Phil Brown kept faith with the players who did so well at Newcastle. Cousin and Zayatte replaced Fagan and Gardner who were injured. They were like for like changes and both worked out very well. City started brightly with Halmosi winning a free kick on the left in the first 20 seconds. For the next 60 minutes, we played vibrant and attractive attacking football. In truth, we didn't get in enough efforts on goal. We did completely nullify the expensively assembled Everton forward line, while moving the ball forward swiftly at every opportunity and causing them real problems. Halmosi beat four players on the left and delivered dangerously into the box. Cousin skied one effort from a tight angle and had a goal-bound effort deflected over. At the other end, Yakubu struck a volley cleanly but Myhill parried easily, while Osman found some space in between defence and midfield for the only time in the half but rolled his shot wide.
We took the lead from a Marney corner. Everton had obviously identified the threat of Turner. They put the very tall Fellaini in charge of marking the big man at corners, but as Marney floated it to the back post, Turner gave Fellaini the slip and headed in, despite the efforts of Jagielka on the line. The goal gave us a big boost and we continued to play the better football. We were noticeably confident on the ball, from back to front. It stood out when City players gave the ball away cheaply, notably McShane and Mendy twice each, because it was so rare. The two front men were fantastic, they lit up like a beacon when they didn't have the ball and when they received it, they controlled deftly or dispatched first time to a colleague with unerring accuracy.
Lee Mason, the referee, had a good half but should've booked Baines for a cynical trip on a rampaging Marney, and Castillo for chopping down Halmosi on the touchline. Ten minutes before half-time, the Everton fans, unsupportive and silent up to this point, barracked the linesman for not awarding offside against Cousin (he wasn't offside). A few minutes later, the ref gave them a free-kick and they responded with ironic cheers. As if the referee was the problem. He wasn't. They weren't hard done to; they were being outfought and outplayed by "inferior" opposition. We out-passed them; we beat them in the air and in the tackle. If there'd been any beaches, we'd have beaten them on there as well. The half-time whistle stopped Andy Dawson streaking away on a promising break and brought to an end the best first half of football most Tigers' fans will ever have seen.
We started the second half as we'd ended the first. Everton introduced Lescott and Saha from the bench, which would eventually prove crucial. A delightful four man City move, including a lovely link up between King and Cousin, ended with a corner being won. Marney whipped it in dangerously, Neville could only flick on and Howard punched into his own net, despite King's attempt to steal the goal on the line. It was a wholly deserved lead. Much like last week, we seemed to struggle to know what to do at 2-0. We suddenly looked a bit tense, Myhill, who'd leapt bravely at Yakubu's feet ten minutes earlier, now punched weakly at an Everton free-kick. They were wrestling the initiative away and were too happy to give it up. Apart from two superb breaks from Dean Marney, we were done as an attacking force. We were wasteful in possession and struggled to trace their movement. Louis Saha had been laughable for the 20 minutes after half time. Now he looked purposeful, he held the ball, won his personal battle with Zayatte and ran in behind superbly. The first time he got in, Myhill saved superbly with his feet. The second time, he went down under pressure from Zayatte. I thought it was a penalty, the ref didn't.
We conceded a soft goal, squandering the chance to clear the ball on our right hand side and when the ball fell to Cahill in the box, he had all the time in the world to turn and smash the ball in off the bar. The linesman said it was in, I didn't think it could be with the way it bounced, but I thought that of the 5th Wigan goal too. The equaliser was always going to come. We'd replaced Cousin with Folan and lost a lot of presence up front. Garcia came on for Mendy, to no effect. They put the ball into Saha's feet, he held off a defender and found Yakubu wide. His low cross was turned in by Osman. Everton had previously won 3-2 at both West Brom and Stoke, so there looked a little bit of inevitability about the last 8 minutes! Boateng replaced King, creating a five across the midfield and we held on quite comfortably in the end. With just a couple of minutes remaining, Marney won a free kick on the edge of their box, in the perfect position for a left foot strike and with Halmosi and Dawson on the pitch, we chose to take a short one wide to McShane. It was an absolutely ludicrous decision.
Myhill had a mixed game, mostly good though. He punched weakly twice, but he had little choice given the bodies in front of him. He should be punching better although a City player picking up the pieces on the edge of the box would help him out a lot. He made a comfortable save from Yakubu and a superb stop from Saha. He claimed corners easily, relieving the pressure and his dive at Yakubu's feet was stupidly brave, but a certain goal saver. My favourite bit though was when he came off his line to take a bouncing ball and wiped out Tim Cahill. Nothing against Cahill, of course, but we conceded goals last season when we were crying out for Myhill to come out and take ball and man and he did neither. McShane had another solid game. His passing was weak but his defending was generally very good. He was strong and threw himself at the ball. Both goals conceded came down his wing but it wasn't solely his fault. Dawson recovered from last week with a really solid performance. Apart from the start of the second half when he made 3 mistakes in 10 seconds to let Cahill win a corner, he was stubborn without the ball and excellent on it. Had I been in charge, I would've replaced Dawson with Ricketts, and I would've been wrong. Turner gets better every week. Centre-halves don't like being dragged out wide by quick, stocky strikers like Yakubu, but Turner was dragged out, and won the battle every time. He dealt with just about every ball into the box, his last ditch defending is second to none. His reading of the game is improving each game. Zayatte reminded me a lot of William Gallas. It wasn't just the haircut, but the running style, the strength and the desire to win the ball. Late on, he became a little rash and allowed the wily Saha to steal in behind him. He didn't cry and storm off the pitch though, so he's not completely Gallas-like. Following his little cameo at Newcastle, it was a very promising performance. Phil Brown's business on transfer deadline weekend has been bettered by absolutely no-one.
The central midfield battle pitted the £3 million-rated Castillo and £15m signing Fellaini against £500,000 signing Marney and Ian Ashbee, a freebie signing from the mighty Cambridge United. Everton were robbed. Ash tired late on and got sucked into defending deep to try and close space that Cahill and Osman were exploiting, but up to that point, he'd been incredible; great use of the football, superb support play and terrific reading of the game. In the second half, Yakubu went to go for a 50/50 challenge, saw his opponent was Ian Ashbee and shirked it. Last week, Dean Marney put in his best performance for City and this week, he blew it out of the water. His running wasn't just tireless, it was focused and direct. He floated past Everton defenders and into space. He was cynically chopped down twice because they weren't good enough to tackle him. He passed the ball beautifully, which is something he hasn't always done. One pass to Mendy with the outside of his right foot was exquisite. He danced around the field and played really well off the strike duo. When we were on top, his tackling was bone crunching but as they took the upper hand, he faded somewhat, unable to stem the tide. To his credit though, he was still the person taking the game to them at 2-2.
Mendy performed well again on the right wing. He gave good width and worked hard both ways. He generally used the ball well but didn't really deliver it into the box, which is disappointing when you have the front men we have. Halmosi looked every bit the player we thought we'd bought in the summer. He's strong and direct and really skillful. His delivery was much better in the air and he played some great balls into feet too. His work going backwards was much better than expected. At one point, he turned up in the six yard box to nick the ball off a forward's boot. His work rate was phenomenal. He was battered by several nasty tackles but got up and got on with everything. He's a tough cookie. Boateng did well when he came on. He picked up the loose balls and gave us a bit of impetus. You have to wonder whether he should've been introduced earlier, perhaps at 2-0 to help everyone through the last 25 minutes.
Up front, Marlon King continued to impress. The guy has bags of strength and pace but he also has great ball control and runs intelligently. His link up play is excellent. Daniel Cousin proved to be a fantastic partner for him. We've been lucky enough to see some good debuts in the last 18 months, Okocha, Folan and Boateng for starters, but Cousin's was by far the best yet. Like King, he's quick and strong. He's got a great first touch and he finds his team mates easily. He's very one-footed but skillful with it. He moves so easily with the ball. In front of goal, he looked dangerous. He will score goals, I'm sure of it. If he consistently performs to this level, he'll be the best signing anyone has made this season, without doubt. Folan was disappointing when he came on. He was struggling for support, but was poor in possession and didn't allow anyone to join him. To be fair though, he didn't get the quality of service that Cousin and King had in the first half.
In the end, we took a really good point today. It's credit to the quality of the players that we're disappointed at only getting one point. Everyone has to stay positive. We're scoring goals freely. We've recovered superbly from the set back against Wigan and we're competing with established Premier League teams. For a long time today, we made Everton look Sunday League. We've got two tough away trips up next but we need to keep the faith. This team will give us some hope and will fight for the cause so there'll be plenty to enjoy.
Ratings: Myhill 8, McShane 7, Dawson 7, Turner 8, Zayatte 7, Mendy 7 (Garcia), Halmosi 8, Marney 9, Ashbee 8, King 8 (Boateng), Cousin 8 (Folan).