drew 1:1 at the JJB Stadium last season.  The only other meeting between the clubs was on 26 January 1980 when goals from Bob Latchford, Joe McBride and Brian Kidd saw Everton win 3:0 on their way to a Semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual cup winners that year, West Ham United.

Having scored 4 goals in 4 games, including his brace against Liverpool (and I won’t get tired of repeating that!), can Andy Johnson become the first Everton player to score a hat-trick against Wigan?

However, our record for the 16th September would appear to suggest that we came back to earth following the last two matches:

The last match on this day was a 1:3 defeat at home to Manchester United in 2000.

In the last installment of the match day stats against Liverpool, we touched on Everton’s scoring record on that day.  So in keeping with this, the stats suggest that we may have more trouble against Wigan than we did against Liverpool, as Everton have scored just 5 goals in the last 6 matches on this day, since our 6:2 victory over IB Keflavik in the 1970 European Cup.

Milestones that can be reached this game:

• If Everton manage to remain unbeaten, they will match their best ever run of 8 consecutive matches unbeaten in the Premier League, which has happened three times previously.  When Mike Walker was sacked in 1994, the team had gone three matches without defeat, which was then increased to eight following the appointment of Joe Royle.  He continued this at the end of the season as Everton were unbeaten for the last seven games and then carried this on in the first game of the following season.  Finally, Joe Royle made it a hat-trick with another 8 game unbeaten run in the 1996-97 season, which included Everton’s biggest Premiership victory, 7:1 over Southampton.
• If he makes yet another substitute appearance, then James McFadden will join Sandy Brown in 4th place on the overall list with 43 substitute appearances for Everton in all competitions, with only 39 more before he joins Duncan Ferguson at the top.

Steve Flanagan

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EVERTON (4-5-1)
	Howard
	Hibbert
	Yobo
	Lescott
	Naysmith (77' Valente)
	Neville (c) 29'
	Arteta
	Carsley (60' Beattie)
	Osman
	Cahill
	Johnson
	Subs not used
	Wright
	Weir
	Van der Meyde
	Unavailable
	Kilbane (transferred)
	McFadden (injured)
	Stubbs (injured)
	Pistone (injured)

WIGAN (4-4-2)
	Kirkland 17'
	De Zeeuw (c) 17'
	Hall
	Boyce
	Scharner
	Baines  80'
	Valencia 30'
	Johansson
	Kilbane
	Landzaat (81' Wright)
	Heskey  78'
	Subs not used
	Jackson
	Pollitt
	Teale
	Cotterill

Premiership Scores
Saturday 16 Sep 2006
Charlton	0-1	Portsmouth
Bolton	0-0	Middlesbro
Everton	2-2	Wigan
Sheff Utd	1-2	Reading
Watford	0-0	Aston Villa
Sunday 17 Sep 2006
Chelsea	1-0	Liverpool
Blackburn	4-2	Man City
Tottenham	0-0	Fulham
West Ham	0-2	Newcastle
Man Utd	0-1	Arsenal

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Premiership Table
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