David Moyes reverted to a 4-5-1 formation for this evening's game but was again without Mikel Arteta who has suffered a recurrence of a groin injury.
City made the slightly better start but Everton should have had a penalty after seven minutes when Tim Cahill's shot was blocked by Micah Richards's arm but the referee of course waved play on. Everton then sank back into their shell somewhat as City played some reasonably accomplished possession football in midfield but with no real penetration to speak of.
Everton, however, were guilty of their usual failings, clearing the ball with an aimless hoof or loosing possession far too early in the few promising moves that developed out of defence. They started to press with more coherence and some excellent work from Cahill down the left put it on a plate for Yakubu and he side-footed home from close range in stylish fashion after half an hour to give Everton the advantage.
Then, from a corner that had evaded everyone, Lee Carsley picked up the ball on the far side, swung in a beautiful cross to Joleon Lescott who had peeled away from his marker at the far post, and he headed into the far corner to make it 2-0 seven minutes before half time. A tremendous celebration followed: Everton riding high, sitting on a handsome lead at half-time!!!
City pressed after the break, mounting numerous attacks but resistance was manful and determined. And when Everton broke, with Yakubu bearing Dunne to the ball, a third goal looked to be a certainty but instead of shooting himself, he took an extra touch before crossing for Cahill, who could not convert under pressure from a defender, his weak shot bouncing off Hart and being cleared off the line by Dunne.
Carsley was booked for a rather robust challenge in midfield, resulting in a yellow card that was his fifth of the season, and that means he will miss the trip to Sunderland. Manuel Fernandes came on as a replacement for for Pienaar but was was injured in a very poor tackle by Richards.
Meanwhile, at the other end, they had to be alert when Hoard advanced and missed a cross, hacking the ball away off the Everton goal-line. Despite the odd panicky moment, the Everton defence looked solid and had put down a firm barrier that effectively thwarted City's repeated attempts to
Fernandes eventually went off, to be replaced by Andrew Johnson. Sevn looked very annoyed with 20 mins to go, as his forwards could seemingly do nothing to even get a sniff of the Everton goal, despite mounting an almost continuous onslaught in the Everton half.
Dunne came closed with a header off a free-kick after 72 mins, while Carsley was massive as a defensive blocker. But with the ball, Everton were less impressive, content to hoof and hope when it came to clearing from defence.
Then, one of those incredibly controversial incidents, when Richards clearly handled a throw-in he mis-judged (why no yellow card?) while right on the edge of the City area...Penalty?!? Come off it! Everton have not had a penalty all season, and three clear handballs were not enough for that to change in this game..
Yakubu was hacked down and while everyone paused, awaiting the wall-building, Carsley ran up and smacked in a fearsome free-kick with no wall in front of him but the goalie was alert and just got a hand to it.
Osman was the next to have a pop after a great run down the right, but his connection was poor as Everton really began to enjoy themselves with 10 mins left. Johnson was then denied at close range off great work by Lescott from a throw-in. At the other end, it needed a fantastic save by Howard to keep City out after a sizzling shot from Castillo came through a ruck of players. Jagielka was there to block the follow-up from Richards as City once again laid siege to the Everton penalty area.
There were more tense moments and stinging shots from the likes of Petrov, and fierce header from Benjani for Howard to save before the end but it was fantastic, thrilling stuff from Everton, who steadfastly refused to let this one go. To round out City's woes, Petrov was shown a red card at the death for the silliest of little ankle-taps on Osman. This was aft3r he'd already waved a boot of frustration in Yakubu's direction. Three games to miss: Nice!
In what looked to be daunting and difficult fixture against one of our strongest rivals as pretenders to the throne of the Big Four — and at their gaff — this was a fantastic result, borne of a disciplined and accomplished performance all round. Three more vital points take Everton back into fourth place above Liverpool (still with a game in hand) in what was a truly massive six-pointer... if that makes any sense at all!
Michael Kenrick
Everton responded to the loss of fourth place on goal difference at the weekend with an emphatic riposte at the City of Manchester Stadium, securing a mightily impressive victory, and moving back into the Champions League qualifying places with the restoration of their three-point lead over rivals Liverpool.
The scale of this win over Manchester City, a team that looked to be best equipped of all to crack the top four this season on the evidence of their early form and impressive home record, is hard to exaggerate. This seemingly daunting trip to Eastlands where Sven Goran Eriksson's side had only been beaten once in the Premier League before tonight had been looming on Everton's calender ever since they beat them six weeks ago in the reverse fixture.
Thanks to a power-house performance in all areas of the pitch, though, Everton reduced City to a frustrated and disjointed mess and sounded an ominous shot across the bow of their rivals for that precious fourth place. 2-0 up by the break, the margin of their victory could have been double that were it not for some poor decisions by referee Rob Styles and some key interventions by the City defence, goalkeeper Joe Hart and the woodwork.
Predictably for an away fixture of this importance, David Moyes reverted back to 4-5-1, dropping Andy Johnson to the bench, recalling Joseph Yobo to central defence alongside Phil Jagielka and replacing Mikel Arteta, ruled out again with a troublesome injury, with Leon Osman. Manuel Fernandes joined Johnson on the bench.
City made slightly the better start but it was Everton who penetrated first with five minutes gone, Yakubu denied by Hart from close range after the Nigerian had connected with Steven Pienaar's early ball in. A minute later came the first of three penalty claims that the Blues would have over the course of the evening. Admirable persistence by Tim Cahill was eventually rewarded with a sight of goal but his low drive was blocked by the raised arm of Micah Richards after he had fallen to the turf. Referee Rob Styles, the official who has awarded more penalties than any other this season, waved play on leaving City and Everton as the only two top flights teams not to have been awarded a spot kick in the league so far.
The home side responded with a period of pressure of their own and Everton seemed happy to cede the majority of possession to their hosts, form an impenetrable barrier on their 18 yard line and hit them on the break. With Phil Neville and Lee Carsley playing defensive midfield spoilers and Yobo and Jagielka solid as proverbial rocks in central defence, it was a strategy founded on a resilient rearguard which left the attacking players to do their worst to City at the other end.
Pienaar, typically reminiscent of a dragonfly as he flitted up and down the left flank almost lit up the game with a beautiful curling shot but it took a deft flick off a defender and bounced agonisingly off the corner of crossbar and post after good work by Cahill. Two minutes later, though, Everton took the lead that their play thus far deserved and it was down to more great play by the Australian.
After Yakubu had collected Lescott's throw-in and turned neatly to evade the three sky-blue shirts in attendance he knocked it to Cahill inside the box and raced into the centre. Cahill feigned to go back out towards the touchline before jinking forward and firing the ball across goal to the waiting Yak who knocked it over the 'keeper to give Everton the lead. Yakubu went into familiar Super Eagle celebration mode in front of the massed ranks of Evertonians behind the goal who were going ballistic.
Eight minutes later it was 2-0. Osman's corner from the right-hand side drifted out to the far side where Carsley collected, looked up and swung in an inviting ball to the back post where Lescott had hung back in anticipation. Richard Dunne left it presumably assuming that there was no-one behind him, leaving Lescott to head back over Hart and into the far corner. Cue more delirium in the stands behind the goal as the defender celebrated his eighth goal of the season.
Everton were clearly in the driver's seat now and their appetite for goals was not diminished after the break, Neville finding himself with a clear shot on goal from 20-odd yards but he blazed over without testing Hart. Then, a nice interchange between Yakubu and Cahill ended with the striker powering towards goal but rather than shooting from the angle, he elected to square it back to the Australian but his left-footed effort on the slide was partially blocked by Michael Ball and the 'keeper was able to gather it.
Carsley was then booked for an ugly-looking tackle on Fernandes, the City version — had he avoided a yellow card, his slate would have been wiped clean after this match; as it is he'll now serve a one-match ban for collecting five bookings — before Pienaar was removed in favour of Fernandes — the Everton version.
City were still enjoying the lion's share of possession but until Martin Petrov lined one up but saw his effort superbly blocked by Jagielka's lunge they didn't really threaten much. A minute later, though, Tim Howard flapped at an Elano cross, Richards got his head to it but the ball dropped to Jagielka on the line and he hacked it to safety.
Manuel Fernandes had only been on the pitch for four minutes before he appeared to twist his knee in an awkward challenge with his namesake and in the 67th minute, a mere 12 after he'd come on, he too was substituted, Johnson coming on to take his place.
Still Eriksson's side, with Felipe Caicedo on for Stephen Ireland, tried to fashion a clear-cut opening but despite another gift decision from referee Styles, Dunne headed over the bar from Elano's free kick. Then, Elano, who was having a nightmare, all things considered, dragged his best shot of the game a few yards wide of Howard's goal.
Everton, meanwhile, remained a big threat on the counter, particularly now that they had added AJ's pace and City were beginning to throw caution to the wind. Mystifyingly, Richards stuck his hand up to the ball right on the line of his area and after a moment's bewildered contemplation, the referee gave the home side the benefit of the doubt and awarded a free kick. Osman took it but his fizzing shot ricocheted away.
With 12 minutes to go, Yakubu, who had been terrorising the City back line all afternoon, was brought down a few yards outside the box and Carsley, seizing the opportunity for a cheeky quick free kick with no wall in the way ran up to the stationary ball and blasted goalwards. Luckily for him, Hart was alert and produced a great save to divert it over for a corner. There was another handball in the aftermath of that corner kick but this time the referee put it down to an accidental case of ball to hand.
Twice in a minute Everton then broke quickly against depleted numbers in the home defence but on the first attack Osman couldn't get enough purchase on Johnson's center to beat the 'keeper, and on the second, a two-against-one situation, Neville's attempt to square it to Yakubu struck a defender's leg and the chance was lost.
The game had completely opened up by this stage and time was ticking down for City when Lescott made a monkey of Elano on the left touchline and pinged in an early cross but Johnson's first-time flick was parried by Hart. And it was with five minutes left of the regulation 90 that substitute Castillo finally forced a save from Howard, the American doing brilliantly to palm away his low drive despite seeing it late through a sea of legs. Jagielka was on hand to make another saving block on the rebound, capping another virtually faultless man-of-the-match display.
There were three more chances for City before stoppage time had elapsed: a Petrov stinger that Howard killed with his palms and then caught in one fluid movement; an Elano free kick that Howard also parried well; and a Benjani header that he could only steer straight into the 'keeper's arms from about six yards.
The home team's frustrations were evidenced by stoppage time by the half-empty stadium and encapsulated by Petrov's petulance. Having again been well shackled by Hibbert and been ignored by the referee when he kicked out at Yakubu, the Bulgarian tried the same thing on Osman and was flashed an automatic red card by Mr Styles, compounding his misery and that of his team.
It was just one more satisfying incident for the Blues as they greeted the final whistle with enormous satisfaction at a superb result. The own goal conceded at Wigan remains the only Premier League goal they have conceded in 2008, some six and a half hours of football ago — a truly impressve statistic. They have restored their three-point cushion which, assuming Liverpool win their game in hand, will give them a real chance of edging their rivals out of fourth place come the end of the campaign.
As the "business end" of the season begins, Everton are rising to the challenge in impressive fashion and they achieved a stunning result without the talismanic talents of Arteta or the mercurial skills of Fernandes. With such a strong back line — to a man they were simply phenomenal today but Yobo and Jagielka stood out for particular praise — Moyes has the perfect platform from which to build his attacking strategy, one made all the easier by finally having a natural goalscorer in the form of Yakubu. He too was in outstanding form again today and was aided by some fine moments from Cahill and Osman. Even the two players who, according to many — myself included — should never play together in midfield, Neville and Carsley acquitted themselves very well. All in all, a superb team performance.
Player Ratings
Howard: Flapped badly at one aerial ball but was otherwise solid and made a couple of top-drawer saves. 8
Hibbert: Restricted Petrov to early crosses and long-range shots and generally kept him quiet throughout. Another excellent defensive performance, enough to forgive him for an awful miss at the other end when presented with an opportunity to finally break his scoring duck! 8
Lescott: Moyes may have re-stated his intention to use Leighton Baines as his first-choice left back but with Jagielka and Yobo doing so wel, how do you drop Lescott? He may not be as nimble as Baines but his power, single-mindedness and goal threat are a potent weapon and he was in the right place at the right time to head home nicely for the second goal. 8
Yobo: Not much to say. He's been playing with this level of quality in an Everton shirt for years. 9
Jagielka: The surprise package of the season, Jags looks like he's been playing centre back with Everton for years. He was unbeatable again this evening, making blocks, heading away aerial balls and displaying a precocious reading of the game. 9
Carsley: He has looked jaded in recent games but tonight he was back to his no-nonsense self. His impudent quick free kick deserved a goal but he'll no doubt be satisifed with a good evening's work while being disappointed he couldn't avoid that pesky fifth yellow. 8
Neville: I'll be the first to say I'm not a big fan but he had a really good game today. Yes, he probably have hit the target with that shot in the 47th minute but I'll settle for him not mis-placing passes every five minutes and giving away stupid free kicks outside his own box. 8
Osman: Lively and always looking to make something happen. 8
Pienaar: Not everything clever that he tried came off but he was the source of invention in Arteta's absence and it would have been great had his curling effort crept inside the woodwork. 8
Cahill: Another one who has been below par in recent games but while he wasn't consistent over the 90 minutes, he had some telling moments of quality, one of which produced the first goal. 8
Yakubu: Any accusations of laziness have been truly put on the back burner because he has returned from Ghana and disgrace in bullish mood. Leading the line like the consummate striker, it's wonderful to see an Everton striker with the pace, power and ability to leave defenders in his wake. 14 goals in his last 17 appearances is a pretty impressive haul. 9
Fernandes (on for Pienaar): He wasn't really on for long enough to judge — and half of that was spent trying to run off the knee injury he picked up, in all honesty, by trying to be a little too clever ten yards from his own area. Hopefully it won't be a long lay-off and he he'll be back for Pompey when Carsley will be absent.
Johnson (on for Fernandes): He could have had a devastating impact but, unfortunately, the balls aimed at releasing him on the counter were often played too close the City defenders and he didn't get much of a look in. Otherwise, he was typical hard-working AJ. 7
Lyndon Lloyd
Having just partied like a madman for three days straight, I could barely move yesterday and only got up about 20 minutes before Ritchie had agreed to pick me up at 4pm. After a relatively short blitz down the M56, we were in and around Eastlands and parked up nicely in time for the match. Actually we were well early and thought we’d go to a pub for a few jars before the game.
As we walked towards a pub we saw there was another one (The Manchester) just opposite. This had loads of flowers accompanying it on the gate so we felt it was a better idea to go to the other one, only to be told we weren’t allowed in as we weren’t Man City fans. With this being the case we were directed up the road to a pub called The Victoria which was pretty empty and hassle-free to get served…after a few minutes in there we could see why! It was like being on the set of an episode of The Jeremy Kyle show as Gary pointed out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many scummy chavs in one area.
Thankfully we were able to move to the other side of the pub where it was a little quieter as we got a few beers down us. Some Man City fans sat with us who were quite sound although extremely confident they were going to win the game. Ritchie and I fancied a draw whilst Gary fancied an Everton win. I checked the team news on my phone and realised that Hibbert was in at right back with no Arteta, and Andy Johnson, despite some cracking goals in the SK Brann game, demoted to the substitute’s bench. Michael Johnson hadn’t made it for Manchester City.
At about 19:40 we set off to the ground. We got our tickets quite late for this one and so could only get seats separate from each other. We agreed a place to meet at half-time and I said I’d text the lads if I fancied a pint at the interval.
My seat was great, quite near the front behind the goal. The teams came out and Everton won the toss and so switched ends meaning they were attacking towards us in the first half. The referee was Rob Styles (aaaarrrggghhh).
It didn’t take Everton long at all to get into their rhythm and we nearly made the breakthrough early on when Cahill’s drive was blocked by Micah Richards. There were loud appeals around me for handball although I didn’t really see it at the time but was text by both Adam and Ste watching from home, both of whom said it was definitely a penalty.
Man City came back into the game slightly, knocking the ball around quite well but you felt Everton had the measure of them. Yakubu came close with another opportunity when he nipped in ahead of Dunne from a Pienaar pass. City keeper Joe Hart got a hand on the ball but the ball came back to Yakubu who drove from a tight angle, only to see Richard Dunne make a good block just on the goal line. Everton were getting closer…
Next up it was Pienaar’s turn to come close when he swivelled at the edge of the box and clipped an effort goalwards. The ball deflected off Onouha and onto the post and away; Everton were getting closer…
The breakthrough (which had been coming for some time) came when a good move found Cahill in space inside the box. He beat his man before squaring the ball nicely for Yakubu who didn’t miss, carefully dinking the ball into the net. The players celebrated right in front of me and the crowd went nuts.
As we approached the interval, I deliberated over whether or not to go for a pint. With about 8 minutes or so still on the clock I though it was a good idea and so text the others and made my way up the steps. What followed was simply inevitable. Just as I bought two beers I had them in my hands when the away end just erupted and Everton had obviously scored a second. Up the steps came a beaming Gary and Ritchie. “Did you see it?” they asked.
Obviously I hadn’t and was then informed that Lescott had scored a great header, putting us two goals to the good before half-time. The monitors in the concourse were off as well although did come on afterwards and I did at least catch the replay of the goal and it was indeed a great header (his eighth goal of the season). At half-time the highlights were shown on the monitors and Everton were indeed hard done-by with that penalty decision and so could have been further ahead.
In the second half Everton were equally fantastic and just would not let City in. Although difficult to tell what was happening down the far end of the field at times we did nearly score on a few occasions and looked as though we may have had another penalty when Richards handled again inside the box although the referee (who didn’t give us anything all game) felt it was at the edge of the penalty area.
My favourite moment of the half was when Yakubu went down in a heap at the edge of the box and the referee gave a free kick to Everton. Seizing the opportunity, and with no defenders between himself and the goal Carsley ran up to the ball and belted it as hard as he could, forcing Hart into an outstanding save. That would have been some goal.
Towards the end, Everton shut up shop a bit as Man City threw everything at us to try and get something out of the game. As it was Everton were reasonable comfortable with the back line and midfield to a man defending admirably to keep out the blue half of Manchester. The only time Man City really looked like they might have gotten one back was when substitute Castillo drove goalwards low and hard, but Howard got down to it well at short notice as he must have seen it late, such was the number of players between Castillo and the goal. Everton were simply rock solid and just would not be denied.
Man City’s misery was compounded late on when Petrov (having already been let off once when he attempted to kick out at Yakubu) petulantly kicked out at Osman giving even Rob Styles no choice but to send him off. It was injury time by then and City had long since given up. Everton were absolutely fantastic and thoroughly deserved this one. The full time whistle went and after having to wait an eternity to get out of the ground we then got sent half way round the stadium in the wrong direction by the police as we weren’t allowed to walk straight to our parked car in case we attacked the Manchester City fans. For the love of God! Consequently we then had to wait in the car park for ages to get out but we didn’t care. It had been a fantastic day out.
That’s it for me with games for a while now as I’m going to live and work in New Zealand for the next 7/8 months. As Gary pointed out last night – of all crap seasons we’ve had over the years I choose this one just as Everton are having a truly fantastic season. Though maybe I may just do one more game. If we get to the Uefa go to City twice this year!
Player Ratings:
Paul Traill
Everton return to Premier League action for their first Monday night kick off the season and it's a massive game against Manchester City with just 12 games remaining and the Blues having lost the prized fourth Champions League spot to Liverpool on Saturday on goal difference. Being as we are in the thick of the business end of the season, every game is a must-win, particularly against the side in 8th place and only three points behind.
Indeed, City's comparatively lofty position is almost entirely down to their home form; Sven Goran Eriksson's men have only lost once at home all season (to Arsenal at the beginning of the month) and had a 100% record until 27th December when a brace by Roque Santa Cruz earned a 2-2 draw for Blackburn.
Everton, of course, beat them by a single goal last month but City away from home is an entirely different proposition than City at home, where the likes of Martin Petrov and Elano have been strutting their stuff to great effect.
Having said that, of course, they did go to Old Trafford and inflict Manchester United's first home defeat of the campaign the weekend before last. But David Moyes's team will be making the short trip along the M62 — hopefully for the first of two fixtures at Eastlands this season! — full of confidence themselves.
Almost at full strength and riding high following their record victory in European competition on Thursday, Everton will be in the mood to send a signal to their Merseyside neighbours that they will fight them for 4th place all the way.
Moyes has plenty of options ahead of this one, and not only in terms of personnel. The margin of victory over Brann may have flattered the Blues a little but it did show for the first time that the Yakubu-Andy Johnson partnership is a viable one. The two scored five of the team's six goals raising the possibility that Moyes could confidently deploy a 4-4-2 formation in the Premier League — by choice rather than being forced to because of missing players.
Whether he will choose to be so gung-ho from the off at the City of Manchester Stadium is another matter and it wouldn't be a surprise if he played it relatively safe and played Yakubu as the lone striker and opted, as suggested by Howard Kendall in his column for the Liverpool Echo in midweek, to "pack the midfield." Kendall's assertion that Moyes should play Phil Neville and Lee Carsley together in the centre, though, is a poor one — that combination has shown to be a liability on many occasions this season; a midfield of Arteta, Osman, Carsley, Fernandes and Pienaar has a better look about it — even if the basis of his reasoning was fairly sound: namely charging Tony Hibbert with repeating his shackle job on Petrov.
Joseph Yobo is back in contention after being rested against Brann and with City being such a dangerous attacking side, it's likely that he will be paired with Phil Jagielka again with Joleon Lescott moving over to left back.
A point would be enough to restore Everton to fourth place but with Liverpool having a game in hand, victory for the Blues would be enormous.
Everton return to Premier League action at Manchester City on Monday, looking to build on their current run of 6 unbeaten matches in the League, and the confidence of the team must be sky high following the 6:1 thrashing of SK Brann, which booked their place in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup.
This will be the 162nd game against Manchester City, the 79th away from home and the 5th at the City of Manchester Stadium. No doubt Everton will be hoping that this season will see the club make their 6th trip to that particular stadium, for the Uefa Cup Final.
Everton's record against Manchester City:
P
W
D
L
F
A
Premier League
21
9
4
8
26
33
Division One
128
44
35
49
178
181
FA Cup
10
3
12
League Cup
2
1
0
TOTALS:
161
58
42
61
218
224
Our record at Manchester City:
7
11
24
64
17
60
110
F.A. Cup
5
78
15
18
45
73
141
The last match against Manchester City was on 12 January, earlier this season, when a Joleon Lescott goal secured all 3 points at Goodison Park.
The last time Everton played at City was on 1 January 2007, when a goal from Leon Osman couldn’t stop a 1:2 defeat.
The only time Everton have won at the City of Manchester Stadium was on 11 September 2004, when Tim Cahill scored the only goal of the game and was then controversially sent off for pulling his shirt over his head in celebration. Interestingly, this was the season that saw Everton finish in 4th place in the League. Can history repeat itself?
This will be Everton’s 20th match on 25 February:
16
6
32
23
19
30
The last match on this date was a 0:2 defeat at Newcastle United in 2006, whilst the only time Everton have played Manchester City on this date was back in 1978 when Everton lost 0:1.
Whilst Everton have won their last 4 matches at home, the last being the 1:0 win over Manchester United in 1995 thanks to a Duncan Ferguson header, Everton have not won away on this date since 1939 (5 matches), when goals from Stan Bentham and Nat Cunliffe secured a 2:1 victory at Leeds United. Milestones that can be reached this game:
Steve Flanagan
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