Cause For Optimism?

Match Report: Everton 1 - 0 Chelsea

I could get used to these Saturday evening kick offs…particularly if it results in a fantastic win against one or the Premier League favorites. It was nice to wake up a little lazily and watch the Nez Zealand vs South Africa rugby, take a walk to the shop, pay my folks a visit and generally lounge around a little all before finally departing by bus and then switching at Moorfields for the train to Kirkdale. At the top of the platform I spotted Gary and Sue ahead of me and seizing my moment and being the generally wacky funster that I am, I ran behind them and jumped on them both from behind to give them a little fright. I’m just mad me.

With loads of time to kill before kick off we grabbed a pint in the quaint and friendly surroundings of The Melrose before moving on to the more rugged though always entertaining arena that it The Brick. Sunderland vs Arsenal was on the ‘dodgy channel’…Martin Atkinson making a mess of things as usual. Ste joined us, Simon and Gaz also made brief appearances in what was a generally fun match day atmosphere as we approached kick off. A mixture of positivity and defeatism amongst the group which perhaps turned a little more negative when we saw the team news, the inclusion of Steven Naismith the most prickly point with Steven Pienaar out having picked up an injury in training. Kone and of course Lukaku also unavailable leaving Jelavic playing up front as the only recognized striker in the squad…could Vellios not have been placed on the bench? Given the result it mattered not but we weren’t to know that at the time of course. It was pleasing to see Gareth Barry was making his debut. James McCarthy started from the substitutes bench.

Onto a vibrant (with a fiesta-like-drum parade passing through) Goodison Road and onto the Gwladys Street in time for Z-Cars…the atmosphere was bustly as the teams took to the field. Leighton Baines gaining perhaps the best reception from supporters along with Gareth Barry. Special mention should be made for Leon Osman who made his 350th Everton appearance. You worried a bit about our chances when you compared our team with Chelsea’s expensive team of superstars…Samuel Eto’o spearheading the attack. Everton attacked towards the Park End in the first half as Howard Webb got the game under way.

I recall last seasons home game with Chelsea around Christmas time when Everton began at such a ferocious tempo that Chelsea didn’t know what hit them. Peinaar grabbed an early goal though we ended up losing the match when we probably could have won. Regardless, the point is the high tempo got the crowd going early that day and from a supporter point of view so far I enjoyed the high tempo pace delivered under Moyes over the slow and patient build-up play or Martinez. I think the knock-on effect of that was that the crowd, at least the home sections, were rather flat in the first half and it wasn’t until the last quarter of the match that the crowd got going and I think had quite an effect on dragging Everton over the line come the full time whistle. I’ll…well we…will give Martinez every opportunity of course though can’t help but be unconvinced so far. Patience is the key.

What didn’t help provide a positive atmosphere was events on the pitch of course and really Chelsea could have been out of sight at the break. Eto’o missed a free header which you’d bank on him scoring after a beauty of a cross from Ramires whence Barkley had surrendered possession. That was one let off, though if that was Barkley surrendering possession then Tim Howard simply waved the white flag to Schurrle when he tried to pass it out of the back to Distin though thankfully Gareth Barry was able to put in a quite magnificent block-tackle on Eto’o who drove at the open goal once Schurrle had set him up. A huge let off for Everton.

Ivanovic also headed over, Mata chipped one over and wide and Howard saved spectacularly from Ramires as Chelsea really threatened to run riot with Everton’s only efforts in response being a half-chance for Jelavic which he directed at goal with a header, and a Naismith effort which dragged well wide.

I was grateful to just be getting in at the break all square until something quite remarkable happened - Everton probed. Barkley did ever so well to release Coleman. He crossed and from our seat it was difficult to tell what had happened as everything seemed to stop. I thought the ball had hit the crossbar and somehow fumbled it’s way in. Regardless of how it went in we were delighted. However the replays on the screens showed it was a much better goal than I first thought – Jelavic doing brilliant to keep the ball alive and head it back across goal for Naismith to plant firmly into the net. He won a lot of headers all game Naismith and did have quite an exceptional match. That was half time and didn’t it symbolize the beauty of football. Here we were on the ropes all half though out of nothing we were going in ahead at the break…the crowd suddenly in good voice.

Onto the second half and we struggled to get out of our half for long periods but survived thanks to some good defending. Chelsea, for all their second half possession, failed to create too many clear-cut chances. I didn’t see the incident too clearly though we maybe should have conceded a penalty when Distin lunged in on Oscar though Webb didn’t feel there was enough in it to give it. I’ve seen it since and still can’t make my mind up though it probably was a penalty…we were completely denied a stone wall one at Cardiff mind so what goes around comes around I suppose.

Aided by the crowd we were able to pull ourselves together and were particularly impressive in the final quarter o the match as Chelsea found themselves exposed to our counter-attacking. Barkley was central to most of that tough full marks also to Barry, Naismith and Mirallas especially once the Belgian had been moved up front instead of Jelavic. You felt we were going to score in the second half when we had a succession of corners though Chelsea defended staunchly. Cech was also forced into action twice by Mirallas…and near the end Baines clipped the crossbar with a brilliant free kick. At the Park End Fernando Torres fluffed his lines much to the crowds jeers.

We had only three minutes of stoppage time to endure before the full-time whistle... the crowd filing out in party mood down Gwladys Street as we celebrated our first win of the season and what a win against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.<

Let's not kid ourselves, we could have been way behind by half time and the timing of the goal meant everything. I remain unconvinced but move forward with cautious optimism, encouraged by our display especially in the last quarter of the match. Gareth Barry looks an exceptional signing and I like the idea of he, Gibson and Barkley forming the midfield three. Though clearly impressive last season I don’t know enough about Lukaku but hopefully that will solve our goalscoring problem. Three clean sheets in a row, despite Chelsea’s chances yesterday, should also not be overlooked. Maybe, just maybe we could be on to something here.

Nothing would please me more than to be wrong about my skeptical opinion of Roberto Martinez.

Player Ratings:

Howard: He’ll be more relieved than anyone that Barry saved his bacon in the first half. Otherwise he was fine and made one exquisite save from Ramires in particular. 6

Baines: Hardly crossed half way for most of the game such was the dominance of Chelsea’s possession but he did well defensively and was useful the times he did push forward. Almost scored with a free kick at the end. 6

Distin: Excellent. May have got lucky with the penalty decision but was a rock at the back. Seems more comfortable distributing from the back than Jagielka. Martinez is certainly fortunate he’s inherited such a good defence though he seems to be nurturing it quite nicely. 8

Jagielka: Similarly brilliant. He seems to be doing his best to follow his ball-playing instructions even if he isn’t perhaps the most comfortable in doing so. 8

Coleman: Did well defensively and got forward more so than Baines did which is credible given he was up against Ashley Cole. Had a big hand in the goal. 7

Barry: I thought he was exceptional. He fitted in superbly and looked as though he’d been playing for us for years. His consistency of passing, tackling and work rate is impressive. I look forward to seeing him work with Gibson in the middle. 8

Osman: Well done on making 350 Everton appearances. You’ve got to be happy for him for that. On the pitch… he did OK. In the first half I thought he was one of the better ones though he was a bit anonymous in the second half. Will be interesting to see if he remains in the team when Gibson is finally available again as Barkley is surely now a regular fixture in the XI. 6

Mirallas: I thought he generally looked a little disinterested (albeit without doing anything wrong) whilst on the wing though he came to life when moved up front. I hope to see continual improvement as he’s potentially extremely important to us though has been rather off colour this season so far in my opinion. 7

Naismith: My Man of the Match. He gave the ball away once or twice yes, but his work rate and effort was remarkable, he scored the goal and got up to win countless headers throughout the match. Surely his best display yet in an Everton shirt and perhaps he can now win over his many doubters after all. 8

Barkley: Very good. He really took the game to Chelsea in the second half. I think we’ll really see the very best of him in perhaps another dozen games time when he really settles into the team. You’ve got to hope we can keep hold of him as the big clubs will surely be keeping a close eye on him. 7

Jelavic: He worked hard and did pretty well. Was perhaps unfortunate to be taken off but Mirallas pace was a great asset to us in the latter stages of the match. No goal still however so he now faces some battle to remain in the side for next week’s trip to Upton Park. 7

McCarthy (for Jelavic): Got up and down the pitch though didn’t really affect the game. Looks a busy player and it will be interesting to see how he fairs. 6

Stones (for Naismith): Brought on to batten down the hatches late on. Not on long enough to judge but it certainly highlights the faith Martinez has in him that was he brought on ahead of Heitinga.

Deulofeu (for Mirallas): Brought on to waste time. Not on long enough to judge.

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