Sunday afternoon at Goodison Park.  Hardly the proper time for football but nonetheless.  Tense game with some expansive and beautiful Everton play.  Pompey's very own Diddy man evades his markers to grab an equalizer for the visitors and the home side is discombobulated for a while.  Normal service resumes and Tiny Tim gets Everton's second whilst the Yak scores the third of the game and his eighteenth of the season. 

 

A convoluted trip limits the number of away fans although the home fans turn up in decent numbers for what is a European six pointer.  The weather and pitch are fine and the Panto Dame predicts a bore draw.  Hardly serious football journalism from Lawro when both sides have only managed two (home/away) draws from league play this season.  The stakes are high and at both teams are unbeaten in three so something has to give. 

 

Moyes is starting to encounter the problems of having a full and functioning squad coupled with the need to drop or change players.  Difficult but a nice problem to have. 

Howard keeps goal, Hibbert occupies the right back berth after a solid performance against Petrov, Yobo and Jagielka continue their strong partnership in the centre and Lescott stays at left back.  Carsley and Neville sit deep with Pienaar Osman and Cahill getting licenses to attack with Yakubu as the main forward.  This is very firmly an attacking 4 5 1. 

"IT'S OK LADS! MOST OF THEM ARE ONLY THIS TALL!"
DAVID JAMES ON THE MIDGET GEMS!

Redknapp has plenty to chose from and opts for a large 4 5 1.  James continues his long streak in goal the back four has the energy at the flanks in John son and Hreidarsson and solidity in the middle with Campbell and Distin.  Strung across the middle are Bouba Diop, Diarra, Muntari and Krancjar with Defoe and Kanu up front as a little and large partnership. 

 

"IS THE BIG GUY ENGLISH?"

CAPELLO, HOT OF THE HELICOPTER FROM BOLTON.

PLENTY OF ENGLISH TALENT ON SHOW!

Before Capello has even taken his seat (the Italian is hot off the helicopter after watching Bolton lose) Yakubu has duly scored the opener.  A brisk Everton attack and a clumsy challenge see Pienaar deliver a nothing ball into the area.  Distin is too slow, John son just watches and the rest of the defence barely moves as Yobo flicks the ball on for his countryman to stoop and head beyond James.  Clocked at fifty seconds.

"FEED THE YAK AND HE WILL SCORE!"
JOHN SON AND JAMES CAN DO NOTHING TO STOP NUMBER SEVENTEEN

Before it's even begun the game has turned into a major challenge for Portsmouth.  One which in the first half they barely rise to. 

Huge swathes of the first half see some delightful Everton passing and movement which bamboozles and befuddles Pompey. 

My highlight is Pienaar and Cahill passing to each other as they advance down the left ignorant (seemingly) of the Pompey defenders they leave for dead.  Nothing comes of all the fancy footwork but a few good saves and clearances from a stout Pompey back line or a wayward strike from Phil Neville. 

Osman and Cahill have chances and James gets away with one of his trademark Calamity's ™. 

The Everton player with the hottest boots is Irish; Carsley has a free kick and two more chances, none of which find the target.

"EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING
THOSE GUYS ARE FAST AS LIGHTENING
SOMETIMES IT'S A WAS LITTLE BIT FRIGHTENING
EVERYBODY IS KUNG FU FUGHTING
LA LA LA LAAH!"
THE KUNG FU OF KUYT IS PRACTISED AGAIN AT GOODISON PARK. 

John son skinned Pienaar early on but produced a poor cross and Kranjcar briefly sputtered into life in a half that until the thirty eighth minutes the visitors looked practically dead and buried as they foundered on a calmly wonderful Everton back six. 

The ground goes into that stunned away goal silence when from out of the blue John son lays in a lovely ball which Howard should be rushing off his line to claim.  The big yank doesn't and the little Englishman slips between two vastly bigger but static defenders to graze the ball with the faintest of touches beyond a flailing Howard for the equalizer. 

Who picked up Defoe's run and why didn't Howard move.  For a normally solid defence that was shocking.

"SILENCE IS GOLDEN"
UNLESS IT'S THAT GHASTLY SILENCE THAT FOLLOWS AN AWAY GOAL
POMPEY'S VERY OWN MIDGET GEM GETS AN UNEXPECTED EQUALIZER.

Everton still press in the last five but some of the conviction has slipped from their play. 

 

Moyes keeps things the same and Harry must have given some sort of fire-breathing-barnstorming-Churchillean monologue to inspire his players. 

 

The visitors emerged from the tunnel with their proverbial tails up, Defoe and Yakubu were swapping goal celebrations and everyone was happy. 

Ten minutes into the half and Everton had barely gotten into second gear.  The champagne had gone flat and it took a determined team effort to haul their sorry arses back into the game, they were just getting going and starting to move forward with some purpose when the key managerial input came. 

Moyes switched to a 4 4 2 and brought off Hibbert for John son, Neville slotted in to the right back role and John son caused immediate mayhem. 

A rapid and ball hungry outlet pulled the Pompey defence all over the park. 

The interplay between the front two was nice to see and effective, Pompey retreated back into their shell and even the addition of Utaka's pace and skill made little difference to the Blues' dominance. 

Things were still tense though as without a goal Pompey could sneak one or the game could end drawn. 

Tensions eased and the noise level rose after some neat play on the left produced a classic Cahill headed goal.

SOMEWHERE IN TIM CAHILL'S LINEAGE IS A WALLABY!
THE EXCELLENT OZZIE LEAPS TO GET HIS TENTH OF THE SEASON

The Australian played a ball out to the left from deep, Yakubu got on the end of it and played in Pienaar, the South African whose crosses the ball into the six yard box, Cahill has continued his run and not been picked up and rose magnificently to bury one, his tenth of the year. 

John son scored but the goal was called back for a tight offside and James had another Calamity ™ yet got way with it. 

The icing on the cake (albeit not a clean sheet) was Yakubu's second goal.  Portsmouth lost the ball in the Everton half and John son picked up the clearance, his crossfield ball flew fourty yards and caught Campbell in an indecisive mood, the ex-Gunner let the ball go behind him and the Yak took the gift, turned Campbell inside around and hammered the ball beyond a stunned James.

FEED THE YAK AND HE WILL SCORE!
NUMBER EIGTHEEN IS ABOUT TO BEAT JAMES AFTER YAKUBU BAMBOOZLES CAMPBELL.

Everton finished professionally. 

 

Everton played well; they dug themselves a hole, blundered around in it for a while before pulling themselves out of it and playing even better. 

Happy with the goals, unhappy with equalizer and the twenty minutes of mental lethargy.

Happiest with the mental toughness that turned the game around in the second half. 

Loved the changed from 4 5 1 to 4 4 2.

EXHIBIT B - HOW BEING A FOOTBALL MANAGER WILL SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR COMPLEXION!

The first half was an intimate exercise; football in microsm; play well but don't score and you leave yourself vulnerable. 

2008 is becoming a good year for Everton in the Premier League. 

Seems the defeats in the two domestic cups were forgotten in the cold of Norway and the team was celebrated in the six-one European Night. 

Thursday will be the toughest test for the team of the season so far.   Fiorentina are good, hungry, and unfamiliar.  To repeat the efforts and enjoy the performances of the 1984/85 season the team needs to play very well against one of Italy's best sides.  Tough but eminently dooable.  COYB

 

Pompey weren't in the game for long periods but could have gotten three points.

"OIY LADS! QUICK! OVER 'ERE - LOOKS LIKE HARRY"S GOING FOR THE HIGH NOTE!"
MR REDKNAPP's URGING HIS TEAM ON WITH SONG!

On small things games turn, for example Defoe.  On another day Pompey score a second and kill the game.  Today they weren't good enough to do that but good enough to frustrate and get at Everton without causing Howard too many worries. 

 

Mariner.  Pretty good game lah!

Note to Andre: check the video of the game, notice that Distin had his arms all over Lescott whilst holding him down, and notice the pushes John son applied at crucial moments to Lescott and Yakubu.  All three offences happened in the penalty area.  Penalties, maybe I'm not an expert, I'm just mentioning them in case you didn't see them. 

 

 

Everton:-

Howard

Hibbert (John son 66)

Yobo

Jagielka

Lescott

Osman

Carsley

Neville

Pienaar (Baines 90)

Cahill

Yakubu (Anichebe 83)

 

Bookings:-

Pienaar

 

Goals:-

Yakubu 50 seconds, 81

Cahill 73

 

 

Portsmouth:-

James

John son

Campbell

Distin

Hreidarsson

BoubaDiop (Utaka 78)

Diarra

Muntari

Kranjcar

Defoe

Kanu

 

Bookings:-

Distin

 

Goals:-

Defoe 38

 

Attendance:-

33938

 

Referee:-

Andre Mariner

 

 

Images courtesy of Evertonfc.com

Images courtesy of bbc.co.uk