Everton has made it one of their best starts of the season with a collosus 2-0 win over mighty Tottenham!
As expected, Moyes played a 4-5-1 formation with AJ playing that lone striker role. Beats was finally relegated to the bench after two lazy performance. (Beats: Don't you ever think of playing for the England team with that kind of performance!). The line-up was much similar to the last game except that Timmy was given a starting role in this game.
Score: Tottenham 0 - 2 Everton
Scorers: A Tottenham Own Goal, AJ
Team Line-up (Rating)
Howard (7)
Nayces (7), Lescott (8), Yobo (9), Neville (8)
Killer (6), Timmy (7) Cars (8), Arteta (7), Ossie (8)
AJ (9)
Sub: Weir (7)
Goalkeeper
My Take
Howard is currently growing from strength to strength. He has taken off where Nigel Martyn had left off. what's more, Howard has many years ahead of him.
90 Mins
Howard was never really tested. Those shots that were on target were never troubling him too much.
Defence
My Take
Nayces continued his return to fitness with another start. Yobo was paired with Lescott and this would really test Lescott as it'll be his first start for Everton. Neville continued to marshal the boys from the right.
90 Mins
From the first whistle on, Tottenham was totally lost at sea. Every single chance they tried to penetrate the defence, the midfield in the form of Cars, and even AJ would be back to help mark the players. Nayces has been increasing in confidence as he prowl the left side of the field, while Yobo and Lescott seemed to have hit a purple patch in terms of defending their goal post. Neville showed much more stability during this game. It was not only stoid defending, but they only caused havoc in the Tottenham 18-yard box. Lescott was a nuisance in the penalty area which ultimately led to an own-goal by Tottenham's defender Davenport. Neville also provided the killer assist for AJ to slice in the second goal.
Midfield
My Take
Did not expect Killer to be involved in this game, but the other players, like Cars, Timmy, Arteta and Ossie, were the regular suspects.
90 Mins
Everton outplayed and outgunned Tottenham. This midfield was THE team of old where they ran their opponents ragged and had a stranglehold of the centre of the park. This was what they did with precision today. The Toffees had played a pretty tight game until Killer got sent off. After that, the team started to play for each other. Each knowing their roles well, and each helping out not only in defence, but also in attack. Timmy, Arteta and Osman supported strongly in attack. Timmy was a great assistant to AJ as he kept the ball in the final third of the field and gave the opposing defenders alot to think about. Arteta was not his tricky self yet, but still managed the ball pretty well, and Ossie accosted himself well with a great perfromance on the right side of the field. With his low centre of gravity, he slid in and out of a very crowded midfield with ease. Cars continued to play a critical role of protecting the back four. He made many interceptions which might have led to golas if they were to be played into Everton's penalty area. When killer was sent off, Arteta was moved to the left, which he was pretty much comfortable in that role.
Strike
My Take
AJ was recalled to the England side less than 24 hours to the game at Tottenham. Much was expected of him as his speed has gotten Everton out of a number of dicey situation.
90 mins
AJ was totally amazing. His work ethics was par excellence! He literally covered every single blade of the field. This was what Everton was lacking last season. AJ could release some steam through his pacey counter-attacks. He even tracked back to defend for Everton. The goal he scored also showed his opportunistic side where went between two Tottenham defender and sliced in a shot pass England International's Goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
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