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A Game of One Half

Paul's account of the home win over Southampton (H)

With plenty to do in Liverpool City Centre prior to kick off I was in town early for this one and then in the pub on County Road nicely in time for Arsenal vs Chelsea. The thinking was to get there early enough to get a seat. I had no such luck with this which was a shame as the pub got busier, and busier and busier to the point where yoHu could hardly move as it peaked around 2pm.

“The taste of success” said Gary, in reference to a generally busier turn up for the match on the back of pretty good start to the season. I think that it was a 3pm Saturday kick off against quite a traditional Premiership team may have had a lot to do with it myself. Regardless, it was nice to see everyone and nice to catch a decent game of football prior to our walk to Goodison Park.

Onto the match and it was nice to see Jelavic starting again though I was a little surprised to see Heitinga and Jagielka partnering at centre back. I thought Distin was pretty much our best player at Elland Road on Tuesday evening. It was nice also to see Coleman continuing his run at right back. Ramirez, Rodriguez and Lambert all featured in a plucky Southampton side, new goalkeeper Gazzaniga replaced Kelvin Davis between the sticks. We lost the toss and switched ends before kick off. Lee Probert officiated.

We started on the front foot though found ourselves behind pretty much from Southampton’s first attack…a dreadful goal to concede it was too. A routine corner into the six yard box, Howard getting under it and missing the flight of it completely, nobody picking up Ramirez who dually obliged and headed in a quite straightforward goal. A frustrating start from Everton.

It took us a little while to get going again after this set-back and on another day we might have found ourselves two goals down as Southampton did look dangerous on the counter-attack. I was mighty impressed with the way we scored our equalizer however. It was a classic example of how to score a goal against a team whose tactics are to press your midfield and not give you any time on the ball.

I’d be very interested to know how many passes we made before Osman finally tucked the ball home. We had the ball inside our own half for quite some time whilst Southampton pressed us high up the pitch. Despite a little frustration from some of the crowd with what seemed like lack of progress up the field, we were keeping the ball quite well under pressure. This drew the Saints players out and eventually Everton found the opening.

A great ball from Neville out to the wing found Mirallas and the break was on and Southampton were in trouble. Mirallas ball into the box hit a delay from a combination of Jelavic and a defender and fell invitingly to Osman who finished smartly to level the score. A truly outstanding team goal from Everton.

This got our tails up and the crowd responded. What followed in the half was dazzling from Everton. We really were exceptional and could have gone into the break having scored more than the three. The two other goals weren’t at all bad either. Excellent work by Mirallas in the midfield and after a neat one-two with Fellaini he set Jelavic away. The Croat took his goal (on his left foot) superbly and put Everton 2-1 to the good. Seamus Coleman, who gave the stand in left-back Nathan Clyne a torrid afternoon throughout, put in a good deep ball which Jelavic headed in brilliantly. It was almost a shame when the half time whistle came because we were rampant at that stage.

If I’d have known what was to come in the second half I think I would have left at half time as the second half was disappointingly dull. Obviously I’ve no complaints as we protected our lead professionally but it wasn’t much of a spectacle, particularly given what we were treated to in the first half. We kept them out comfortably enough, and on another day may have done better on the counter attack, though all in all its difficult to complain as we finish the day in the lofty heights of second position, and I got to see three goals in the Gwladys Street end, including the first two Jelavic goals this end of the pitch.

One frustrating aspect to our day is our seats…or rather the gentlemen sitting directly in front of us as they are all extremely tall and makes viewing conditions, particularly on one side of the Gwladys Street particularly difficult. Nobody’s fault of course, and they’re nice fellas, but we’ll now unfortunately have to contact Everton to identify if there’s any other seats we can move to. Has anybody else ever encountered this problem? If so, what are Everton like at accommodating change for this rather unusual request? I guess I’ll see for myself when I speak to them tomorrow.

Onwards to Wigan next Saturday and no home game until a rather big one in a month’s time…lets keep this run going and who knows what can happen this season.

Player Ratings:
Howard: Seemed to switch off with the goal and wasn’t quite at the races all game really.

Baines: Excellent. Pretty much the perfect left back. It’s just as well for us he can’t seem to rectify this form for England as we’d be having to fend off significant interest from other clubs one would imagine. 8

Heitinga: Did OK. I think Distin is far better though. I suppose one reason he may have played is due to his generally decent distribution from defense. Will be interesting to see if he remains in the team for next weeks trip to Wigan. 6

Jagielka: Certainly the ‘main stay’ at the back. Has coped well in every game so far this season I think. Certainly in top form. 7

Coleman: Well…just when I was thinking Coleman was on the wane after stunted progress last season, he really is looking like his old self at the moment. I don’t know if the return to right back has assisted this, but he’s certainly looking much more like the Seamus Coleman who burst onto the scene a few seasons back…taking on full backs more and getting good balls into the box (nice assist for our third goal. It’s great to see and it’ll be terrific if he can continue this good form. 8

Neville: Had a god solid game in the middle. About as good a stand in central midfielder was we have in Gibson’s absence I think. Lovely pass to set Mirallas away for our equalizer. 7

Osman: A bit in and out of the game and can do better I think. Took his goal well but seemed to disappear at times though did do a few good things also. 6

Pienaar: Very good. Very lively. Looking much more like it these last couple of league games I think. 8

Mirallas: Two assists from the Belgian and you can’t ask for much more than that. His contribution of three goals and three assists from five games so far (including League Cup games) is quite astounding given his very short time at the club. He tired in the second half and still needs to improve certain elements of his game I think but early signs so far have been extremely encouraging. 7

Fellaini: My man of the match. He has such an aura on the pitch and Southampton, not the first (or last either I’ll wager) team this season, just didn’t have an answer to him. He covered a lot of ground throughout also. Really is on top form. 8

Jelavic: Great to see Nikica back in the goals. A real threat throughout and has such confidence in front of goal. Brilliant. 8

Substitutes:
Anichebe (for Jelavic): Didn’t really get going. Just a blip I hope as his form has been excellent the last few games. 5

Oviedo (for Mirallas): Lively but will need more time to settle. 6

Distin (for Osman): A rather unnecessarily negative substitution as Moyes well and truly shut up shop late on. Not on long enough to judge.

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