Matchday Summary

The season started in familiar vein with the tried, tested and true lining up for David Moyes, who decided not to risk any of his new signings starting today's season opener at Goodison Park.  Pienaar and Jagielka were on the bench; Baines out injured. Johnson and Anichebe started up-front.  Cahill and Vaughan are of course out for months with serious injuries.  On the other side, Goodison welcomed back Kevin Kilbane, with the oft-linked Jason Koumas turning out for Wigan.

It was a lively start but the continuity and skill levels left something to be desired.  Johnson's first attempt screwed horribly wide and ended up near the corner flag!  But Arteta and Johnson looked to be linking up better as the game settled down.

After Everton had looked reasonably competent and promising for the first quarter of the game, Wigan seemed to take heart at the fact that they had not conceded, with Scharner becoming more adventurous.  But on the next attack, a hopeful ball into the area from Hibbert was headed superbly by Leon Osman who dived in to power a looping header over Kirkland and off the crossbar into the Park End net.  GO OZZIE!!!!

Heskey almost equalized at the other end straight away.  But Arteta, with some fantastic skill, nutmegged half the Wigan team and then was clearly fouled by Bramble right under Clattenburg's nose.   Goodison erupted... No Penalty!  Anichebe was then fouled right outside the Wigan area and that was given.  But Arteta's free-kick flew just wide.

The Osman goal was just what the game needed, and the mandatory penalty claim really got the atmosphere going in the Old Lady as Evertonians got behind the team and were rewarded by seeing Everton playing some more confident football as Wigan responded with gusto to make a game of it.

But Everton failed to really turn the screw a the start of the second half, and Wigan sensed they could perhaps turn this around, much to the frustration of the massed Evertonian, who were desperate to see Everton kick on. Passing was poor in the second half and it wasn't until the last 20 minutes that things looked to improve. 

Stephen Pienaar eventually came on for his debut and all of 15 minutes on the field in place goal-scoring hero Lean Osman.  And the 25-year-old South African international had an immediate impact when he nicely fed the ball in to Johnson who dragged it back and cut it across beautifully for Victor Anichebe to score from all of three yards for a vital second goal. YES!!!

Arteta had a great run in and a fantastic 25-yard strike that Kirkland pulled out all the stops on to prevent it from hitting the net.  Much more like it form Everton!  At least that was until they allowed Heskey to release Scharner in acres of space behind the supposedly well-drilled and rock-solid defence Moyes demands.  He set up Sibereski for an easy come-back goal and Everton clung on nervously for the vital opening win.

But who cares how we did it?  It's the results that count, and Everton have started this massive campaign with a fantastic home win!  Roll on for more of the same!!!

Michael Kenrick

Lively Everton Get Off to a Great Start

It was mission accomplished for Everton as they earned a 2-1 opening-day victory for the second season running with a lively performance against Wigan Athletic.

Leon Osman and Victor Anichebe grabbed the goals as the Blues set themselves up with a two-goal cushion with 15 minutes to go but, with memories of throwing away two points against the same team here last season, they had to endure a slightly nervy finale when Antoine Sibierski pulled a goal back in the 80th minute.

A humid summer's afternoon ushered in the new season and actual football came as welcome relief from the emotionally draining stadium debate. Apart from a few flags, the most visible evidence of the issue was a plane flying over the ground for half an hour before kick off declaring "KEIOC say vote NO to Kirkby".

Just as the home faithful would have hoped, a familiar-looking Everton — new signings Phil Jagielka and Steve Pienaar started on the bench — began with purpose and dictacted the tempo of the opening few minutes. Arteta set his stall out for the afternoon with some typically scintillating runs down the right flank while Osman was busy on the other side of a central midfield comprising of Lee Carsley and Phil Neville.

Despite their superiority and some neat passing, though, the Blues didn't really threaten in the opening quarter of the match. Instead it was Paul Scharner, the two-goal hero for the Latics in this fixture last season and briefly linked with a move to Goodison at the beginning of the summer, who had the first two meaningful efforts on goal. The first, a deflected effort from distance that Tim Howard saved comfortably, came after Carsley's poor clearance, while the second drifted well wide from similar range.

With 25 minutes gone, though, Everton took the lead when Tony Hibbert swung a cross in from the right that Titus Bramble barely touched before it bounced up and Osman reacted quickly to send a header looping over the 6' 5" Chris Kirkland and under the crossbar. 1-0 and no more than the Blues deserved.

Emile Heskey might have leveled matters almost immediately from a Wigan free kick on the Everton right but the former Liverpool forward could only steer his header straight at Howard and the American 'keeper made the save. Apart from an impressive shot by the same player that fizzed just wide of the upright three minutes before the break, that was as close as the visitors got to scoring for the remainder of the half as the Blues took strength from the opening goal.

A terrific run to the byline followed by some gritty determination by Arteta produced strong appeals for a penalty when the Spaniard appeared to be upended by Bramble in the box but referee Mark Clattenburg — who proved he is perhaps the most reliable referee currently officiating in the Premier League at the moment (kiss of death alert!) with another almost faultless performance — rightly waved play on on the basis that the defender had got his foot to the ball.

Arteta then flashed a trademark free kick just wide of Kirkland's post after Anichebe, a handful all afternoon, had been chopped down by Bramble 25 yards from goal before Andy Johnson had tested the 'keeper with a half-volleyed effort from the angle in the 34th minute.

And Johnson might also have done better just before the interval when Anichebe intercepted a terrible pass out of defence by — who else? — Bramble and fed his strike partner with the square ball into the box but one touch too many allowed the defence to close him down and block the shot.

Still, a goal to the good going into half-time, the Blues were looking comfortable and hungry for more.

They might have got the all-important second within five minutes of the restart were it not for Mario Melchiott. Scharner scythed Anichebe down from behind and with Johnson racing off his marker and onto the throughball, the referee played the advantage but Melchiott timed his last-ditch tackle to perfection to deny AJ a fourth opening-day goal in succession.

Although not quite as urgent as they had been in the first 45 minutes, Everton did continue to threaten and went close to doubling their advantage with an hour gone following a scramble in the box. Under pressure from Anichebe, Kirkland first failed to deal with a cross into his area and then flapped at the ball when Carsley sliced it back into the mixer. It eventually dropped to Osman at the back post but as he tried to turn the ball home it was blocked on the line and deflected behind.

Chris Hutchings' side began to come more into the game, though, as the half progressed. Jason Koumas, signed from West Bromwich Albion for £5.3m in the summer when Everton baulked at the fee, went close after admirable work by Heskey but side-footed wide and Valencia should have done better when he found himself with a clear sight of goal about 15 yards out and blazed wide.

Still, though, the Blues carried the greater threat, Lescott sending a towering header off an Arteta corner well over and Leon Osman finishing a wonderful move featuring yet more mesmerising trickery from the Spanish midfielder with a powerful drive that Kirkland did well to gather at the first attempt.

That was to be Osman's last contribution, though, as he made way for Pienaar with 18 minutes to go. The South African was involved almost immediately and his quick movement and eye for a pass contributed to what turned out to be the winning goal.

Arteta twisted and turned on the touchline before finding Pienaar and he picked out Johnson's run into the box where a burst of acceleration took the striker past his marker and created all the space he needed to slide a low cross for Anichebe to turn in off the underside of the bar.

Arteta wasn't finished there, either. Looking to repeat his piledriver against Bolton last season, he advanced towards the Wigan area as the defence backed off before unleashing a powerful shot that Kirkland beat out with a stiff arm to keep the deficit at two goals.

If Everton were hoping to leisurely run the clock down in the last 10 minutes, however, those hopes were dashed in the 80th minute when they were carved open with ease and Scharner picked substitute Antoine Sibierski in space at the back post and he swept home with ease on his debut to make it 2-1 and set up a potentially nervy finish.

In truth, while the Latics did press forward in the closing stages, they lacked the quality to really put a dampener on the Blues' opening home fixture. Scharner did force Howard into a full-length diving save with four minutes left of regulation time but Lescott also had a decent chance off a corner but glanced his header wide under pressure from his marker and Johnson forced one final parrying save from Kirkland at the other end with a drive from a narrow angle.

All in all, a fairly comfortable introduction to the new season and plenty about which to be optimistic. Arteta proved once again just how magical a player he is and how crucial he is to Everton's chances this season, Anichebe showed evidence that his compusure is growing and getting off the mark straight away will do his confidence plenty of good, while the likes of Yobo, Stubbs, Lescott, Howard, Johnson and Carsley all seemed to pick up where they left off last season.

Osman, who attracted some criticism last season after his form seemed to dip noticeably, put in a good all-round performance and was rewarded with the Blues' first goal of 2007/008.

Of the new boys, only Pienaar got to strut his stuff but in the 20 minutes he was given he showed plenty of promise that he could be another stellar piece of business by Moyes. Speedy in thought and movement, with a desire to go forward and a clear eye for a dangerous pass, he could well be a valuable balance on the opposite flank to Arteta.

Lyndon Lloyd

Match Preview

Ah... the arrival of a new season. Clean slate, all 20 teams even — on points if not in prospects, fresh optimism... Well, perhaps not quite. It's been a tumultuous close season weighed down by the stadium debate, a chronic lack of additional reinforcements to the squad and the recriminations that have gone hand in hand with both. And with the Kirkby ballot due to run until the last week of the month and the transfer window not due to close until midnight on the 31st, there'll be no respite for Evertonian emotions any time soon.

The business where it all counts, however — on the pitch — resumes in earnest this Saturday when Everton welcome Wigan Athletic for the season opener at Goodison Park.

While there have been calls for protests and campaigning around the proposed Kirkby move to be shelved for the afternoon, it's almost inevitable that the issue will play out to some degree on the terraces. The hope is that it won't negatively affect matters on the field, which, once the first whistle goes, it probably won't.

With James Vaughan and Tim Cahill already discounted through injury, and James Beattie and Gary Naysmith gone, the fans will have a small squad over to second-guess David Moyes's squad selection as the Blues kick off a campaign that could, if things go well in the Uefa and League Cups, see them competing on four fronts by early next year.

Tim Howard is a shoo-in for the goalkeeper's spot, as is Joseph Yobo in central defence but whom he partners, Joleon Lescott or Alan Stubbs, depends largely on whether Moyes opts for Nuno Valente or Lescott at left back. Leighton Baines is out with a minor injury and will have to wait to make his Everton debut following a £5m+ move from Wigan. The right back position will probably be filled by another new recruit, Phil Jagielka.

In midfield, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the familiar faces of Lee Carsley, Phil Neville and Mikel Arteta line up alongside either Steven Pienaar or Leon Osman. Pienaar, who arrived recently on loan from Borussia Dortmund, finally received his visa and is clear to make his debut if the manager feels he has seen enough of him in pre-season training. (Those visa issues prevented the South African from featuring in any of the pre-season friendlies.)

Having again been close to the Goodison exit door but then pledged to reverse his poor form after it became clear he was staying, Andy van der Meyde will likely have to take his chances off the substitutes' bench this season. It's unlikely he'll get a starting berth this weekend, but you know never know.

Up front is where most of the concern lies. Vaughan's injury — and that to Cahill, for that matter — compounded by the £4m departure of James Beattie means that Moyes has only Andy Johnson, Victor Anichebe and James McFadden at his disposal. If he opts for the old 4-5-1 then Johnson would play the lone striker role but it's more likely that he and Anichebe will lead the line.

As ever, a winning start can do wonders for a team's prospects in the early going. Wigan have bolstered their squad with two of Newcastle's misfits in the form of Titus Bramble and Antoine Sibierski while also adding Mario Melchiot, Michael Brown and Antonio Valencia on loan from Villarreal. They were also prepared to stump up £5.3m for Jason Koumas where Everton weren't so it will be interesting to see how he fares on his return to the top flight.

They still lack sufficient quality but, as they proved at Goodison and in their last-ditch escape from relegation last season, they can be very resilient when they need to be. No easy games in the Premier League these days... unless you're one of the top two, I suppose.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Stats

The 6th meeting between Everton and Wigan Athletic sees the start of another season, which will be Everton’s 105th season in the top-flight.  This will also be David Moyes’ 200th League game in charge of Everton – becoming only the fourth Everton manager to reach that particular milestone after Cliff Britton, Harry Catterick and Howard Kendall.

Everton's record against Wigan Athletic:

The last match between the clubs was on 21 January earlier this year, when 2 goals from Mikel Arteta saw Everton register a 2:0 win at Wigan.  The last meeting at Goodison Park on 16 September last year saw a 2:2 draw, with Everton’s goals coming from Andrew Johnson and James Beattie.

Our home record against Wigan Athletic:

Everton have been defeated on the only match that they’ve played on 11 August, which was a 0:3 defeat at Aston Villa in 1999.

Milestones that can be reached this game:

·        As we have seen, this will be David Moyes’ 200th League match in charge of Everton, as well as being his 100th home League match in charge of Everton.

·        If he plays, this will be Lee Carsley’s 150th appearance for Everton in all competitions.

·        If he comes on as a substitute, then this will be James McFadden’s 50th substitute appearance in the League for Everton.  Only Duncan Ferguson (77) and Danny Cadamarteri (55) have made more League appearances as a substitute for Everton.

Steve Flanagan

We’ve Gotta Move

 The first day of the new season is always a day to get quite excited about, though as we all waited patiently for our Gaz to finally arrive, I had a sense that everything we did was going to be overshadowed by the stadium debate, and wasn’t especially excited by the prospect of rambling on about it in the pub for a couple of hours.

As we arrived at The Spellow, I hoped to have the welcome distraction of Sunderland vs Tottenham on the telly. Sadly it wasn’t on and horse racing on BBC instead lit up the monitors.  I asked the landlord “howcome the footy’s not on?”. “Howcome?” he responded, “’cos I haven’t got a grand pal.  Sky are charging a grand a month to put it on but I just can’t afford it.  Getting Sentana though”.  Disappointed, we parked ourselves outside in what was nice 'drinking outside the pub' weather, but unfortunately the stadium debate was unavoidable.  From the five of us who attended yesterday, three of us have voted “Yes”, myself included, with Ste and Gary having voted a passionate “No”, sighting that we might as well move to, and I quote, Carlisle, if we’re going to move to Kirkby. The debate will rumble on… and on… and on.

As we supped away outside the pub, a low-flying plane circled Goodison Park several times with a banner in tow stating “KEIOC – Vote No to Kirkby”. Regardless of my opinion of the ground move, I do have a lot of respect for how KEIOC have put so much time and effort into the debate.  They’ve certainly made themselves heard and handled themselves in a much more dignified manor than Mr Wyness of late I feel.

While we headed up to the stadium, I just hoped none of this would overshadow the game and that when Everton came out everybody would focus on the most important thing – spanking Wigan.  Thankfully this was the case and all game the fans were terrific and got behind the team.

It was “as you were” pretty much for Everton.  None of the three summer signings were in the team (although Baines obviously couldn’t be as he’s injured) and we set out with Howard in goal, a back line of Lescott, Stubbs, Yobo and Hibbert; a midfield of Arteta, Carsley, Neville, Osman; and Anichebe and Johnson up front.  The bench featured Ruddy, Van Der Meyde, Jagielka, Valente and Pienaar.  Wigan geared up with Kirkland in goal, a new look defence of Kilbane at left back (with Baines having obviously departed), Granqvist, Bramble and new skipper Melchiot; a midfield featuring Koumas, Landzaat, Scharner (sporting died blonde hair), Valencia; and then Heskey and Folan leading the line up front.

For one reason or another, I don’t have a season ticket this year so purchased a ticket through Dial-A-Seat.  The fella on the phone told me I had Row PP in the Lower Gwlady’s.  I questioned if this was an obstructed view seat as I’m aware the rows only go back as far as QQ in the Lower Gwlady’s. “No, no, this isn’t obstructed view” I was told.  For me the seat I had encapsulated every reason why we have to leave Goodison Park.  No, no, not necessarily to Kirkby, but its certainly time to move on I feel.  Whilst I saw enough of the game and didn’t really miss anything, when play was down the other end I had to crouch to get a view of it and bend almost impossibly to catch a glimpse of the scoreboard, and also have to shimmy around metal guilders to see what was happening. Admittedly I’ve had worse views in my time at Goodison Park but it certainly rammed it home to me.

Anyway, the game.  Both sides started quite brightly without really creating much.  If anything Wigan were a little more lively.  Before the game I’d said that with Kilbane playing left-back, we should just give the ball to Arteta and let him take him on all game, to which Adam’s response was “isn’t that what we do anyway?”.  He couldn’t have been more right.  If in doubt, Everton just passed it to Arteta and let him take on Kilbane.  If we were to loose Arteta for any period of time with injury. I seriously don’t know how we’d cope.

The way the game was going, a goal was always going to be something out of nothing.  This was the case when a hopeful ball into the box from Hibbert was met by Osman’s diving head from about 15 yards out.  He got a great contact on it and produced enough power in his header to surprise the flat-footed Kirkland, loop the ball over the stranded keeper and into the net.  An excellent piece of improvisation from Ossie!

This got things going a little bit and at one stage Arteta masqueraded into the box before going down under a clumsy challenge from Titus Bramble, although it looked to me that he got the ball.  At the other end Wigan had a couple of long distance drives from Scharner, Koumas and Heskey, though all of them failed to trouble Howard and all went wide, with Heskey’s attempt probably being the closest.  Other than a decent Johnson half-volley which was comfortably saved by Kirkland, that was about it for the first half.

Everton got a bit more of a grip of things in the second half with Osman and Arteta in particular pulling the strings and Neville and Carsley in particular tidying things up in the middle.  Osman got free into the box one occasion but smashed his shot straight at Kirkland, whilst he really should’ve scored later on when the ball was up in the air and Kirkland and Anichebe both challenged for it.  Somewhat surprisingly (though not ‘cos it looked a foul, more so because of the way the game has changed) the ref didn’t blow for a foul against Anichebe when the ball ran loose. It then bounced across the six-yard box and Osman tried to hook it in from just a couple of yards out, but Granqvist made an exceptional block on the goal line to keep it out.

Wigan also survived a penalty claim when Johnson went down under a Granqvist challenge.  It looked quite a clear penalty this time but that there was no complaint from Johnson or in fact any Everton players suggested the Swede must’ve got something on the ball.  At this stage, the closest Wigan came was from a looping Koumas effort from almost exactly the same spot as when he scored one of those goals against us in that disastrous 0-3 reversal to Tranmere Rovers in the dark days of Walter Smith.  Thankfully this time it looped wide though.  Regardless, Everton’s pressure finally told when Moyes made a change.

Stephen Pienaar replaced Leon Osman and straight away got involved.  He looks decent.  He’s very nimble, always seems to want the ball and always makes space for himself.  He had a hand in the goal shortly after his introduction.  After a neat interchange with Arteta, Johnson was slipped in, he placed a nice low ball across the box for Anichebe who, though he tried, simply couldn’t miss from about three yards as the ball was nearly cleared off the line by Bramble but eventually nestled just over it.  That, you felt, had made the game safe.

In remarkably reminiscent scenes of last seasons opener against Watford, instead of just playing the game out, Everton (Stubbs and Hibbert in particular) began to defend erratically and in the end a nice move from Wigan saw a ball cut back on a plate for substitute Sibierski, who buried emphatically to give Wigan a lifeline.  It was a little too late however and it was Everton who actually finished the game looking the more likely to score.  Johnson twice drew decent stops from Kirkland and Lescott flashed a header narrowly wide from a corner as Everton tried to make it safe.  I think the closest Wigan came was with a long-range effort from Scharner which Howard palmed round the post, although it looked to be going wide to me anyway.

The full time whistle went and I finally saw the benefit of sitting in Row PP. A very quick getaway and hence arrival at the chippy long before any queue had formed.

Hey I should sit there more often!

Player Ratings:

• Howard: Seriously underworked all game.  Had very little to do.  6
• Lescott: Fitted in just fine as usual at left back.  6
• Yobo: Was always comfortable and wasn’t seriously threatened all game.  6
• Stubbs: The defence isn’t quite ready to be left to its own devices without Stubbs just yet.  Whilst he got slightly erratic towards the end, he seems to be a great communicator and knows when he has to just hoof it.  Will play quite a few more games yet for Everton I feel.  7
• Hibbert: A bit untidy at times but did OK I think.  Got an assist too.  6
• Osman: Good improvisation with the goal and was very lively until subbed.  Should’ve done enough to stay in the team I reckon.  7
• Carsley: The usual graft.  Likewise with Stubbs, the midfield can’t really cope without him just yet, and he can probably expect to play quite a lot of games for Everton yet.  6
• Neville: Largely anonymous, a few aimless balls but filled a few gaps on many occasions.  Still probably better at right back though.  6
• Arteta: Boy would we struggle without him.  Bossed it.  I think he’d make a good captain as he doesn’t seem to mind the responsibility of being the most important player and would certainly lead by example.  My man of the match.  8
• Anichebe: Showed some neat touches and put himself about well.  The result: A richly deserved goal.  Well done.  7
• Johnson: Never really got out of second gear but his pace is always such an asset.  Will always trouble defences and laid on a nice ball for Anichebe's goal. 7
• Pienaar (for Osman): I think he looks good.  A very lively player and had a hand in the important second goal of course. 7

One final point, the referee, Mark Clattenburg, had a great game I felt. He let the game flow, seemed to at least explain his decisions to players and kept his cards in his pocket all game. More of that please.

Paul Traill

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EVERTON (4-4-2)
	Howard
	Hibbert
	Stubbs
	Yobo
	Lescott
	Arteta
	Carsely
	Neville
	Osman (72' Pienaar)
	Johnson
	Anichebe
	Subs not used
	Ruddy
	Jagielka
	Valente
	Van der Meyde
	Unavailable
	Baines (injured)
	Cahill (injured)
	Vaughan (injured)
	McFadden (injured)

 

WIGAN (4-4-2)
	Kirkland
	Scharner
	Melchiot (c)
	Bramble
	Granqvist
	Kilbane
	Valencia
	Landzaat
	Koumas
	Folan (65' Sibierski)
	Heskey
	Subs not used
	Hall
	Pollitt
	Skoko
	Aghahowa

Premier League Scores
Saturday 11 Aug 2007
Aston Villa	1-2	Liverpool
Bolton	1-3	Newcastle
Derby	1-1	Portsmouth
Everton	2-1	Wigan
Middlesbro	1-2	Blackburn
Sunderland	1-0	Tottenham
West Ham	0-2	Man City
Sunday 12 Aug 2007
Arsenal	2-1	Fulham
Chelsea	3-2	Birmingham
Man United	0-0	Reading

Premier League Table
Pos	Team	Pts
1	Newcastle	3
2	Man City	3
3	Chelsea	3
4	Arsenal	3
4	Blackburn	3
4	Everton	3
4	Liverpool	3
8	Sunderland	3
9	Derby	1
9	Portsmouth	1
11	Man Utd	1
12	Reading	1
13	Birmingham	0
14	Aston Villa	0
14	Fulham	0
14	Middlesbro	0
14	Wigan	0
18	Tottenham	0
19	Bolton	0
20	West Ham	0
After 12 Aug 2007