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  • Lescott (31)
  • Date:2008-01-12
  • Kick-off:15:00
  • Venue:Goodison Park
  • Attendance:38474
  • Referee:Halsey, M

Live Commentary

90mins

FT:Everton 1-0 Man City: Man City enjoyed a huge percentage of the possession in the second half but they never looked like troubling Howard in the Everton goal and the Toffees take a crucial three points in the race for European football.

90mins

Leighton Baines is back from injury and he is on now in place of Anichebe.

90mins

Finally Howard is forced into action as Petrov drives in a low shot from the left that the keeper gets down to quickly.

88mins

Sven looks a little disbelieving that his side have not tested Howard because his side have been all over Everton in this half.

86mins

Somehow Tim Cahill hasn't scored today as he heads another Arteta cross over the bar from the penalty spot.

83mins

Everton now look pretty comfortable as even though City are enjoying the possession they don't look remotely like getting through.

80mins

Mikel Arteta's delivery has been wonderful this afternoon and its a surprise that Everton haven't scored more from them as Vaughan is denied superbly by Hart.

78mins

Things have got a little scrappy now with a number of petty fouls upsetting the rhythm of proceedings.

75mins

Everton are now beginning to enjoy a little bit of possession themselves and Valente is starting to get into decent positions to cross.

72mins

Cahill and Arteta have hardly had a kick in this half but the Spaniard delivers a wonderful free-kick and the Australian rises but the ball just beats him as he looked to head goalwards.

69mins

Darius Vassell is off now with Stephen Ireland coming on to replace the front man who has had very little service.

64mins

Everton have relieved some of the pressure with a bit of possession but City are the ones on top, although Howard is yet to be forced into action.

61mins

Lee Carsley picks up a yellow card now for a foul on Elano as the Brazilian looked to attack the home defence.

60mins

James McFadden has been a little quiet today and he is replaced by James Vaughan who has bags of potential.

59mins

Cahill is walking a very thin tight rope at the moment as he commits yet another foul and with a booking already he is risking being dismissed.

58mins

City make a double change now as Dietmar Hamann and Nery Castillo are replaced by Rolando Bianchi and Gelson Fernandes.

57mins

Michael Ball curls the ball in from the left and Petrov tries an ambitious volley from the edge of the box but he slices it wildly out for a throw in.

55mins

Man City are now beginning to look in a bit of control at the moment and Onuoha is getting forward down the right a lot more now to support Elano.

52mins

However, City have turned things round a little in the last few minutes with Petrov starting to put the ball in well from the left hand side.

49mins

Everton have again made a lively start to the second period with Cahill being caught a fraction offside.

46mins

The second period is underway at Goodison Park with City looking to improve on their pretty poor away record but they face a battle against an Everton side who were superb in the first half.

45mins

HT:Everton 1-0 Man City: Everton hold a deserved lead at the break through Lescott but City were starting to apply pressure in the latter stages of the half.

42mins

Dietmar Hamann picks up City's first booking for a foul on Nuno Valente, although replays suggest the referee has got it totally wrong.

41mins

As half-time approaches City are the ones ending the half on top with Petrov and Elano finally starting to see some of the ball but Castillo has been largely anonymous so far.

38mins

Phil Neville takes a rare run forward and lets fly from 25 yards but it is straight at Joe Hart who makes a comfortable save.

37mins

Rather strangely that goal has sparked Sven's men into life and they look a totally different outfit now and the pressure is on the Everton backline.

33mins

The visitors have responded pretty well to the goal and Howard is sent scrambling after an Elano free-kick takes a huge deflection off Anichebe and loops onto the top of the net.

30mins

GOAL:Everton 1-0 Man City: (30mins) Arteta with a devilish cross into the near post and Lescott arrives to head past a stranded Hart. What will City do to respond?

27mins

The home side are really on top at the moment and City cannot get out of their half with any great possession and a goal looks to be coming.

24mins

Arteta and Anichebe work well down the right and Cahill somehow manages to miss two golden opportunities to open the scoring.

21mins

Mikel Arteta has superb delivery from the set-pieces and he puts in a lovely ball here that Jagielka meets at the near post but he can't keep his header down.

18mins

Everton are applying some form of pressure now and Carsley tries luck from an ambitious distance but his 35-yarder is well wide of goal.

16mins

Nuno Valente advances down the left hand side and curls a cross in and Joleon Lescott of all people is up there to hit the volley but Micah Richards blocks well.

13mins

Still the game is lacking any real impetus with both teams keeping it tight and the tempo is not very quick at all.

11mins

Tim Cahill is booked early on for a pretty dodgy looking tackle on Dietmar Hamann in the midfield.

9mins

There is no real flow to proceedings so far with both sides passing looking a little lacklustre and they will need to pick it up.

6mins

Everton are probably still enjoying the better of it in front of their home fans but there have been no chances so far.

3mins

Everton have had a fair bit of the early possession with Neville getting into the right channel and bending a ball in towards the edge of the box but Elano is able to clear.

1mins

Mark Halsey is today's referee and he gets this big game underway with both sides surely looking for a quick start to take the upper hand early.

0mins

Man City: Hart, Onuoha, Richards, Dunne, Ball, Corluka, Hamann, Petrov, Elano, Castillo, Vassell

0mins

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Nuno Valente, Arteta, Carsley, Neville, McFadden, Cahill, Anichebe

0mins

Man City began the season superbly and have regained their form after a minor blip, no doubt helped by the return of playmaker Elano and they will be looking to build on their victory at Newcastle in their last away Premier League game.

0mins

Everton suffered late heartbreak in the Carling Cup against Chelsea in midweek but that shouldn't have too much of an effect on their league form which has been top drawer in over the last couple of months.

0mins

Welcome to Goodison Park where two sides with real ambitions of surpassing Liverpool into fourth place clash on a vital January afternoon.

Match Preview

Two of the challengers for a European place meet at Goodison Park this weekend as Everton attempt to bounce back after the disappointment of conceding a last-gasp goal to Chelsea in midweek.

David Moyes' side looked set to leave Stamford Bridge with a hard-earned 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final clash until the unlikely figure of Shaun Wright-Phillips helped head in a stoppage-time winner for via the unlucky Joleon Lescott.

Despite that late setback and the shock of losing at home to Oldham Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup last weekend, Everton still have a chance of reaching the Carling Cup final and remain in the UEFA Cup as well as sitting sixth in the Premier League table.

Moyes has few injury concerns with Leon Osman his chief worry. The hard-working midfielder is likely to be sidelined for another month with a broken toe, while goalkeeper Iain Turner has a hip problem.

However, the Toffees will be without key trio Yakubu, Steven Piennaar and Joseph Yobo for up to a month as they are on African Cup of Nations duty.

In contrast, City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has virtually a full-strength squad to choose from as he looks to extend his side's five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Since losing at Tottenham in early December, City have beaten Bolton and Newcastle, as well as securing draws with Aston Villa, Blackburn and Liverpool and remain in the top-four as the season moves into a crucial period.

The win at St James' Park was only City's second three-point haul on their travels this term, but Eriksson's side remain unbeaten in 11 home Premier League encounters.

Michael Johnson is expected to miss out with an abdominal strain, but Richard Dunne should play despite taking a blow to the face in last weekend's FA Cup third round draw with West Ham United.


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Match Report

Everton came out victorious against Manchester City in a dismal game which only livened up in the second half.

The Toffees were forced to field an unfamiliar line-up for this crunch tie between two of the Premier League's would-be Champions League gatecrashers.

Manager David Moyes was forced to shuffle his pack with Joseph Yobo, Steven Pienaar and top scorer Yakubu away at the African Cup of Nations.

To add to his woes, prodigal loan signing Manuel Fernandes did not complete his move in time and Andy Johnson was absent after sustaining a knock in training.

Sven-Goran Eriksson had no such worries, welcoming midfielder Elano back into the fold and only missing Michael Johnson through injury.

Michael Ball and Richard Dunne returned together for the first time to the club they began their respective top-flight careers.

Both sides laboured to stamp any authority in a ragged opening period with the first real action coming in the 15th minute.

Mikel Arteta's corner sparked confusion in the City defence, but ultimately Victor Anichebe headed well over while under pressure in front of the City goal.

Tim Cahill missed a glorious chance to put the home side ahead after good work by Anichebe.

The youngster teed up the Australian whose first shot was parried by Joe Hart and then ricocheted back out as James McFadden challenged the goalkeeper, but Cahill's return shot from the left sailed over the bar from ten yards out.

Everton were gradually finding their feet and it was not surprising when they took the lead in the 31st minute.

Defender Joleon Lescott escaped the attention of the static Elano to tap in Arteta's low cross from three yards out after Phil Neville picked the Spaniard out on the right.

Everton kept the tempo up after the goal, restricting City to an Elano free-kick and a Vedran Corluka long shot as their only real attempts on Tim Howard's goal.

City started the second period much brighter with Everton sitting much too deep.

Three corners in as many minutes should have yielded better rewards for the visitors as they pinned the Toffees into their own half.

Both teams made changes with half an hour to go as Nery Castillo and Dietmar Hamann were replaced by Rolando Bianchi and Gelson Fernandes, while young striker James Vaughan came on for McFadden for the home side.

Everton threatened sporadically on the counter-attack with Arteta, Vaughan and Cahill linking nicely without any real penetration, but Eriksson would have been dismayed that his side lacked any real threat despite having the bulk of possession in the second period.

Howard did well to secure Everton the points at the death after he managed to smother Martin Petrov's fierce drive.

The fact that this was City's first and last shot on target in the entire 90 minutes tells its own story.

Everton

Manchester City

Corners

45

Fouls

1412

Goal attempts

105

Shots off target

54

Offsides

31

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