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Rooney picks the perfect moment On the day when Francis Jeffers played at Goodison Park for the first time since his acrimonious departure two years ago, the real future of Everton stepped emphatically into the limelight and delivered the hammer blow to Arsenal's unbeaten run with a last-minute wonder goal. With the clock at 89 minutes, a high Thomas Gravesen pass found 16 year-old Wayne Rooney in space deep in the Arsenal half. He turned, cut inside and unleashed a curling, teasing shot that canoned into the net off the crossbar past the despairing lunge of David Seaman to send the home crowd into delirium. It was a moment carved out of football folklore itself, a fairytale waiting for a stage, and what better arena than Goodison, that graveyard of unbeaten records? All the talk had been of Wayne Clarke's winner against Liverpool that put the mockers on their attempts to break the top flight record for games unbeaten and, once again, the Blues rose to the occasion to overcome Arsenal for only the second time in the last 9 meetings. Seven minutes into this much-feared encounter, it had all looked so ominously familiar. Appalling defending by a catalogue of Everton players saw the ball eventually end up loose in the six yard box and Freddie Ljungberg was the quickest to react, poking it past former teammate Richard Wright to make it 1-0 after just 7 minutes. However, David Moyes's side weren't overawed at Manchester United in their last outing and they certainly paid the high-flying Gunners little respect today. Gradually, the Blues began to assert themselves and after 22 minutes, an enterprising move was rewarded when Gravesen laid a perfect ball on for Lee Carsley who fired against the post but the rebound fell kindly to Thomas Radzinski who beat two defenders on the edge of the area before whipping the ball past Seaman from 18 yards to level the scores. The remainder of the first half, with it's flowing end-to-end football threatened to repeat the end-of-season encounter at Highbury when a ding-dong goal feast ended in a 4-3 victory for Arsenal. On 28 minutes, Thierry Henry shimmied and jinked himself into space on the edge of the area but his curling shot was parried for a corner by Wright. Seven minutes later, Gravesen beat two defenders on the wing before cutting inside and despatching a rocket that Seaman did well to turn over the bar. Ljungberg was then narrowly denied by the body of Wright who did just enough to divert the ball to safety before Carsley headed tamely wide from a Radzinski cross at the other end. More bad defending nearly led to Everton's downfall as half time approached but on three occasions they were relieved to see Arsenal moves break down in dangerous situations. Up front, Radzinski, who had tormented the Arsenal defence with his electric pace, burst through but had his ankles clipped on the edge of the area on his way to goal. Referee Uriah Rennie waved away Radzinski's protests and booked Mark Pembridge for his. Half time: 1-1. In many ways, the second half continued where the first had left off. Everton continued to exhibit some scintillating football while still looking vulnerable when faced with the visitors' pacey forward line and riding their luck on occasions. The half was just three minutes old when Kanu and Ljungberg found themselves clear on the edge of the area but the former's shot was blocked by the impressive Joseph Yobo for a corner that was subsequently wasted. Then, after Tobias Linderoth had replaced Li Tie � who had by and large had a mixed afternoon � the excellent Tony Hibbert found room for a long range effort that went well over and Gravesen profited from great work by Radzinski againt Sol Campbell by setting himself and firing a left-footed effort that Seaman palmed behind. Arsenal, as expected, remained an ever-present danger. Henry scuffed a gilt-edged opportunity wide from 8 yards in the 58th minute and Wiltord, in acres of space, smacked an effort off the post in almost the same fashion as Carsley in the first half, but Everton were able to clear the danger and accept the let-off. Then Ljungberg came within inches of his second, beating Wright to a high bounce but his touch took the ball the wrong side of the upright from his perspective. With 10 minutes left and the valiant Blues matching their all-conquering opponents punch for punch, the anticipated switch of Rooney for Radzinski was made by Moyes. By this stage, Jeffers had been on the pitch for 20 minutes and had been roundly booed at every touch by the home faithful. A situation made for the ex-Everton starlet to upset his boyhood club an extend Arsenal's unbeaten run was instead written for young Rooney to become the youngest ever Everton player to score a league goal. And what a moment to score that elusive goal, with the game winding down to a creditable draw? Rooney pulled Gravesen's lob out of the air with his instep, turned and with two strides steadied himself for his date with destiny before despatching the shot that would bring the Gunners' 30-match unbeaten run to an end. The placement was perfect, putting the spinning ball out of Seaman's reach and bouncing off the crossbar and over the line. The referee found an inexplicable two extra minutes to add to the three minutes of injury time signalled by the fourth official but Arsenal didn't get near the goal. Instead, it was left to Rooney to have one last cheeky effort; an audacious chip from the edge of the area that just cleared the bar and bounced off the top of the net. The final whistle was met with the Goodison roar after a highly-deserved victory over the reigning Champions. Rooney, who was absolutely mobbed by his teammates after his priceless goal and appeared moved to tears at the accomplishment, may have still been a relatively unknown quantity to the outside world before this game, but everyone will know about this uncut diamond now. The challenges facing the Everton management in shielding him from the media glare may have multiplied but this huge step towards maturity can only be a good thing for the Blues on the pitch. His teammates meanwhile can take enormous credit for a job well done and a performance rich in attacking football. As a team they played phenomenally well, creating some wonderful passing moves and looking a far cry from the shoddy outfit that was struggling at the wrong end of the Premiership last season. Defensively, Yobo was solid and composed, Weir, for the most part, also, while Hibbert was a constant attacking threat and Unsworth a tenacious thorn in Arsenal's side. His distribution � along with Weir's � was a little lacking at times but neither were made to pay for it. In midfield, Linderoth was impressive after coming on and Gravesen had one if his better outings, as did Pembridge. Carsley was good enough although his is a position that looks to be the weakest link and, given some money, one Moyes would probably love to address. And up front, Radzinski and Campbell were magnificent until Rooney took centre stage and delivered the coup de grace to bring Arsenal's victory bandwagon to a screeching halt. A day to savour! Lyndon Lloyd
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| Everton (4-4-2) Blue shirts, white shirts, blue socks |
Arsenal
(4-4-2) Red & white shirts, white shorts, red socks |
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Manchester Utd (A)
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