Talk about an unforgettable football match. This was it. Everton 2 Manchester City 0. Goodison rocking. To beat the reigning champions 2-0 at home with only 10 men for a significant part of the game is simply unbelievable!
After their abject performance in last weekend's 3-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup 6th Round, Everton needed a performance to redeem themselves in front of their home fans and the watching world. And damn did they do it.
In their best performance of the season (just edging the opening day triumph over Man United), Everton showed the world their true selves and turned in an intense, passionate and fluid passing game to unsettle the champions and ultimately leave them reeling in the dust.
Leon Osman's opening goal was a thing of beauty. Striking the ball on the move with the outside of his weaker left foot, the ball swerved tantalisingly into the far corner of the goal. Joe Hart didn't dive, and I'm glad for him that he didn't. It would have been a total waste of effort. That ball was swerving so far away from him it might as well have been in outer space. I'm not being biased here, but that goal for me is currently the leading contender for Goal of the Season. Osman hit it so true it was untrue (does that make sense?). To give you an idea how good it is? Roberto Carlos did it from a dead-ball, free-kick position with his stronger foot. Osman did it in the flow of the game with his weaker foot.
Anyways, when Steven Pienaar unfortunately showed his reckless, tempestuous side (which is what makes him such an awesome player, by the way) early in the second half with a second bookable offence on Javi Garcia, I frankly feared the worst. Playing a large part of the game against City with only 10 men is simply not a good idea.
City predictably went on to dominate and create chances, and reserve goalkeeper Jan Mucha had to pull of two superb, 'sure-die' kind of one-on-one saves from James Milner and Pablo Zabaleta to somehow preserve Everton's lead.
In injury time, the unfathomable happened. Nikica Jelavic, who was on as a substitute, and who had not scored for the last 912 games, broke free, received Marouane Fellaini's astute pass, faked Gael Clichy with the right foot, and unleashed a left-foot shot with the fury of Jesus that took a slight deflection before finding its way into the corner of the goal. 2-0 and game over.
The sights at the close of the game will remain in the memory. Bill Kenwright crying. Jelavic taking his jersey off to celebrate and getting truly body-slammed by his delirious team-mates. Victor Anichebe, a player in direct competition for that single centre-forward spot, hugging Jelavic passionately at the end of it all. David Moyes going semi-bonkers and punching the air with pride. It was magic.
No comments:
Post a Comment