skip to content

  • Kick-off: 20:00
  • Venue: Goodison Park
  • Attendance: 37160
  • Referee: Dowd, P

Live Commentary

93mins

Everton hold on to the win after Ferguson's header and United will be disappointed that their superior possession went unrewarded.

92mins

Paul Scholes gets his second yellow following a wild kick at Kilbane.

91mins

United are still pressing but Wayne Rooney's 20 yard drive is gathered by Nigel Martyn.

88mins

Ronaldo goes down under pressure from David Weitr and is booked for diving.

86mins

Everton replace Tim Cahill with James McFadden.

85mins

The ten men of United are still on top in terms of possession but look vulnerable on the counter.

82mins

Everton force a corner but Tim Cahill sends his header high and wide.

80mins

Everton make a further change and erplace the goal scorer Ferguson with James Beattie.

78mins

United can't quite clear a ball into the box and it breaks to Arteta but he slices well wide.

77mins

Wayne Rooney beats three players and lets fly from the edge of the box but it goes just wide.

76mins

United make another change and bring on John O'Shea for Darren Fletcher.

75mins

Everton make their first change and replace Darren Bent with Leon Osman.

72mins

While waiting for a throw in Gary Neville volleys the ball into crowd and gets sent off.

71mins

United make a substitution and replace Wes Brown with Mikael Silvestre.

70mins

Ronaldo plays a great one-two with Scholes but his left footed drive is beaten away by Martyn.

68mins

United are still dominating the possession but are struggling to break down a strong Everton rearguard.

65mins

United break quickly through Ronaldo and Rooney but Scholes' drive goes just over the bar.

63mins

Fletcher wins the ball in midfield and United break forward but Ronaldo's cross goes into the crowd.

61mins

United are looking to hit back early but Everton are all over them in midfield and they can't find any fluency.

58mins

Tony Hibbert is beaten to the ball by Rooney but brings down the United man and earns a yellow card.

55mins

Arteta whips over a free kick and Duncan Ferguson rises highest to beat Tim Howard.

54mins

Everton are really pressing in midfield and are not letting United settle.

51mins

Duncan Ferguson slides in at the back of Darren Fletcher and picks up a yellow card.

49mins

Rooney clips a lovely ball over the top that finds Paul Scholes but Martyn makes a great save.

46mins

There are no changes at the break and Everton get the game restarted.

45mins

It has been a fascinating game so far played at a frantic pace but chances have been limited.

43mins

Manchester United are controlling most of the possession but have done little with the ball so far.

40mins

So far it has been a fascinating game that is being played at an amazing tempo but both defences are looking solid.

37mins

Marcus Bent pounces on a Heinze mistake but his shot goes well over the bar.

36mins

The game is still being played at a frantic pace but the chances are few and far between although Everton aer looking dangerous in the air.

33mins

Cahill tries an overhead kick after a poor Howard clearance but Wes Brown clears off the line.

32mins

Paul Scholes gets a booking following a clumsy foul on Mikel Amatriain Arteta.

30mins

The visitors are well on top in terms of possession butEverton are proving a tough nut to crack.

27mins

Mikel Arteta earns a yellow card after a handball but it has been an accumulation of fouls more than anything.

26mins

Everton are defending really well and are looking dangerous on the break but so far they can't find the final ball.

23mins

Manchester United are gradually getting on top and are creating space down the right flank but so far they have not created a real chance.

20mins

Wayne Rooney is appearing everywhere at the moment and he looks really up for this game tonight.

17mins

United start controlling the ball and feed Heinze in space but his shot from 25 yards goes well wide.

16mins

United use some nice link up play in midfield but at the moment they cannot find a way through.

13mins

Everton break well and feed Bent down the right flank but his fizzed cross is gathered well by Howard.

10mins

The game is being played at a frenetic pace and still has not settled yet, so no real chances have been created.

7mins

Keane feeds Rooney who lets fly from 25 yards but Nigel Martyn makes the save.

5mins

Everton force a corner early on but Yobo can't get enough on the header and it goes wide.

3mins

It has been a lively opening few minutes but neither team has settled yet.

0mins

Manchester United get the game underway.

Match Report

A trademark header from Duncan Ferguson gave Everton their first league win over nine-man Manchester United in ten years and kept them clear of Liverpool in the race for fourth place.

The Scot, who also netted the winner in the Blues' last triumph over United a decade ago, swooped to meet Mikel Arteta's free-kick in a hotly-tempered game which saw Gary Neville sent off for kicking the ball at Everton fans and Paul Scholes dismissed in stoppage time.

Everton hero-turned-heathen Wayne Rooney was once again the centre of attention. He joined Ruud van Nistelrooy, who ended his goal famine with a brace against Newcastle on Sunday, in attack.

Toffees boss David Moyes resisted the temptation to place sixteen-year-old James Vaughan against Rooney in a battle of the teenagers, choosing instead to leave him on the bench.

Misfiring record signing James Beattie also had to be content with a place in the dugout after recovering from a knee injury. Alan Stubbs was missing with a dislocated shoulder.

A fervent Everton crowd did their utmost to unsettle the seasoned United stars, creating a wall of noise around Goodison, which has been so lacking this season despite a fine league campaign.

Rooney, who took the brunt of the abuse, and the brunt of a nosebleed-inducing arm in the face, came close to ramming the taunts down his former fans throats with a magnificent strike from distance on seven minutes, which Nigel Martyn struggled to parry.

Everton, looking for their first win against Sir Alex's Ferguson in 20 league games, matched United's high-tempo breaks early on, but rarely looked likely to penetrate Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand's high-quality resistance.

United expertly took the pace out of the game and the decibels out of the stands, as they had expertly done in the FA Cup tie.

But Everton, as they have done all season, doggedly fought on and regained the initiative and almost had the lead ten minutes before the break. A Ferguson header needed Roy Keane's intervention off the line before Arteta's spectacular effort was again repelled from the goal-line, this time by Ferdinand.

Marcus Bent's woeful finishing denied the Blues another chance to gain the lead before the break with a header that hit his shoulder, followed by a wayward volley which span high over the bar.

United's first clear opportunity came four minutes after the interval when the ever-inspirational Rooney chipped a perfectly weighted pass over Joseph Yobo's head into the path of Scholes, whose effort was brilliantly saved by Martyn.

After winning an intense five-minute midfield battle, Everton had the lead. Arteta's beautifully flighted free-kick, found Ferguson unmarked in the six-yard box. The Scot swooped in trademark fashion to send the Goodison faithful into a state of delirium.

United rallied, and although Ronaldo teased and cavorted and Scholes blasted just over, there appeared to be little way back into the game for Sir Alex Ferguson's shell-shocked side.

Ronaldo finally added a little productivity to his posturing on 70 minutes when he stung Martyn's fingertips from distance, but van Nistelrooy, was unable to convert the rebound under pressure from Yobo.

Neville inexplicably got himself sent off 18 minutes from time as United tempers frayed. The England full-back responded to taunts from the Everton fans by booting the ball into crowd. Referee Phil Dowd had no hesitation in brandishing the red card.

As news of Liverpool's away win at Portsmouth filtered through, it was all the more important that Everton held on to this triumph and they showed no sign of faltering.

Tony Hibbert cleared off the line from Ferdinand and van Nistelrooy missed his kick with the goal at his mercy, before Scholes saw red for his second booking after a terrible lunge on Kevin Kilbane.

Everton

Manchester United

Corners

45

Fouls

1817

Goal attempts

716

Shots off target

45

Offsides

11

advertisement

advertisement