Source: Telegraph
Everton matchwinner Louis Saha heading for semifinal reunion with Manchester United
The first club from Merseyside to reach the old Wembley in 1933 will also be the first to take the field at the new. True, it is just a semi-final, and true, to win the FA Cup first Everton must first fell Manchester United and then, probably, another of the Big Four. But it will suit David Moyes's side that the odds are against them.
Two goals in four second-half minutes, from the heads of Marouane Fellaini and Louis Saha, cancelled David Wheater's opener and set up Everton for their first appearance at the national stadium since they beat their semi-final opponents to win this trophy in 1995.
That victory came against all expectation. Joe Royle's side had survived a relegation scare, Sir Alex Ferguson's United had just lost the league to Blackburn. Regaining possession of the FA Cup after 14 years will take a shock of even greater proportions.
But there is a sense of destiny around Everton this season. Phil Neville, their talismanic captain, believes it stems from slaying the dragon from the other side of Stanley Park. They dispatched Aston Villa comfortably. Now they have come from behind to make the last four. This could just be their year.
'We've certainly earned it, if you look at the games we've had to play,' said Moyes. 'It means nothing to be going to Wembley for a semi-final. I don't think anybody likes the semis at Wembley, but we do want to be there in a final. The important thing is to win a trophy for Everton but we still have a long way to go because of the teams who are still left to play.'
Moyes's side will, of course, resort to their familiar role of underdogs when they first visit north London for their date with United. It is an image Moyes encourages, cleverly casting his club as penniless, strikerless, eternally oppressed. The world is against them and they would not have it any other way.
Here, though, they were favourites. It was unfamiliar, and, for 45 minutes, unnerving. Even the crowd, normally a broiling mass, found their voice only when Mark Halsey gave yet another free-kick against Fellaini in his tussle with Robert Huth. The players found their feet when they had gone behind.
They did so deservedly. For much of the first half, a spirited Middlesbrough, freed from the drudgery of an increasingly desperate battle against relegation, looked utterly serene at the back and threatened going forwards.
Jeremie Aliadiere, rocking back on his heel, flashed one attempt just over after good work from Matthew Bates and Joseph Yobo did well to deny Tuncay Sanli. Everton, with Saha not fit to start, could only try to use the aerial power of Fellaini, who forced Brad Jones into one smart save, and Tim Cahill but found their two threats neutered by the towering Wheater and Huth.
So anodyne were Everton that by the time Wheater headed in Bates's excellent right-foot cross — well over despite Tim Howard's attempt to claw the ball back from the line – the fans had forgotten their happy optimism.
'It was a case of who got to them first in the dressing room,' said Moyes. 'Steve Round beat me to it and he did a good job on them. They needed a swift charger.'
Nine second-half minutes later and his side were ahead. First Fellaini escaped Huth's attentions to glance in Cahill's cross, and then Saha, a half-time substitute, beat Jones to Steven Pienaar's centre and glanced the ball home.
With Goodison at its deafening best, Everton should have extended their lead. Leighton Baines hit the bar with a 20-yard free-kick. Leon Osman flashed an angled drive just past Jones's far post, and Saha ballooned the simplest of finishes.
Middlesbrough could only threaten through Everton's occasional defensive lapses, Howard almost spilling a weak Gary O'Neil free kick and Tuncay finding Joleon Lescott in his way, but in truth Everton were comfortable.
'We were 45 minutes from Wembley,' said Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager. 'The way in which we gave the lead away shows why we are where we are. We have to learn how to see games through. It won't have any detrimental effect on our league form but it takes away the dream for the fans.'
