Wednesday, 30 August 1995
Previous Match: Everton v Southampton Next Match: Everton v Manchester United
Man City (0) 0 Everton (0) 2
Parkinson 58, Amokachi 76
Man City: Immel, Phelan, Kinkladze, Quinn, Flitcroft, Symons, Summerbee, Brown (Kerr 78), Ingram (Kernaghan 90), Rosler, Foster. Subs Not Used: Margetson. Booked: Phelan, Brown, Rosler.
Everton: Southall, Barrett, Unsworth, Watson, Ablett, Rideout, Horne, Limpar (Hinchcliffe 39), Amokachi, Kanchelskis, Parkinson. Subs Not Used: Kearton, Barlow. Booked: Rideout, Horne.
Att: 28,432
Ref: S Lodge (Barnsley).
(c) Electronic Telegraph - et@telegraph.co.uk
Daily Mail: Life gets no easier for City manager Alan Ball, second-half goals by Joe Parkinson and Daniel Amokachi leaving his team with one point from four matches while Everton made it two wins out of two.
Ball gave debuts to 18-year-old Michael Brown and 19-year-old Rae Ingram but his experienced players failed again. City’s five-man defence had their work cut out with Everton wingers Andrei Kanchelskis and Anders Limpar causing havoc.
Everton went ahead after 57 minutes. Amokachi’s pace burned off Brown
down the right and his cross gave Parkinson time and space to pick his spot
from 18 yards. Amokachi killed City’s hopes of a revival, firing home
from six yards after Kanchelskis had breached City’s defensive ranks
on 76 minutes.
By Nicholas Spencer, Electronic Telegraph
ALAN BALL'S youthful collection ended a dispiriting night at Maine Road bottom of the table after a frustrating evening against an Everton side which did not have to extend itself in securing a comfortable win.
A lengthy injury list and Ball's demands for greater commitment led him to give full debuts to two inexperienced defenders, Michael Brown and Rae Ingram, in an already experimental line-up.
The manager's exhortations ensured City came out with commitment written over their performance like Danish through bacon, with Uwe Rosler perpetrating a nasty foul on Barry Horne during the opening exchanges.
But second-half goals from Joe Parkinson and Daniel Amokachi deflated them and there were several indications that the understanding between Earl Barrett and Andrei Kanchelskis will undermine far better defences than City's.
Given their mutual dislike of Old Trafford, some City supporters might have been tempted to cheer Kanchelskis, but the boos suggested they had not forgotten his hat-trick against City for United last season.
Early signs were hopeful, however, particularly when Georgiou Kinkladze was in possession for City. The Georgian's ability to change direction and refusal to waste a pass were promising, but City seldom released anyone for him to pass to.
When Parkinson side-footed Everton into the lead in the 58th minute, the only surprise was that the man providing the perfect cut-back from the right was Amokachi, again deputising for Duncan Ferguson.
City responded through Niall Quinn, whose downward header from Uwe Rosler's cross was kicked off the line by Gary Ablett. But it was one of only two meaningful saves forced from Neville Southall all evening.
Finally Kanchelskis found space to run directly at goal. His first shot was blocked, but when he prodded the rebound to Amokachi, the Nigerian turned to roll in a gentle second.
When Ball arrived at Maine Road he promised City would be back where they belonged come the end of the season. An unfortunate choice of words, and ones which will come back to haunt him if he cannot stabilise the ship swiftly.
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Guy McEvoy: It was my first visit to Maine Road for quite some time and I was quite taken aback by the Kippax stand - a most impresive piece of footy archetecture - of course it is completely out of scale with the rest of the ground and make the place look completely daft, reminds me of Elland Road.
Anyway, you'll have to excuse this rather crap report - my seat was on the very front row behind the goal, the view was absolutley terrible, and I was in desperate need of a periscope - I imagine those of you who listened on the radio had more of a clue what was going on (particularly in the second half) - still, being on the front row gives you tons of leg room!
We seemed to have all the play in the first half, I cannot recall them having a single shot on target. Nevertheless, we failed to capitalise on it. Kanchelskis had two close misses and Ammo had a good break that he held up just too long. We seemed to have a stream of corners but with neither Hinchcliffe or Dunc on the pitch we didn't really threaten.
Limpar vanished just berfore half time and was replaced by Hinchcliffe. Anders' crosses hadn't been that bad so I speculate that he may have had a slight injury - lets hope its nothing too serious.
When half time came and I couldn't help but feel that we really ought to be in front.
The second half was much more entertaining, the crowd came to life (at least we Evertonians did - there was NO life in the City lot) and of course we got the goals. I wont bother describing them cos you'll see 'em on TV. However, Parkinsons was a relief because we'd seemed reluctant to shoot from similar positions earlier in the game so it was good to see him "have a dip" - and it was great to see a break by Andrei being instrumental in the second.
All good stuff - the blues started chanting "Alan Ball is an Evertonian", which (judging by overhead conversations on the bus after the match) really wound the City lot up. Still, they didn't have the wit to find a reply.
One moment that has stuck in my mind that maybe won't be on match of the day but that must be mentioned was Abletts clearence off the line. City had a superb fast break the ball was floated perfectly for Quinn who directed a strong header that beat Southall only to be headed away by Ablett running backwards on the line. It was an even better clearence than Unsworths at Southhampton on Saturday - good fella!
Now my moan of the game - (this may be were I get flamed): Paul Rideout!
OK the guy's an FA cup hero and was our top scorer last year and everything BUT (IMHO) he played SH*#. He is becoming so predictable - the ball is hoofed up he stands backing into a defender, turns Ian Rush style releasing the ball. Unfortunatley, he is often either tackled or else it then gets intercepted, Rideout then moans, does one of those great hand gestures to whoever his pass didn't reach that means "Why didn't you know I was going to pass the ball there?" and shakes his head. Aw shucks, maybe I'm being hard on the fella, the point is he aint never going to win a prize for technical skills or flair so he has to redeem himself with goals or at least create himself the chances were he threatens to score them. I think Stuart should be given a chance at Rideouts expense, maybe a sit on the bench would sharpen him up.
Anyway, the game ended and we got our third clean sheet out of four - I hope Nevs in everyones fantasy teams! 2-0 was exactly the score I said it would be to a certain Mr William Hill, so that has paid for my night out, and we have 3 more points.
All to the good, however lets not get to smug, there is still ample room for improvement and we must not lose sight of the fact that City were pretty damn poor.
Southall: 7 - Had a quiet evening, beaten once, but saved by Ablett
Barrett: 7 - Despite the bloke next to mes utter hatred I'm a fair man and thought he played fine, particularly coming forward, he put some good balls into the box and the fact that no-one was there should be blamed on the forwards positional play rather than Earle.
Unsworth: 8 - Solid, confident, you know the story.
Watson: 7 - Snap, but not quite as quick on his feet.
Ablett: 8 - Another good performance, was often finding oodles of space to hold the ball up while we built attacks, saved us from letting them back in it with his line clearence.
Horne: 8 - was typical Barry Horne
Parkinson: 8 - was typical Joe Parkinson only he scored as well! (and deserved it)
Limpar: 7 - Couldn't make out why he went off, he'd benn working hard, hope it aint an injury
Kanchelskis: 7/8 - Much like the Southhampton game, we seem to have decided to give him a chance to settle in before we actively search for him in the way we do for instance Limpar. However, when the ball did fall his way there were some very encouraging signs - he's not afraid to shoot and was damned unlucky not to score - a tremendous run by the man resulted in the second goal.
Rideout: 5 - nuff said
Amokachi: 7 - much more inventive than Rideout, did some good runs, another game, another goal.
Hinchcliffe (Sub): 7 - still think he's a better defender (is that
just me?)
Peter X: I wouldn't have made Earle Barrett MOTM last night but he is very good and getting better. I suspect because of the Matt Jackson situation, some supporters will never take to him. (I don't think we are a racist set of supporters and a lot of the Barrett haters are Amo lovers.) I sat by a bloke last night and when ever Earle did anything slightly wrong he shouted heated abuse. Earle could beat a man, do a quick one two with Andrei and then race into the corner and cross. If it did not land on someone's head then he would get a good shouting at for not crossing properly. Nothing that was useful seemed to be noted in Earle's play and there are quite a few with this attitude.
I don't know if Andy Hinchcliffe is injured but he is not the player of last year yet. Last night Amo put him in the clear and he stubbed his toe shooting with his golden left foot. Paul Rideout also missed a good chance last night and Amo headed over the bar (but his heading is getting better). Andrei also had a shot saved which shows how much threat we had.
The independent quotes JR as saying about last night "We were always comfortable." That really says it all. Cynthia Bateman in the Guardian said that City were hopeless and we were not much better. I thought we played the best football of the season so far and the best since Newcastle in the league last year. (Another good Amo match!!)
Ken Foster, a Man City fan: Any doubts about City's committment after their poor start to the season were soon answered as they tore into Everton from the off. Brown and Flitcroft were snapping at Everton's heels and it took a while for any sort of pattern to emerge. Anything Everton threw up the middle was dealt with comfortably by Symons but Barrett, having nobody to mark himself was enjoying acres of space overlapping Kanchelskis. Phelan wasn't playing badly but simply couldn't cope. He got a little frustrated and narrowly avoided putting someone into row 10 of the new Kippax.
Kinkladze showed one or two classy touches, the best of which put Flitcroft clear but he dallied instead of getting a shot in. The nearest Everton came was when Kanchelskis shot over when he should have done better. All in all it was pretty even-stevens in the first half although we were looking a bit tired in the last five minutes. Brown, having given everything, was dead on his feet.
I don't know what AB said at half time but the start of the second half was all Everton. We were just soaking up pressure and making no inroads into Everton's half of the field. The breakthrough came when Amokachi got in behind Phelan, squared it to Parkinson in acres of space who calmly slotted past the helpless Immel. Our heads went down for ten minutes and the crowd tried to lift the players. Quinn who had been working tirelessly (although personally I think he isn't quite up to the top level) turned and put Rosler free on the left wing. Rosler beat Barrett (the only time he was beaten in the entire match) and crossed an inch perfect ball for Quinn who had made his way into the box. He headed down for what looked like a certain goal, but it hit Ablett's foot and went over. If we had equalised then I think it might have been a different story.
Needless to say (I know you've heard it all before) a few minutes later Kanchelskis broke free down the right (again!) and his shot was blocked but Amokachi popped up to slide it through Immel's legs. Goodnight Vienna! Reflecting on the match, I don't think it was the disaster that tomorrow's tabloids will try to describe it. Kinkladze and Symons look very good. The effort was unquestionable. The main difference between the sides was that Everton looked supremely organised where as our players looked as if they had met each other on the way to the ground. The fullback positions are obviously a worry. Phelan needs a brain and Foster's distribution is atrocious. If we can get an understanding going in midfield I fancy us for a marked improvement and let's face it we can't get any worse, rock bottom of the Premier Division tonight.
Man of The Match: Earl Barrett
Martin Ford, another City Fan: Everton showed more committment to the game and were willing to work for each other and make space. They created the most chances with the likes of Limpar and Kanchelskis always looked dangerous, whereas City never really looked like doing anything. The most surprising aspect of the game was the length it took before Parkinson scored; it had seemed inevitable after the first 10 minutes. 'Taxi' had caused some problems which City couldn't properly clear, the ball fell to Parkinson, just outside the edge of the box and he stroked the ball home (very similar to Rosler's at Ewood last season).
Even that goal didn't have the desired effect, City were still lethargic and unable to penetrate and impressive Everton back-line. City eventually managed to create one genuine chance, when Rosler beat Barrett and got to the bye-line. His cross was met by an unmarked Quinn, who's header beat Southall only for Ablett to hack the ball clear.
That chance could have been the equaliser, but within minutes Everton had gone 2- 0 up. Kanchelskis did the damage: he ran into the box and shot; this was half blocked but fell to Amokachi who reacted quickest; he controlled the ball, turned and prodded passed Immel from six yards out! That signalled the end of City, they just couldn't create anything concrete until a couple of minutes from the end when Kerr, who had come on as sub for Brown, unleashed a 30(ish) yard shot that Southall tipped over the bar.