Fellaini so sweet for Toffees

Everton rescue a point following much improved second half

Last updated: 25th October 2008

Marouane Fellaini Wayne Rooney Everton Manchester United Premier League

Fellaini: Earned Everton a point

Man of the match: Ryan Giggs continues to defy the years and in the first half in particular, the Welshman was magnificent in pulling the strings all over the pitch.

Goal of the match: Darren Fletcher was one of the game's best performers and his cool finish from Ryan Giggs' clever pass was well deserved.

Moment of the match: Fellaini's goal. Everton have been dire at Goodison Park this season so the big man's header finally gave suffering Toffees fans something to smile about.

Save of the match: Tim Howard enjoyed an excellent afternoon against his former employers, with his best save denying Nemanja Vidic's near post header.

Talking Point: Will a battling point act as a catalyst for the rest of Everton's season?

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A second half header from Marouane Fellaini earned Everton a point from a game Manchester United should have had wrapped up at half-time following an entirely dominant first 45 minutes.

Everton have yet to win at home all season and on their first half showing it was not hard to see why. Insipid in attack and ponderous in defence, David Moyes' side fell behind in the 22nd minute when Darren Fletcher took Ryan Giggs' cute pass in his stride before finding a neat finish to beat Tim Howard.

Were it not for Everton's American goalkeeper United would have gone in at the break with a handsome lead, as their former custodian found fine saves to deny an out-of-sorts Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and the impressive Giggs.

Whatever Moyes said at the break clearly had the desired effect as his charges were entirely different side after the interval, as the imposing Fellaini towered above Vidic to plant Phil Neville's pinpoint delivery beyond Edwin van der Sar.

It could have been even better for Everton had van der Sar not repelled Yakubu Aiyegbeni's shot onto the post, after the big Nigerian had capitalised on a lapse in concentration on Rio Ferdinand's part.

Bold selection

The hosts were either brave or foolhardy to play two wide-men in Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta, leaving Leon Osman and Fellaini sometimes cruelly exposed in central midfield, where Giggs pulled all the strings.

United found space with ease. Dimitar Berbatov may seem to show an economy of effort, but his clever link-up play kept United moving forward with menace.

Everton did have a couple of decent half-chances early on, firstly when Fellaini took a pass from Joleon Lescott and saw a shot on the turn blocked by Nemanja Vidic.

From the corner by Mikel Arteta, Belgian midfielder Fellaini headed just over. Then Wes Brown needed to make a hasty block when Louis Saha struck a low drive from the edge of the box.

But United's movement, quality passing - and the amount of men they got forward so quickly - had Everton constantly stretched.

Fletcher impressive

Fletcher had a header from Giggs' corner deflected wide, and Neville blocked a drive from Cristiano Ronaldo. Wayne Rooney then blasted wide after a free-kick had been blocked.

A goal from the champions has been on the cards for a while when Fletcher broke the deadlock after 22 minutes. Giggs' astute angled ball into the box by-passed a static Fellaini to allow Fletcher a run into space where he evaded Joleon Lescott, before calmly placing his shot wide of Tim Howard.

United sensed blood and Osman cleared off the line from Vidic, and Howard saved well from Ronaldo and Giggs as the visitors stormed forward.

Vidic was booked for a poor challenge which sent Saha flying after 29 minutes.

From the free-kick, Everton saw shots from Yakubu and Steven Pienaar charged down. Giggs' run and chip then created a headed chance for Rooney that dropped just wide.

Increased urgency

Everton started the second period with more pace and urgency, which at least stopped United strolling in possession.

Phil Jagielka was booked for a foul on Berbatov after 51 minutes. When Arteta caught Brown, his pass to Fellaini produced a shot which was deflected away from goal.

Neville enraged his former United colleagues with a nasty lunge at an already grounded Ronaldo, boot connected with knee and the Everton captain was booked when the uproar had died down.

Everton then got their lifeline, having barely troubled Van der Sar previously. After 63 minutes Neville crossed from the right and Fellaini rose above Vidic to head the equaliser.

A minute later Yakubu harassed Ferdinand, stole the ball and ran into the box to see Van der Sar touch his shot onto the right post. United almost immediately sent on Anderson for Park.

Rooney was then booked for a late tackle on Arteta, the game now the physical battle Everton needed to inspire their revival. Rooney's chances of scoring the 100th goal of his career back at his former club were ended after 71 minutes when he was replaced by Nani.

Ronaldo was moved to play through the middle, and twice it took timely interventions from Yobo to snuff out danger. Brown was booked for bringing down Yakubu, before Ronaldo shot wide from a good position with the game's final chance of note.

EvertonTeam StatisticsManchester United
1Goals1
01st Half Goals1
3Shots on Target6
6Shots off Target5
8Blocked Shots9
6Corners10
19Fouls13
1Offsides1
3Yellow Cards3
0Red Cards0
64.9Passing Success82.8
29Tackles21
82.8Tackles Success61.9
39.5Possession60.5
46.7Territorial Advantage53.3

Comments

Tim Belfield (Macclesfield Town fan) says...

Surprise surprise. Alex doesn't get the full three points so he winges at the ref. I really can't recall when he doesn't ever do anything different. BORE!

Posted 07:20 26th October 2008

Mark Vine (Everton fan) says...

Great result today for the blue boys, may have even won the three points if it wasnt for a good save from van der sar, on the other hand they had their chances in the first half. so a point was about right. now onto christiano ronaldo the FA need to do something about his lets say bad acting, neville's tackle was perfect a bit hard non the less but isnt it ment to be a hard game ? come on it is a contact sport after all. funny thing aswell did you notice when he gets clipped on the knee he acts as if hes has been shot then rolls over and grabs his stomach ? he deffo needs to get a grip! anyway well done the blue boys!

Posted 04:55 26th October 2008

Cam Gray (Everton fan) says...

I saw the Everton of last season in the 2nd half, with spirit and fighting attitude! Brilliant - I hope we start to make a quest for Europe now!

Posted 01:05 26th October 2008

Ray Witkiss (Everton fan) says...

We were woeful first half but it looks like Dave Moyes is getting his players fit and playing as a team. Screach Fellini had his best game in a blue shirt, talking as much leads me on to that clown Rooney does he forget where he comes from? never mind kissing the United badge why dont you show them your perminent Badge Wayne ? The EVERTON tattoo you have!

Posted 22:17 25th October 2008

Zeid Deers (Everton fan) says...

Been a Everton fan since the 70's right into the heady days of the 80's. A point against Man U ...hopefully is the start of a revival.Have been and will always be a blue man.Up Everton.

Posted 21:47 25th October 2008

Keith Mcdermott (Everton fan) says...

What a hypocrite Fergie is. Bad tackles? What were Keane and others doing under his management? Pot kettle black.

Posted 21:02 25th October 2008

Mark Ashbrook (Everton fan) says...

A very good second half from Everton, and at one point we looked the favourites to go on and win the game. We were so poor in the first half and were probably lucky to be only one goal down at half time. I think that some of Alex Ferguson's comments after the game were terrible though. The way he criticised Alan Wiley for his performance was crazy as it was clear that most of the 50 50 decisions went United's way, and whenever Rooney or Ronaldo or Giggs were awarded something by him, they would share a handshake with Mr Wiley. Also the way Rio Ferdinand and others surrounded him at the end of the game when they were denied a corner because of the final whistle was terrible. they seem to have very short memories as at the end of the first half we had a throw in deep inside their half and we were not allowed to have that, and the 4 minutes were well up anyway. Ferguson's comments about our physical approach and our tackling were very silly as football is a contact sport, and i believe that there were a few poor tackles from the united players. Ryan Giggs did a bad one in the second half, Wes brown was lucky when he took Yakubu down when he would of been in on goal, and the worse tackle of all was Nemanja Vidic on Louis Saha in the first half, when he completely missed the ball and went straight through Saha. I feel he was lucky to only receive a caution. And my final point will be about Mr Rooney and his childish antics. We know he plays for United and he hates Everton now, and I hope he knows that we do despise him also! And just to make the Rooney situation even better, he got taken off, still on 99 Premier League goals. But to disappoint me a bit, I have since found out that he was taken off because he would of been sent off otherwise because the crowd had got him booked and the referee was behaving badly. This is very odd as Rooney's tackle on Arteta was poor and he deserved a card.

Posted 21:00 25th October 2008

Andrew Adair (Everton fan) says...

Everton played much better this week at home, the best ive seen them play this season, very happy with a point against the best team in Europe. I am very pleased we managed a draw against Man u (although second half we were the much better team). I must mention though the day was nearly spoilt by the appalling decisions of Mr Wiley, nothing short of disgraceful in my opinion. Not only the shambolic decisions he makes in the "top fours" favour but the blatant bias that he rules the game with. Today the Ryan Giggs incident, a lunge from behind wasn¿t gifted a yellow card but a handshake between Mr Wiley and Ryan Giggs, unacceptable in my opinion, it entices the fans and players alike, is his intelligence too low to realise this. The player wasn¿t punished because of who he is. Glad to see Mr Rooney's temper will always get in the way of his game. Where was Man U¿s best signing today? Mike Riley.

Posted 20:28 25th October 2008

Carl Martindale (Everton fan) says...

Great result but we need to work more on our passing,at the moment we can't put 3 passes together.The Yak needs more quality balls to feed on and he's not getting any at the moment and Saha is playing too deep.We need a good quality centre half to sure the back line up as Lescott is making far to many mistakes unlike last year when he was my player of the year.

Posted 18:01 25th October 2008

Chris White (Arsenal fan) says...

So Arsene Wenger is not the only one that complains about other teams being physical. But would he get away with talking about the referee the way Fergie does? I doubt it!! As for Rooney..sorry Fergie..he too seems to carry on like a kid at times and referees seem very reluctant to penalise him for his behaviour. Had he been sent off for his behaviour it would have been nobody elses fault but his own Fergie!! He is meant to be a profesional after all isn't he?

Posted 17:37 25th October 2008

Dixie Dean (Everton fan) says...

Fergie's complaining about the ref when Brown was only booked for a professional foul whilst Neville was booked for a perfectly good - albeit strong - tackle. There are different rules for the so called big boys and it's no wonder the rest struggle to catch them. Playing United's 11 is hard enough; playing 12 nearly impossible. And Rooney world class? He has no class as far as I am concerned and deserves his treatment at Goodison for the way he disrespects his suppsoed boyhood club. He represents everything that is sick with our game.

Posted 17:04 25th October 2008

Julie Naybour (Everton fan) says...

A typically biased report in favour of one of the Sky Four. Yes we can't dispute everton's poor performance of the first half and can't disagree with that aspect of your report. However, as a journalist you are meant to be giving an unbiasedand accurate report - instead you can barely contain your favouritism as you brush over the excellent comeback in the second half by a totally transformed blue team. Sky really need to remember they are supposed to be representing the whole of the premiership and not just their favourite four.

Posted 16:15 25th October 2008

Dale T (Everton fan) says...

After watching the game I feel this report is spot on except for the ref being a little harsh against Everton. I'm sure he's trying to make point to Moyies that after the Stoke game he's still in charge. Everton in the first half seemed to lack the motivation they need not sure what Lescott is doing this season but needs to snap out of it. As for Rooney he really needs to grow up kissing your team badge in front of the home fans of the other team is rather stupid, epsecially when tomorrow the Utd team will complain to the papers about abuse that they get because they are the Champions. One last comment when are the Ref's going to book players for rolling over. Yes Ronaldo was fouled today not as severe as some tackles but he was on the floor and some how found the energy to lean foward and roll over several times I thought he was winded????

Posted 15:40 25th October 2008

Sean C (Everton fan) says...

What a match. People underestimate the spirit of the blues! Ok so we didn't play amazingly in the 1st half but the 2nd we were relentless and deserved our point. Lest we forget, United are the reigning champions in European football and this result shows just how teams with as much support and passion as Everton can overcome superteams such as Manchester United. I feel this will give the team some much needed confidence now and maybe we can get back to winning ways against Fulham next week. It's only the league and FA Cup to play for now for Everton,expect fireworks folks!

Posted 15:37 25th October 2008

Paul Chief (Everton fan) says...

If you look again it wasn't a nasty lunge by Neville but a good tackle in which he won the ball and shouldn't of been booked for! Everton deserved more than a point today, Alan Wiley was central to man utd leavin with a point. Ryan Giggs what a cheat/ Wayne Rooney was an overrarted idiot

Posted 15:30 25th October 2008

Mark Espin (Manchester United fan) says...

How do we (United) expect to win the league again if we are not turning over the likes of Everton? I don't understand how Darren Fletcher gets picked for us every week and peolpe start raving about him when he scores, I even heard a comparison to Scholes!! also where is Tevez? Last season the 'Holy trinity' struck fear into every team in Europe but now Tevez isn't brought on until the 80th min? I hate to say it but at the minute Chelsea look too good and we might not even catch the scousers!

Posted 14:23 25th October 2008

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