It’s taken this long to catch me breath….Not a lot to say really, performance of the decade ? I had a conversation earlier today in which I suggested that as blues we expect success yet we don’t demand it. We won’t take success over all else. People may mock but the moment Goodison rose as one as Fellaini owned Bellamy will be added to the list of things we, as blues, appreciate. It didn’t win us nothing, yet the feeling was absolutely tremendous. maybe, just maybe we will look back on it one day and…….here’s yer match report.
Everton hosted Manchester City in the late kick-off for their first home league game of the new decade. And against opponents who Moyes described in his pre-match notes as “lacking class” and giving us “no respect” with regard to the Lescott saga in the previous summer. If he sought to provoke a reaction from the Goodison faithful, it worked to perfection as throughout the Everton crowd was extremely noisy and hostile, which served to provide the true meaning of “home advantage”. If only we could muster the same reaction for all 19 games, Goodison would once again become the fortress it once used to be.
I agreed to meet my Man Utd-supporting mate in the George and Dragon in Chester for this one. I got inside just as the teams had entered the field and was paying tribute to the victims in Haiti, the Togolese football team in the wake of the attack in northern Angola, and also to Alex Parker, the Everton defender of the 1963 Championship-winning team, who’d passed away after a heart attack in the last two weeks at the age of 74.
The team noted two changes from the draw at Arsenal – Bilyaletdinov preferred in central midfield to Osman who’d picked up a hamstring strain, and Distin, back after his groin injury, in place of the soon-to-be-departing Lucas Neill. Donovan again was dispatched on the right of midfield, supported by captain Neville. For them, no Lescott. Robinho was left on the bench by new boss Roberto Mancini, with Santa Cruz up front with Bellamy and Petrov supporting the wings.
The game kicked off and for a brief moment, City were in the ascendancy to begin with, fashioning the first real chance when Petrov cut inside Baines, sold a dummy to Fellaini before curling a left-footed effort which bounced at the last second forcing Howard to parry. Then Robinho, on as a sub very early on due to an injury to Santa Cruz, missed a glaring opportunity when another cross from Petrov was flicked on to him at the back post. However, his side-footed effort was harmlessly placed over the bar.
The near miss only served to spur Everton on and soon enough we found ourselves getting a foothold in the game, Bily screwing wide when well-placed and Donovan trying to dink the ball over Given but the ball dropping wide of the far post. In midfield, we weren’t giving City a minute, with Fellaini serving as an excellent foil in front of Heitinga and Distin. Pienaar, however, was absolutely everywhere in the first half, constantly on the move.
With about 30 minutes gone, A hopeful punt from the back was half-headed clear to Petrov by Richards. However, the Bulgarian was not alert to the onrushing Bilyaletdinov, who controlled the ball before fizzing a half-volley over, Given just touching it on its way. From the resulting corner, Cahill headed over. Despite missing numerous chances, we were certainly in the ascendancy, winning the midfield battle much to the annoyance of Gareth Barry.
It was no surprise then, when, on 36 minutes, the hosts took a deserved lead. Saha picked up the ball inside the left channel, cut inside Richards before being pushed over by Zabaleta, around 20 yards from goal, about 6-7 yards left of the D. It favoured the right-footer, Baines and Pienaar standing over the football. Pienaar it was, and thanks to Nigel De Jong moving slightly off the wall, the sweet right-foot curled the ball between him and the wall beyond the despairing dive of Given, low into the net. Rightly deserved, and cue bedlam at GP. Pienaar ran over to a steward in congratulations, in front of the City fans, no less.
I suspected at this point, City might push for an equaliser, but instead we pushed on for a second. Just as my mate arrived, Bily missed a great chance to make it two when he screwed another shot wide from the left channel. Fair enough to him for having a go but he needs to get a few more of these on target.
In stoppage time, City pushed forward with Bellamy curling an effort from the angle wide, and then Everton went and made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time. On the counter-attack, Donovan cut inside the right channel and fed the ball to Saha, with Richards in close accompaniment. The Englishman kept tugging at the Frenchman’s shirt, but in fairness to Saha, he didn’t go to ground. However, the linesman flagged and Andre Marriner pointed to the spot. From the reaction I think Saha believed he’d been judged to have been offside, not realising a penalty had been given. Once it had, he was straight in to take it, planting it firmly down the middle. 2-0 and cruising.
The expected onslaught in the second half never came. Whatever City threw at us, was easily dealt with by the superb Pienaar and Fellaini, with the back four mopping up any scraps that did find their way through. Robinho suffered the ultimate indignity when on the hour, the substitute found himself subbed to the jeers of the Everton faithful. He was worse than useless and Wright-Phillips put forward a good case as he contributed far more than the Brazilian in 30 minutes.
Everton missed two good opportunities to make the result more emphatic. First, on 76 minutes, a corner from the right swung in by Donovan was met brilliantly by Fellaini. Given palmed it onto the bar but from the rebound, Bilyaletdinov, with the goal at his mercy, blazed over. All he really needed to do was get the foot over the ball and it was 3-0. Then, two minutes later, good work by Pienaar and Baines down the left saw the latter swing over a superb cross to the unmarked Cahill. His free header clattered off the bar when last season, it would have nestled in the corner, an example of his season summed up in one movement.
There was still time for the skill of the weekend, Fellaini capping his MOTM performance by performing a Maradona-style pirouette in front of Bellamy. The only way that could have been made any sweeter was if it’d had been done to Lescott himself. City had one last hurrah but first De Jong hit the wall from a freekick and Zabaleta blazed the follow-up into the Park End.
An excellent victory, then, and Everton remain undefeated in 2010. Arguably the best performance this season, dwarfing the Arsenal away game, as we made City look distinctly average. 3 or 4-0 wouldn’t have flattered Everton in the slightest, such was our dominance.
Player Ratings:
Howard: 7 – Virtually a spectator after the first 10 minutes. But a 7 nonetheless for a well-deserved clean sheet.
Neville: 8 – By jingo, we’ve missed the fella. No nonsense, proper defending. Supported Donovan well.
Heitinga: 8 – Continued his very impressive form of late. I remarked to my mate during the game that I’ve worked out what Heitinga means – it’s Dutch for “Jagielka”
Distin: 7 – his blip in November, on the basis of this performance, suggests he was, as suspected, playing with an injury. Much more assured today.
Baines: 8 – Supported a lot better and showed much of last season’s form. Let’s hope this becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Fellaini: 10 – just about the perfect performance from the Big Fella, save for a goal, denied only by the excellent Shay Given. Superb throughout, and €15m starts to look good business all of a sudden.
Pienaar: 9 – Outstanding with Fellaini in the centre of midfield. Deserved his goal, his third in three league games. Long may this continue, hopefully with a new contract.
Donovan: 8 – again, a good performance from the loanee on his home debut. Full of running, his pace does give defenders something to think about.
Bilyaletdinov: 8 – Much improved from the Russian after a short break during the Arsenal game. Needs some rest still though, as he looked to be blowing after about 15 minutes, but a good game nevertheless.
Cahill: 7 – Quiet, but effective. Linked play well and caused City’s defence all sorts of problems. Spoiler for the other players.
Saha: 7 – Scored but otherwise a little quiet, but very much overshadowed by the midfield four. Held up play well to play in others.
Subs:
Vaughan: 6 – Not on long enough to really warrant a judgement on his performance
Baxter: n/a – Only on for a minute or so, can’t judge.
Moyes: 10 – Superb today from the manager. Stoked the players and fans right up before kick-off, and gave us the motivation we needed. Tactically got it spot on, and in the post-match, you got the sense he enjoyed that one. Top man.
All in all, a very satisfactory performance, with Birmingham up next in the Cup at home. In December when the sides met at Goodison, they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw. However, Everton were much the better side and despite Birmingham’s remarkable run of 13 games unbeaten in the league I can’t see past us winning comfortably this time around.