EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB - News Archive

Southampton 1-0 Everton

Blues Robbed By Saints

Everton have slipped to a second successive defeat, losing to a dubious penalty at Southampton, despite dominating the match from start to finish. The Toffees were far superior in every department and created sufficient opportunities to have won three matches let alone just the one. Steve Simonsen was a late withdrawal for Everton, suffering with a dead leg, and Paul Gerrard was drafted in for his first appearance of the season…The Toffees were thus left with no goalkeeper on the substitutes bench.

Li Wei Feng made his debut alongside David Weir at the back, with Dave Unsworth reverting to left-back. Both halves gave us a catalogue of Everton chances – some of which were well saved by Paul Jones and some of which were poorly squandered. Weir had the first, but he was unlucky to see his header from a Thomas Gravesen corner flash inches wide of the upright

Then, on 21 minutes, Tomasz Radzinski was superbly played in by Gravesen, only to blaze high and wide from six yards. Radzinski had another close-range effort well blocked and Campbell and Alexandersson both should have done better when they had chances.

Southampton pressure was sporadic and comfortably dealt with. Indeed, the only real noteworthy moment for the home side came when Gordon Strachan was dismissed midway through the first half. Weir, in particular, was outstanding for the Toffees, giving a display of defending that rendered any criticism of him North of the Border quite ridiculous. The second period brought no respite for the Saints, and certainly no better fortune for the visitors.

Gravesen’s smart low shot from distance was very well saved by Jones two minutes after the restart, then, on the hour, Radzinski was denied yet again by the Welsh international stopper and Campbell’s follow up effort found the side-netting. Li Tie, who gave another tidy performance in midfield, was next to be frustrated when his half-volley from ten yards bounced wide.

With so much profligacy in front of goal, one always suspected a sucker-punch was waiting to be delivered. It was, and it came on 72 minutes

Marion Pahars stumbled inside the box after receiving the merest of nudges from Weir and referee, Steve Bennett, pointed to the spot. Pahars was chastised by the entire Everton defence, but shrugged off the abuse to tuck home the penalty. Everton rallied to apply another bout of pressure, but you could sense that it was destined to be ‘one of those nights’.

Gravesen forced another fine block from Jones and Mark Pembridge, yet another who played very well on the night, was also frustrated by his international colleague. Everton will play worse than this and win before the season’s out, but at the St Mary’s Stadium it was a tale of missed opportunities and a case of ‘smash and grab’ for the home side.