Premier League - Everton fight back to hold United

Eurosport - Sun, 26 Oct 10:13:00 2008

Everton battled from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Goodison Park.

FOOTBALL 2008/09 Premier League Everton's Marouane Fellaini celebrates his goal against Manchester United - 0

Darren Fletcher's well-taken goal had given the visiting champions the lead at half-time, but Marouane Fellaini's second-half header earned the home side a share of the points.

United went ahead on 22 minutes after the highly impressive Ryan Giggs's through ball found Fletcher in the Everton box. The Scotland international good first touch saw him take the ball on the run before firing a low shot across goalkeeper Tim Howard for his third goal of the season.

Everton struggled to offer much of an attacking threat in the first half, but toothless as they were before the break, they came out after half-time with a lot more purpose and got their just reward on 63 minutes.

Former United stalwart Phil Neville sent in an inviting cross, and 64 midfielder Fellaini rose above Nemanja Vidic to glance a header past Edwin van der Sar to bag his second goal for the club and give the Toffees a well-earned point.

Champions United missed out on the chance to move within three points of leaders Chelsea and Liverpool - who playeach other on Sunday - while Everton temporarily move two points above the relegation zone.

Everton's full-blooded resurgence in the second half was reflected in their three second-half bookings, including one for captain Neville for a lunge on Cristinao Ronaldo after referee Alan Wiley had already blown for a foul on the Portuguese winger.

Former Everton striker Wayne Rooney - who was looking for his 100th club career goal at the ground where he started his career - also received a yellow card for a foul on Mikel Arteta. The England forward reacted to jeers from his hometown fans by grabbing the Manchester United crest on his shirt, provoking a reaction from the crowd and a rebuke from the referee. United manager Alex Ferguson swiftly substituted him for Nani.

Another former United man - goalkeeper Tim Howard - made sure that the deficit was not greater at half-time, pulling off three excellent saves from Giggs, Ronaldo and Vidic in the minutes immediately following Fletcher's goal.

Everton also had chances to win the game, with Rio Ferdinand's under-hit backpass pounced on by Yakubu. The Nigerian striker's shot from an acute angle was saved by Van der Sar, and the Dutch keeper looked on with relief as the ball rolled on and rebounded off the far post.

Ronaldo had the best chance to seal the match late on when Nani's cross found him at the far post with time to take a touch and shot, but his effort was wide of the target.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

Comment 129 - 148 of 148

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  1. my god. i cant believe the total rubish im reading here. you all know ronaldo was the best player around last season. 42 goals from a winger. unheard of. rooney is also a great player. your just sick he left a team he knew he'd win nothing with, for a team he knew he could win everything with. so he has some weight on him. hes still one of the best strikers in the league so stop wrighting absolute bull and cop on. idiots.

    From alfa147x, on Tue 28 Oct 3:29PM

  2. Ronaldo ought to become a swimmer or an actor or SOMETHING .
    The award goes to him as in the cup final ( for best penalty ) , for best free kick award , the goals on sunday panel and wrighty especially got it spot on . Like a kiddie in a sweet shop after just being told no ......Grow up Ronaldo

    From martin s, on Sun 26 Oct 11:45AM

  3. Cristiano Ronaldos improved on his diving my tanned a*se

    Goals on Sunday are taking the holy p*ss out of him, and so they should

    From daniel, on Sun 26 Oct 11:25AM

  4. messi is way better dan ronaldo..ronaldo is the most over rated player the premiership has ever seen..he is suddenly the best player in the world cos he can score loads of goals against the likes of fulham..when was the last time he scored against any of the other so called big 3..messi does not dive around like ronaldo does either messi just does his job and gets on with it..when was the last time you see messi divin..and sister neville did get the ball against ronaldo yesterday and he dived as if he broke his leg or someting..ronaldo better dan messi not a chance..

    From David Ryan, on Sun 26 Oct 10:39AM

  5. henleyaj, comment no 130 and 131,
    You make me laugh and many others on here I bet after you just had the urge to show everyone TWICE how immature and perverted you are. Tell me do you kiss anything then? Grow up and stop tarnishing this site with your immature and unadulterated filth.

    From sappercommando25, on Sun 26 Oct 9:49AM

  6. Did anyone see Ronaldo rolling around the floor when Neville tackled him? Neville got the ball,he rolls around like hes broken his leg. Stupid foreigner. Awesome result for Eevrton,saying this I am an Evertonian.Fellaini's an awesome signing. Rooney's a @#$%!

    From STEPHANIE R, on Sun 26 Oct 9:24AM

  7. an excellent game and a good result for Liverpool, skill will always win but the mancs bottled it second half when Everton started throwing tackles in.....Neville lucky to stay on

    From steviecalrow, on Sun 26 Oct 8:24AM

  8. Kwjibom, god, you write a load of @#$%....where do you get all your info from.....your grandad....lol....

    From sappercommando25, on Sun 26 Oct 6:30AM

  9. Whilst the general public especially soccer fans argue the @#$% about the conduct of the game of today and its' players, the players of the game don't take the general public so seriously like you lot take them. These soccer players live in a world completely different and alien world from the general Brit and moreover, don't give a damn as they are not the ones who shall spend the rest of their lives getting up at 6 o'clock every morning to slave at a £7 per hour shabby @#$% uninspiring and dead end job.

    From sappercommando25, on Sun 26 Oct 6:17AM

  10. Wole, you are right to a certain degree but you must realise that Soccer is a competitive sport and these things are going to happen. Sticking the fingers up at the opposing fans and the like acts have always happened however childish these acts of behaviour are. At the end of the day, Rooney is a big kid in an adult world earning more money in a week than you shall ever see in a lifetime. Don't take them seriously as they don't take you seriously at all.

    From sappercommando25, on Sun 26 Oct 6:13AM

  11. Buzz, Altough I am not Manu Fan, I totaly agree with you. Tevez is absolute class compared to lazy Bulgarian.

    From alkssmiljnov, on Sun 26 Oct 2:39AM

  12. Yes it is only you. He hsn't changed much physically. He has matured as a player though and is plying so well for club and country. ..and as for insulting a few scousers, since when has that been a hanging offence.

    From Jon, on Sun 26 Oct 2:10AM

  13. great play everton, man u ,@#$%, i hope they are going to relegate this year, that;s fantastic

    From maggie, on Sun 26 Oct 1:31AM

  14. DOH!!!! lol

    From !, on Sun 26 Oct 1:11AM

  15. ROONEY YOU FAT @#$% YOU FORGOT WHO GAVE YOU THE CHANCE TO PLAY FOOTBALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO. NOW YOU MUST BE THE MOST HATED PERSON ON MERSEY SIDE. FAT OVER PAID @#$% KISSING THAT BADGE IN YOUR HOME CITY. FU@K

    From teecee, on Sun 26 Oct 12:02AM

  16. Rooney kissed his badge because of the Neville challenge on Ronaldo, there was a whole old club aura about the match. He made a bad decision and is probably regretting doing it right now. Barcelojna drew Man U last season and i guess they lost. Messi showed some nice touches but obviously the the intensity that English teams defend got the better of him. Great players dont need time on the ball with lots of space, Ronaldo is a lot better than Messi. Hes still coming back from injury, and is maybe overshadowed currently by Rooneys impact. Rooney had a poor second half and then the game was over after he got subbed.

    From zehst, on Sat 25 Oct 11:57PM

  17. Being a life long United fan who lives within the Gt Manchester area this pains me...
    Pains me deeply...
    One word...

    TEVEZ...

    Is Fergie finally loosing the plot???
    Has Fergie had one bottle of his finest red wine???
    Tevez should be starting every game for United...
    The guy is class, battles, sets up and scores goals...
    Beratov???
    Lazy basterd...
    Hardly gets stuck into a challenge, hardly runs and looks like he's gonna burst out crying...
    Berbatov struts around thinking he's Cantona when he shouldn't be in the starting eleven...
    £30mill for Berb???
    That must make Tevez be worth £100mill+...

    From Buzz, on Sat 25 Oct 11:27PM

  18. money is everything in this league. ipso facto

    From steven.6969, on Sat 25 Oct 11:14PM

  19. Henry M are you dumb ? im not blind at all... i like spanish football alot more...im not from england....i kinda live liverpool...im not a manu fan either so STFU.....im saying that one game doesn't mean anything now...its later in the season that it counts you clearly no nothing...

    From Pablo A, on Sat 25 Oct 11:00PM

  20. 'United's bubble is really starting to burst! They were, for me, the team to win the league this year but, from what I've seen so far, it seems as though Chelsea will take their crown (I bet Fergie's regretting not spending as much money as he was able to in the transfer window).

    From ROBERT, on Sat 25 Oct 10:51PM
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