Match Summary
Richard Wright was declared fit and kept his place in goal, and Tony Hibbert returned to the side, with Kevin Kilbane making his debut for Everton.
Watson was booked early on for a tackle on Bernard. Rooney then got done by Bernard, when the player raked his foot down the back of Rooney's ankle. Rooney hobbled on for a while but then appeared he would be withdrawn. Bernard, however, escaped without so much as a caution.
But concerns about Wright were exacerbated when Wright started having trouble with his leg again, and Nigel Martyn came on to make his somewhat belated debut — seven years after he should have joined Everton in a botched deal from the Johnson era.
Jeffers eventually replaced Rooney to a good welcome for the Goodison crowd, with no doubt a few hang-outs still having problems over his return.
It was a fairly poor first half in retrospect, with neither team really clicking and a distinct dearth of goalmouth action. That was until Lauren Robert left the field on a red card for a second yellow after a stupid challenge on Tobias Linderoth. Advantage Everton? Yeah, right; we still have trouble playing against 10 men.
Robert was then booked for a foul on Watson and Everton earned a corner. But Newcastle broke and Linderoth had to haul back Dyer, earning himself a yellow card for his trouble. Then Griffin fouled Gravesen and his name went in the book.
A good start to the first half for Everton with Radzinski getting in on goal but Given covered well, narrowing the angle. Gravesen released the Radz again but he was declared fractionally offside.
Naysmith then got caught as Newcastle broke at speed, he had to bring down Dyer, red card, Naysmith walks; penalty for Newcastle, goal for Shearer.
Ferguson then came on for Watson and was instrumental in Everton's equalizer, which Radzinski hooked in after being dragged down, following an excellent ball in from Gravesen. Ferguson then got booked for dissent.
Kilbane was playing well, sent a great ball in for Radzinski who could not control the ball. Then Yobo was penalized after Bernard blatantly dived, and it was a second penalty for Newcastle, and a second goal for Shearer. Thank you Mr Styles.
Radzinski then outpaced Jenas, dragged down, penalty. Duncan Ferguson took it: GOAL!
A game ruined by the referee with a ridiculous number of bookings for silly things, and a dreadful penalty decision when Bernard conned the ref.
Everton 2-1 Newcastle
2003-04 Match Reports Index
Match Preview
Newcastle arrive as visitors to Goodison Park after a very poor start — 1 point from their first four games and failure to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League. Just as last season, questions are being asked of "old Man" Robson and Shearer. Have they both passed their sell-by date? Have Shearer's legs gone? Undoubtedly the answer to both questions is "No". Shearer will once again give our backline a real test and the return of Bellamy will bring genuine pace to their frontline.
Pace and drive is their forté in the middle of the park with Robert, Dyer, Solano, Jenas, Bowyer and Viana all willing to carry the ball forward and Goodison's favourite ex-son Speed sitting in behind them. On its day, that midfield is as good as anything you will see; however, it does still lack experience and this — allied to their tendency to over-attack — certainly allows the opposition to get at Newcastle's weakest point: their defence!
At present, question marks exist over the availability of both Shay Given and Jonathon Woodgate; however, it appears most likely that Given will play and Woodgate miss out. Without Woodgate, the backline is gaping with Titus Bramble and Andy O'Brien both questionable in their decision-making and, whilst I am a fan of Bernard's attacking qualities, he can get caught out at the back.
Everton: Any idea how we will line up? Moyes has based his philosophy on the mantra that if you have the shirt and perform you keep the shirt. Flip side of that is if you don't perform then you lose the shirt — after the Derby, I guess a lot of them are worried!
I can't imagine that Stubbs and Yobo will lose their places — though Yobo was perhaps the most disappointing in the derby. The full-backs however could change. Unsworth was murdered by Diouf and I would expect to see either Naysmith or Pistone line up at left-back with Hibbert arriving on the other flank if Pistone switches.
Midfield should see Gravesen start in place of the departed Pembridge in the middle with Kilbane making his debut on the left. Linderoth appears likely to hold the middle with Li Tie's injury, and Watson has probably been our most consistent performer — voted August Player of the Month by the discerning readers of ToffeeWeb!
Now we get to the forwards — blimey!
We have already had Radzinski, Rooney, Chadwick and Ferguson play upfront this season and now we also have McFadden and the return of Jeffers (not to mention the injured Campbell)!
Given the competition, I would expect McFadden to make his debut on one of the flanks eventually — but not just yet (he may even struggle to make the bench) — and Chadwick may be the biggest loser in this race unfortunately.
That leaves England's youngest ever goalscorer, England U21's record goal scorer, last years top Premeirship goalscorer for Everton, and Big Dunc (4 goals in 2 games this week) competing for the front two places. Do not be surprised to see Rooney start on the bench. Moyes has tried to protect him as much as possible and now we have numbers upfront I imagine that he will revert again to his super-sub role for the time being.
I'd expect Radzinski and Ferguson to start with Jeffers and Rooney on the bench (what a bench!!). Both players will know that they have to perform with the two scallies waiting to come on and that incentive allied to Newcastle's weaknesses at the back should see goals in this game.
Once again, we need Yobo to get back to his high standards and Stubbs to battle away against Shearer. The midfield will be a minefield but we will have genuine width and competitiveness in Watson and Kilbane.
We will certainly have to take our chances this weekend if we are to come away with the required 3 points — but we should do.
2-0 to the Blues and the start of a very interesting run of games!
Blue4Ever
Lee Doyle
Report
Firstly Mr Styles. I'm not normally one for going over the top about referees but this guy just did not handle the game properly at all. An abysmal performance that should warrant attention from the FA. Far, far too card happy in what was not an overly physical game - one or two nasty incidents aside. Never allowed the game to flow and made some diabolical decisions. Their first penalty was fair enough; the second was a blatant dive by a player who should not even have been on the pitch after fouling then stamping on Rooney, forcing him to leave the pitch. Bernard got the rough end of the stick in this fixture last season - well he certainly made up for it today.
Some of the decisions that went against Ferguson were farcical. They were getting free kicks for fouling him for fucks sake! Talk about a reputation preceding you. The "pogo moment" where he protested at Styles lecturing him on the use of arms while jumping was funny but he was making a serious point. Strangely, "elbows" Shearer did not get the same advice on this subject. Funny that.
Anyhow here be my Player Ratings:
Deep Blue
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