Everton searching for late rally with finishing line ever closer

An indifferent but eventful 2009/2010 campaign for David Moyes and his Everton team is nearing its climax, with the Toffees having just five games left to salvage any European ambitions they are clinging onto.

Sunday’s disjointed performance at home to relegation strugglers West Ham, and the Goodison Park outfits inability to hold onto a lead, as they were twice pegged back by the Londoners in the 2-2 draw now puts extra onus and pressure on the blues to reap benefitting dividends from their final five games.

A season, engrossed in drama, fantastic victories against the majority of the ‘big five’, a glut of injury setbacks, two dismal cup exits and the LA wizard which reinvigorated the team certainly means this campaign will not be consigned to the history books too quickly.

Aston Villa, Blackburn and Stoke represent the away day challenges left to the blues to saunter, whilst Fulham and a last game of the season test awaits against relegation certainties Portsmouth. Perhaps, there are some winnable encounters in the list, but Everton have it all to do if they are going to overhaul Aston Villa, currently placed one place above the blues in 7th place with a four point gap separating them.

Everton skipper Phil Neville remains confident about the ability of his side: “The reality is we can beat any team in this league with this set of players”. A set of players which has not been a complete pack of cards for Moyes in a long while. Whilst key men in Phil Jagielka and Mikel Arteta have both battled back from serious knee injuries this term, it has only appeared to be brief rest bite for the Toffees boss with the in-form Marouane Fellaini and now Dan Gosling out injured for the foreseeable future. The injury table cannot shed all of the blame though for a season, which started poorly, but has been rekindled well by the Goodison outfit.


Mikel Arteta (above) will need to be fit and ready for the toffees run-in if they are to challenge for a Europa League berth.

Last season’s fifth place finish and Everton’s appearance in the FA Cup Final was a remarkable achievement, but a summer devoid of any transfer activity, until the very last minute, just moments before the ‘Transfer Deadline’ and a poor start in the league meant the chances of repeating the preceding seasons effort are a long gone distant memory. Despite, two dreadful exits from the FA Cup and Europa League, a resurgent Everton have found their feet at Goodison again and in 2010 they remain one of the premier leagues form sides. But do they have enough left to sneak into the Europa League slots once again this time out?

A gut feeling, probably echoed by David Moyes is that they have ridden the storm too late, though if they can make use of the ‘easier’ fixtures they have in the run-in then who knows. The return, again, of Mikel Arteta is integral for Everton as he is one of the only prevalent figures who has the ability to conjure up something out of nothing. Arteta’s fitness will be tried and tested valiantly over the next week or so before Everton’s trip to Villa Park, and it might just be the key to whether a rainbow or clouded sky is pictured in the Toffees horizon come what May.

Match Report: Everton 1 Birmingham 2

Everton’s dream of a second successive FA Cup Final appearance was shattered at Goodison Park yesterday as two familiar Merseyside namesakes, from either side of Stanley Park, sent in-form Birmingham through to the fifth round with a two-one victory.

Christian Benitez’s seventh minute unmarked header and an acute curling finish from Scottish midfielder Barry Ferguson following a superb team build-up put the travelling side in command and not even a Leon Osman inspired Everton fight back in the second half could prevent Alex McLeish’s men from extending their 14 game unbeaten run in all competitions.


Ferguson (above) capped a fine Birmingham performance with his sides second.

The Birmingham boss lauded the battling qualities of this season’s surprise package: “The lads threw themselves in the way of everything, blocking and heading everything away. The second half was a test of our character and we came through it”.

After recent fine form, the return of some key long term injury absentees and harbouring hopes of yet another May day Wembley outing, Everton Manager David Moyes was left rueing his teams lackadaisical start to the game, now leaving just the Europa League as the club’s only realistic chance for success this campaign. Moyes said: “Our slow start has got to be of concern to me. But the big worry is how we have put in such good performances recently and then shown this massive drop in the first half.

“We gave a good performance in the second half but it was not enough. Still, you have to give Birmingham credit. They deserved to go through”.

A Goodison charge after the re-start was boosted with the introduction of Leon Osman for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and his tidy finish was detriment to his impact on proceedings to bring the Toffees within a goal of earning a replay at St Andrews. Osman, seemed to be fleet of foot and have the charisma to drive a Everton charge in an otherwise disappointing performance from his team-mates.

However a bruising Birmingham defensive display superbly led by Scott Dann, a player previously earmarked in the Everton scouting books, nullified any home threat of a reprieve with only a late effort from the distinctive Marouane Fellaini calling the ever reliable on-loan Birmingham goalkeeper, Joe Hart into action.

Before kick off, an expectant Goodison Park was buoyed by the news of a return to the first team fold for Mikel Arteta. Everton’s Spanish creator, named on the substitute’s bench, had been sidelined since last February with a cruciate knee injury. His arrival into the squad bought a rise smile to all evertonians in an otherwise unchanged line-up from the side that coasted past high flying Manchester City last weekend.

These smiles were left in tatters though shortly after kick off when a lively Birmingham start punished costly Everton defending. Left back Leighton Baines failed to clear a Keith Fahey driven ball and it fell kindly to Benitez who headed home after loosing his marker, Phil Neville, in a treacherous home side defensive effort.

But it was Birmingham’s second goal which proved they do not need to rely on opposition mental lapses. Free-flowing and neat midfield play allowed Swede wide-man Sebastian Larsson to dance his way through to the edge of the Everton box, where former Blue James Mcfadden produced a delicate flick into the stride of all action midfielder, Barry Ferguson, who coolly dispatched his effort beating the despairing dive of Tim Howard.

The lead was more then enough to silence the home contingent and McLeish’s impressive outfit did not look in danger of surrendering their advantage. Not even the introduction of Arteta with a quarter of an hour to play could conjure up a Everton equaliser as Birmingham kept themselves in the frame for having an outside chance of achieving FA Cup glory this term.