Well City ain’t won at Goodison since 1992 and this weekend’s game was almost a carbon copy of last year’s dire affair. The Invisible Man is unsure of whether or not the atrocious view from the back of the lower bullins was actually a blessing in disguise.
That Bullen’s stand though needs to be torn down. How can a Premiership club called themselves Premiership with wooden little seats which would look more in place at a pre-school reception. They were tiny. Good job The Invisible Man stood up for the entire match then!
Now, on previous visits to Everton, The Invisible Man has always been impressed with the crowd, the roar and the banter the scousers give. However, Saturday was unbelievable. No atmosphere, no banter, no singing. Even after they scored they didn’t sing. Has it ever been so quiet? Maybe the previous night’s capital of culture celebrations took there toll. “Capital of Culture, You’re havin’ a Laugh!”
Anyways, onto the dire match itself.
One shot on target meant that against both Liverpool and Everton in recent games we have managed a total of one shot. Competing against these teams doesn’t quite hit the mark. It’s a good job City keep beating teams in the bottom half of the table because against our actual rivals we are not at the races.
A very cautious City did very little in the first half apart from a deflected Elano freekick. A combination of poor marking, Elano stood 3 yards behind all the other defenders and the fact Petrov couldn’t be arsed to close down the cross meant an easy goal for Lescott. This boy can’t stop scoring – at either ends!
Everton dominated the first half without creating too many changes. Before the goal Cahill missed an empty net after a great save from Hart. He really did get down well to stop that one.
After the break it was City’s turn to dominate as Everton, rather foolishly, decided that 1-nil would be all they wanted. They decided to play on the counter attack but couldn’t get out of their half for 20 minutes. Literally!
The crowd started getting on their backs as City continued to win every loose or second ball. City passed it and passed it and ended up going back to Hart who would then pumped it forward 70 yards for us to lose the ball then win it back again and pass it some more before returning to Hart would hit it 70 yards. It wasn’t inspiring!
No cutting edge from City was the root cause for the defeat. Some fans like to blame Vassell for all our troubles but when you have no chances to miss the problem is a bit more than just a dodgy striker. Plus Bianchi was on the pitch for the seocnd and never got a sniff either. The trouble came from a midfield which was not creative enough. Every time we looked to set Petrov away down the left flank. It was very easy to read and Hibbert just stayed deep.
There were two highlights of the game though that were great to see. The first was Petrov’s run. He didn’t have any room down the flank so cut inside and took on two or three players. It was a cracking run fully of pace and single mindedness.
The second was Dunne’s run and back-heel. With no creativity or movement from the midfield a little gap opened up and Dunne took it on. He slowly built up his speed (considerable for a big man) and then he was juggernauting his way to the box. After his run was checked he back-heeled it perfectly to the left wing. Dunney Monster is KING!
Player Ratings
HART - A couple of great reaction saves and got lucky with Cahill’s rebound means a solid performance. His kicking was ineffective and Sven has already told him that it is “forbidden”. Slipped on his arse when the fans were singing “England’s No.1″ was funny though. 7/10
BALL - Did well against Areta and kept him relatively quiet. Poor passing let Ball down but he was really up for the game. Lost his way when coming over the half way line and didn’t overlap Petrov enough 6/10
NEDUM - Looked far more comfortable at Centre Back where he moved in the second half. Was way too deep in the first as a right back and rarely went past half-way. Looks like Ned’s thinking a bit too much at the moment, rather than do what we all know he can do. Wasted a good chance from a corner 6/10
RICHARDS - Strength and power from the young man in the first half meant little got past him. Anichebe gave him a good run for this money though. Moved to right back in the second half and sprinted along the line well linking up with attack. However, he was suppose to be a right-back and ended up playing as a centre forward and failed to track back in the last 20 minutes. 6/10
DUNNE -The Dunney Monster was surperb again. Strong in the tackle, imperious in the air and making every 50/50 a 70/30. Very little got past him and he read the game very well. Even went on a couple of tank-like runs and did a great little back-heel to Petrov – Dunnedinho! Kick long far too often though and was poor with his distribution which was a a shame. He also got a great round of applause from the Toffees when his name was read out which was great to see. 8/10 STAR MAN
DIDI - Did the usual Kasier thing. Kept it simple and reads the game better than anyone else. Found it hard to pass in a very conjested midfield and spent most of the game breaking up play. Was wrongly booked for a fantastic sliding tackle. Subbed in the second half for fear of getting another yellow. 6/10
CORLUKA -Didn’t look comfortable in midfield. Took too long on the ball and was caught often (mostly around the shins). Took a big kick in the second half which could have been red for Carsley. Too slow and not enough craft with his passing. 5/10
ELANO - Nothing from the little Brazilian. Marked out the game and couldn’t create on a soggy, boggy pitch. Tried hard in the first half but was invisible in the second. 5/10
PETROV - All the attacking was going through Petrov and he was marked out of the game. Found it hard going and rarely got in behind. Had the only shot on target for City though. 6/10
CASTILLO - Looked way of the pace and like a fish out of water on the right hand side. Totally left footed and wanted to much time on the ball. Gave the ball away too often and needs to get match fit. Even failed to hit the target in the pre-match warm-up 5/10
VASSELL - No threat at all. A very easy day for Everton’s back line. Even his usual full of running self didn’t help in this game 5/10
GELSON - Came on for Didi and did what Didi did in the first half. (say that fast five times 
) No real impact 5/10
BIANCHI - Came on for Castillo and had 35 minutes to impress. Did even less than Vassell and gave away far too many freekicks. Strange why the City fans keep singing that song when he’s this poor. 5/10
IRELAND - Gave balance to the team but didn’t contribute anything else. Looked very fragile next to those massive Everton players. Has he got even thinner? 5/10
