VIEW FROM THE BLUE

The Boys Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

By Lyndon Lloyd   ::  22/04/2012

Manchester United 4 - 4 Everton

It came eight days late but Everton found resilience, belief and goals to rescue a match that twice looked beyond them and stun Manchester United with a late salvo in a thrilling draw at Old Trafford that opened the door for Manchester City in the chase for the Premier League title.

Having recovered from Nikica Jelavic's opener, Sir Alex Ferguson's side looked to have seen off the Blues' challenge as they led 3-1 and then 4-2 in the second half, but a rare display of indefatigability by David Moyes's men on this ground saw them claw back the deficit in superb fashion.

Following the semi-final defeat by Liverpool at Wembley eight days ago, all Evertonians wanted was to see their team go to the home of the Champions and have a go and they weren't disappointed. Indeed, having seen their side make a strong start and take a 33rd-minute lead, few of the traveling faithful would have been too disappointed with the players had Everton lost as United responded to going behind in typically strong manner.

Instead, though, the Blue contingent was treated to a stirring late flourish by their heroes, one that yielded two goals in three minutes and secured a well-deserved point in dramatic style.

Despite being hampered by the absence of Leighton Baines through injury, the Blues showed their intent from the first whistle, controlling the game for the first 10 minutes and creating a couple of openimgs to unsettle the home defence.

Leon Osman dropped a header the wrong side of the post in the second minute, Jelavic had his first sight of goal after five when he was released into space by Osman but his shot from 18 yards was comfortabley saved by David de Gea, and Osman dragged an effort across goal when Jelavic was better placed.

Predictably, United didn't stay subdued for long and they gradually began to assert themselves with Nani offering some warnings of the trouble he would later cause by twice cutting inside and trying shots from the left side of the area, one that flew wide and one that Tim Howard gathered before Paul Scholes screwed a typical long-range effort a yard wide.

The sides were fairly evenly matched for much of the first half, though, with both defences having to get bodies in the way to block goalbound efforts; Phil Jagielka's lunge saving Marouane Fellainis blushes after the Belgian had been robbed of the ball in midfield and Jonny Evans charging down Osman's shot after Darron Gibson has narrowly missed with a fine left-footer from 25 yards.

With 12 minutes left of the first half, though, Everton shocked the home fans by taking the lead. A nice passing move down the right flank ended with the ball at Tony Hibbert's feet and when Jelavic leapt to meet the full back's deep cross, his header looped back across goal, over De Gea and crept inside the far post. 1-0 and another goal for the free-scoring Croatian who took his tally for Everton to six.

United almost equalised immediately, though, after John Heitinga had been forced into conceding a corner. Howard's punch fell to Scholes on the edge of the area and two or three deflections on his low shot threatened to wrongfoot the 'keeper but he was able to smother it after sufficient pace had been taken off the ball.

The hosts got the breakthrough their increasing dominance promised, though, with four minutes to go before half time. Nani was again allowed too much space on the left and, after cutting inside Hibbert and moving into the space vacated by Steven Pienaar, the winger whipped a cross into the six-yard box where Wayne Rooney connected to head past Howard ahead of Phil Neville.

United finished the half the stronger side but Osman wasted an excellent opening with a powder-puff shot when he again had options to his left, while Sylvain Distin picked up a harsh booking in stoppage time for a foul on Antonio Valencia.

By the time the 20th minute of the second half rolled around, a very deep sense of deja vu hung over proceedings. United had turned the game on its head in the 57th minute when, after the Everton defence failed to get the ball clear, Danny Welbeck wrong-footed Heitinga before sweeping a superb shot into the top corner beyond Howard's despairing dive.

Four minutes later, the Blues were sliced open again by a quick triangle passing interchange between Michael Carrick, Welbeck and Nani that played the Portuguese in one-on-one with Howard and his deft flick over the stranded' keeper made it 3-1.

And when Moyes responded by throwing on James McFadden for the increasingly ineffective Osman ? he never looked the same after a clash of heads earlier in the game ? you sensed the game was up and Moyes knew it.

But Everton were back in the contest within four minutes of the Scot's introduction and Hibbert was again the provider. The defender looked up and delivered a pin-point cross to Fellaini in the box and he steered a well-taken volley past De Gea to make it 3-2.

A nice passing move barely a minute later gave Pienaar the chance to level things but his right-foot shot was saved and, having dared to kick the hornet's nest once more, the Blues were stung again a minute after that. Again, the defence was carved wide open as Welbeck sold a dummy to Heitinga and rolled the Dutchman to collect a pass from Rooney and, with Jagielka drawn across to cover, the striker squared it to Rooney to side-foot home to make it 4-2.

That looked to be that. Jelavic sliced disappointingly into the side-netting and McFadden had a shot charged down but there few hints from Everton of what was to come in the final 10 minutes. Indeed, it was United who nearly put the game to bed with nine minutes left when Patrice Evra rattled the woodwork with a back-post header.

With nothing to lose, though, Everton kept probing forward and Neville dropped a teasing ball into the opposition area that Rio Ferdinand and Evans between them could only clear back across their own box and Jelavic pounced with a low shot on the half-volley into the corner. 4-3 with seven minutes to go and the seemingly impossible was on.

Moyes switched Distin for Tim Cahill and the Australian was involved in the build up that led to the dramatic equaliser two minutes later. Pienaar back-heeled to the substitute wide on the left and, after collecting Cahill's pass, Neville feigned a cross and fed Fellaini inside the box instead. The Belgian turned back to wrongfoot Evans and squared it to Pienaar who converted first time from close range. 4-4 and United were dumbfounded.

Jelavic sliced one last chance high and wide from distance, Evans nodded over following a corner and Howard acrobatically tipped Ferdinand's rocket over the bar deep into stoppage time to preserve the hard-won point.

This was exactly what every Evertonian has been begging for from their manager and team in this fixture for years. With United pressing on towards a 20th Premier League crown, no one really expected the Blues to win this game but the never-say-die attitude shown by Moyes's boys on a ground that has held so much misery for them over the duration of his tenure was a pleasure to see.

Special credit goes to Fellaini who was tremendous in the "Cahill" role behind Jelavic and though Pienaar blew a little hot and cold, he never stopped working and deserved to score the final equaliser that sets the cat among the pigeons at the summit of the Premier League.

Gibson too had one of his best displays in the centre alongside a feisty Neville as both returned to their former stomping ground. And, of course, Jelavic was again the man on the spot up front, grabbing two predator's goals to further his reputation as one of Moyes's best ever signings.

The result keeps the Blues' momentum going as they seek to cement seventh place which they retained thanks to Liverpool's home defeat to West Bromwich Albion. Both results and Everton's performance in a game that could well have over-awed them will probably cause a few more rueful glances back to last Saturday but a little pride was restored today, no question about it.

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