COLUMNIST PAUL TRAILL
Match Report - Tired blues trudge to defeat
Comments (0) : The times I have driven to the game recently I?ve found a cracking little untapped parking space in a housing estate not too far from County Road. Well, this time I saw a big ?Resident permit packing only? sign as I drove into the estate. I was prepared to chance it, though Gary felt it was a bad idea. We dithered until I eventually left it where it was hoping for the best, until I got a couple of hundred yards down the road and then ran back and moved it, burying it further into the estate?loser!
A mate from work was also going the game, going the Horlich Castle for a couple so we thought we?d go there for a change ? we needn?t have bothered. The service, for a pub that wasn?t even all that busy, was simply shocking and my mate wasn?t even there so we moved on to the more familiar surroundings of The Spellow ? Ste nowhere to be seen.
With the sun scorching, most people seemed to be outside the pub so we took good advantage of the extra space inside, even managing to squeeze in a quick game of darts before we headed on to Goodison Park. Gary won the darts... could Everton win the game?
Moyes rang the changes again, resting a few tired limbs from the two recent gruelling fixtures against Manchester United and Chelsea. This time, Jagielka partnered Yobo at the back with Hibbert in for Jacobsen. Jo wasn?t permitted to play against his permanent club so Louis Saha was his obvious replacement, with the surprises being the retention of Castillo in midfield, and Fellaini starting, recovered from his knee injury, in place of Tim Cahill. How well could we cope without our fantastic little Aussie?
For Man City, Shay Given was in goal with Dunne and Richards the centre backs ahead of him. Stephen Ireland started to complete the Irish trio, with Kompany, de Jong, Elano and of course Robinho present in this expensively assembled team. The referee was Alan Whiley... Oh no! The teams swapped ends as usual now. Come on you blues!
It took ages for the game to settle ? actually I?m not sure it ever actually did as it was very scrappy from the word go. Everton looked sluggish from their recent excursions in the capital and City certainly looked a lot fresher with Robinho pulling out wide a lot, giving Hibbert a torrid time throughout. Everton probed reasonably well in and around the box, with the final ball or the finishing letting us down. Osman and Hibbert both had a couple occasions to put in a decent ball though failed with their distribution; Saha was wasteful with a reasonable headed opportunity, and then a shot when he should have crossed with another chance, whilst Castillo and Neville were both comfortably off target with efforts from distance.
Before Robinho did find the net, City had come closest to scoring when Yobo?s half-cleared header went to a City player who drove at goal. Baines blocked well but the ball came back to Robinho who smacked it at goal but more or less straight at Howard who palmed it way above his head.
Their goal did come when a free kick to us was lofted into the box by Hibbert. I didn?t actually see what happened but a lot of people around us were screaming for a free kick for a push at the edge of the box. It didn?t come and City cleared. Yobo headed the ball forward but tamely, only to Elano who pierced the defence magnificently with a fantastic through-ball to Robinho. He ran at Jagielka, turned the ball onto his left foot and finished past Howard to give City the lead ? scant reward for their fans anyway who?d turned up in their numbers and made a lot of noise throughout. That was pretty much it for the first half and things had to improve in the second.
At half-time I bumped into Stu who said he thought the ball had gone through Howard?s legs, but like everyone else, thought we should have had a free kick in the build up to the goal. I?ve actually had a chance to see it since on Match of the Day and I can only wonder why on earth Fellaini just stopped, expecting a decision? It may not have had an outcome on the goal or what happened but, Jesus, at least play to the whistle! After chatting Stu?s ear off for a few minutes, I went to see Ste who had finally made the game. He was a full 10 minutes late though as when he drove over he attempted to park in the same place as me, only to see the ?Resident permit parking only? signs and fled home to get a lift back from his missus. Crazy bean. ?Why does that sound like Ste?? said Gary as I relayed the story to him in the second half.
You felt the game might be over when out of nowhere Stephen Ireland burst forward in space into the box. He was picked out with a super ball by Robinho as the Everton defence dithered. Given how clinical he seems to be in front of goal, you felt the young Irishman wouldn?t miss, and he didn?t, cutely clipping the ball past the frustrated Tim Howard. Everton now had it all to do.
Almost straight away we could have clawed our way back into it when Jagielka connected powerfully with a cross for the right but unfortunately directed his header over the bar.
The game could have been very different prior to all of this anyway when Hibbert?s overhit cross was picked up by Pienaar. He weighed up his options and slid a quick ball in to Marouane Fellaini who took a touch, setting himself up nicely only to volley close to Given with the whole goal to aim at from only 6 yards. Given still had a good save to make but you felt the Belgian may have done better from that position. This would have been the equaliser and who knows what could have happened from there? 'goals change games', as they say.
That was more or less his last action of the game as Moyes rung the changes after Cty?s second goal, with Cahill replacing Fellaini, Vaughan on for Saha, and Gosling coming on for Castillo. With half an hour still to play Everton still had time.
Vaughan showed just why he can have an impact straight away when he got hold of the ball, ran at the City defence before scuffing well wide. Fine, the end product was poor, but he did show what he can do.
Any real chance of getting back into this one was effectively over when Everton were dealt yet another major injury blow when our Player of the Season, Phil Jagielka, twisted his knee horribly trying to turn controlling an airborne ball. He was stretchered off and it?s since been confirmed he?ll definitely be out for the rest of the season, missing the FA Cup final, and probably for a large chunk of next season. What a disaster.
I know you don?t want to hear people harping on about injuries but I?d be interested to see how the ?big four? cope with injuries to their equivalents. Take Jagielka, Arteta and Yakubu out, not to mention the injuries Vaughan and Anichebe have had, and also Pienaar and Cahill missing significant bits of the season and you wonder how they?d cope. Imagine Carragher, Gerrard and Torres out of Liverpool;, Vidic, Ronaldo and Rooney out of Man Utd; Terry, Lampard and Drogba out of Chelsea. You see my point? I just hope Yobo improves in these final games.
Really we?re fortunate Robinho and Co weren?t a little more ruthless in front of goal as with Everton stretched City could have ran away with this comfortably. Alan Wiley began to anger the supporters with poor and inconsistent decisions as the atmosphere turned ugly for a while. He booked Phil Neville and Nedum Onuoha for a bit of argy-bargy when he could have just given them both a ticking off, though later gave players just a ticking-off for similar offences.
There was one flashpoint at the end of the game actually when Given seemed to raise an arm at Gosling after he?d challenged a little high for a loose ball. Needless to say, Wiley?s decision seemed the wrong one to the Goodison faithful.
There had been quite a few stoppages but I don?t think anyone really expected seven minutes of stoppage time to be displayed. Nevertheless, it gave Everton a bit of momentum for a final push and it was to Everton?s credit that they kept on probing ?til the end when all hope seemed lost. They got their rewards with a super goal from Dan Gosling as he collected a Stephen Pienaar pass before unleashing a fierce drive into the corner of the net. At 1-2 did we still have time?
We won ourselves a corner after that and I thought for a brief moment Moyes was gonna throw caution to the wind and put Howard up for the corner. I don?t see why he didn?t as it didn?t make much difference whether we?d lost 1-2 or 1-3 given our superior goal difference to those around us. As it was, the corner came to nothing. Pienaar did well to get another ball in the box but that too came to nothing and the full time whistle went shortly after and that was that ? our first home defeat since that remarkable 2-3 defeat to Aston Villa back on 7th December? it?s been a good run.
After the game, Gary went the pub whilst Ste and I got back to the car ? without a parking ticket, through the tunnel and home. Terrible news about Jagielka ? let's hope Yobo?s ready to step up to the plate. Moreover, let?s hope for no more injuries between now and Saturday 30th May.
Player ratings:
Howard: May have done better with the first goal though rather helpless with the second. He did make some decent saves in the second half also as City threatened to run away with this one. 7
Baines: My Man of the Match. He could have been my man of the match the last half-dozen games really given how consistent he?s been of late so probably player of the month for me. Combines attack and defence perfectly for a left-back. 8
Jagielka: Was doing pretty well but what a blow that is. I hope he recovers well and gets to play as much as next season as possible. Congratulations Jags ? you?re our Player of the Season. Let?s hope we can bring back the cup for you. Good luck. 7
Yobo: What a job he has now. He?s gonna have to improve no-end as quite frankly he looks all over the place. The one saving grace he does have is 231 games of Everton experience, several of which partnering Lescott in defence so hopefully they can take it forward from here. We need you at your best J-Yo. It?s down to you now. 5
Hibbert: Struggled against Robinho though stuck to the task manfully. Got himself into good attacking positions but needs to improve distribution as nearly every one of his crosses was overhit. 5
Neville: Took more responsibility than most, even at centre back when he had to fill in for Jags. Picked up an unfortunate booking also from the hapless Alan Whiley. 7
Castillo: He can tackle but ? as Stu mentioned at half-time ? he?s a bit of a one-trick pony. Did what he could anyway before being subbed. 6
Pienaar: Not as lively as he has been of late but that may be due to fatigue. Regardless he kept on going throughout and set up the late consolation for Gosilng. 6
Osman: Looked completely shagged though at least attempted to be more industrious than most. Certainly not one of his better games. 5
Fellaini: Looked like he couldn?t be fagged. We need more commitment from that please Marouane. Rightly subbed. 5
Saha: I don?t know if he?s struggling for form, fitness or if, like many of my Man Utd mates tell me, it is indeed all in the head with Louis but we need more from him than that. Like Fellaini ? rightly subbed. 5
Subs: Vaughan (for Saha): The Jagielka injury was a shame for him probably more so than anyone else (except for Jags of course) as he then had to play the rest of the game up top on his own chasing lost-causes but got on with the job well. 6
Cahill (for Fellaini): given the injury he had to play further back in midfield than we would have liked meaning he couldn?t have the desired impact up front. 5
Gosling (for Castillo): Showed more attacking enthusiasm and skill than most in the final third of the game and got his rewards late on with a superb strike. Certainly puts himself in contention for next weekend?s trip to Sunderland ? the opponents he scored his first Everton goal against of course. 7
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