Man Utd (H)

Everton 1 v 3 Man Utd Tuesday 13 November 2001

@ The AutoQuest Stadium, Widnes
Kick-Off: 7.30pm. Att: 4,628.

Jesper Blomqvist to make his Debut. No he doesn't

Everton Gerrard, Hibbert, Pilkington, Clarke, Valentine, Tal, Cleland, Gascoigne, McLeod, Cadamarteri, Eaton, .

Subs : O'Hanlon, Pettinger, Kearney, Symes, Schumacher,
Scorers: Cleland

Man Utd: Rachubka, Roche, Tierney, Clegg, Tate, Wallwork, Fletcher, Davis, Webber, Nardiello, Djordjic.

Everton began in a 442 formation, with Alec Cleland, partnering Paul Gascoigne in the middle of midfield. Cleland started well, fed Tal who had a good effort well saved. Kevin McLeod crossed for Danny Cadamarteri to head over, when it looked easier to score. Everton went into the lead on 26mins, when Gazza carried the ball out of defence and fed it to Cadamarteri who swept it out to Tal on the right, where the left winger was playing. Strange. Anyway he pushed to Tony Hibbert who flashed down the wing beat his man, crossed. then there was a bit of head tennis with McLeod, Danny, & finally Eaton scored. Minutes later Everton should have been 2-0 up when Hibbert again crossed & McLeod this time smashed the ball into the stands. A sitter! Everton broke again. This time Cada went on a run, & was about to shoot, when he was brought down from behind. Penalty. No chance said the ref.

Action from The Autoquest

Ping Pong in The Box

Half-time: Everton 1, Man Utd 0.

Everton Practice Lining Up in a Wall

The half time entertainment was er, different with the Everton Girls Strutting their stuff. I think some of the Everton players should have danced with the girls, as they were shite in the second half. Utd were level after 2 minutes of the restart. When the defence was caught napping at the far post & Djordic headed home, unmarked. Again Everton broke well, & should have scored. Valentine fooled everyone, including me with a neat reverse ball, which sent Eaton away. He crossed, for Cada to do what Cada does best. He missed the target, when me Grandma would have put it away. Utd went up the other end & made it 2-1, & scored a third, which Gerrard watched go by, without making an effort.

Gerrard made one good save, shouted his head off, some good, some bad. He was nowhere for the 3rd goal, but couldn't be faulted for the other 2. Tony Hibbert our best player, was strong in the tackle, against a fast Giggs Look-A-Like. He was always available for a let out ball. He also got forward, & made our goal. Pilkington, & Clarke were strong at the back. Valentine was good on the ball, but needs to sharpen up his defensive duties. Gazza tried his best, showed a few tricks, but faded in the second half. Cleland was very good in the fist half, but again faded in the second. There is no coincidence that Utd took control in the second half when our engine room of 60 plus in age, looked knackered.McLeod & Tal were good when in possession, but were not involved much. Up front, Cada, & Eaton were willing runners, but got bad service, except when Danny missed the sitter.

Full-time: Everton 1, Man Utd 3.

Bad news for the Toffees when Jesper Blomqvist had to pull out of tonights squad because of a groin injury he picked up in training.

Walter says: "What normally happen with players when they have been out for a while, one or two small injuries occur when they are making their comeback.

"Unfortunately Jesper has damaged his groin which will keep him out of tonight's reserve game, but shouldn't keep him out of training too long.

"He will be disappointed that is the case, but it is not unexpected when you step up training and try to achieve a higher level of fitness." (13/11/01)

Walter says: "Jesper's signing is an opportunity for both parties to benefit and we look forward to him getting a few games under his belt, getting up to match fitness and then being included in our first team pool.He has played three games for United's reserves and he will go into full training with us, play a couple of reserve games and then we will introduce him gradually as a substitute. He is an excellent player, free from injury and because of the amount of players Manchester United have in their squad, they are prepared to let him go. Therefore we are prepared to give him the opportunity to revive his career and obviously everybody involved is hopeful that will happen. I don't think there is any doubt that he is a good player and nobody would argue about that. Manchester United do not take players who are not of a good pedigree." (10/11/01)

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