Newcastle United 2-1 Everton

An Everton side beleaguered by injuries to Sylvain Distin and Tim Cahill and the suspension of pivotal midfielder Marouane Fellaini travelled to Tyneside to face high-flying Newcastle United, who had begun the season with a very impressive 6 wins and 4 draws from 10 league matches.

Tim Howard, who was this week pipped to the U.S. Player of the Year Award by Fulham's Clint Dempsey, started as usual between the sticks. Sylvain Distin's absence meant a back four of Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, John Heitinga and Leighton Baines.

Phil Neville filled a Marouane Fellaini-shaped hole in midfield alongside Jack Rodwell, Leon Osman, Royston Drenthe and Seamus Coleman with Frenchman Louis Saha on his own up top.

A warm-up injury to Apostolos Vellios meant teenager Ross Barkley was promoted to the bench where he sat alongside Jan Mucha, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Denis Stracqualursi, James McFadden, Sylvain Distin and Tim Cahill.

It was a slow and sloppy start to the game from both sides and the game’s first goal was scored in bizarre circumstances. A right-wing cross from Danny Simpson was prodded inadvertently by John Heitinga past Tim Howard, who had come out to claim the cross, into the empty net. S-Heit.

When you score an own goal like that there is a feeling that it just isn’t going to be your day. When you concede a second to a stunning volley from the opposition’s full back (Tony Hibbert take note) that feeling multiplies. Ryan Taylor’s 28th minute goal came ultimately as a result of Everton’s failure to properly clear their lines, but one has to admire the technique of Taylor, who, like John Heitinga, gave Tim Howard no chance, hitting a dipping volley into the top right-hand corner.

The game was by no means one-sided, though, and Everton had opportunities through Osman, Drenthe, Coleman and Saha, who turned one shot against Tim Krul’s left-hand post and spooned another into Row Z of the Gallowgate End. Newcastle’s French midfield string-puller Yohan Cabaye picked up an injury and was replaced by a certain Dan Gosling. Talk about rubbing salt into wounds.

On the stroke of half-time Everton halved the deficit. Our two best players from the first half combined as Royston Drenthe’s corner was powerfully headed home by Jack Rodwell for his second goal in three league games. It was a justified reward for Everton’s first-half efforts and put an intriguing spin on a game that had looked out of Everton’s reach.

Just as much as you wanted Everton to come out all guns blazing after the interval, you knew deep down that you were clutching at straws. Everton aren’t we?

The second half was a largely sloppy affair – and credit must go to Newcastle for that. They broke down the few meaningful opportunities we had and proved why their defence has shipped the fewest goals in the Premier League so far this season. As is becoming all too familiar with Everton, we lacked a cutting edge, a penetration, a spark or piece of trickery in the final third. The guile that, say, Mikel Arteta or Steven Pienaar would have provided, had gone.

One player capable of stepping up to fill that void left by our two most creative players is Leon Osman. At times last season he was at his brilliant best, unlocking defences for fun and with apparent ease. But therein lies the problem with ‘Ossie’: when on form he is fantastic; when he isn’t he is less effective than Steven Gerrard’s elocution tutor.

We were, however, denied a clear penalty when Saha’s goal-bound shot was saved by the fingertips of… err… Dan Gosling. Shown by replays to be a clear handball, the former Everton midfielder got away with the offence and the remainder of the game passed without too much incident.2-1, then, the final score.

A(nother) depressing day in the life of an Evertonian. We’ve been beaten by a team with Danny Guthrie and Dan Gosling in the centre of midfield. Ah, well. Same time next week.

Fellaini To Miss Newcastle Trip

Midfielder Marouane Fellaini will miss the away fixture at Newcastle United this weekend through suspension.

The Belgian is ruled out of the game after picking up his fifth booking of the season in Saturday's 0-1 reverse to Manchester United.

Fellaini, booked for a challenge on United defender Phil Jones, will serve a one-match ban, although Everton will be boosted by the return of Royston Drenthe.

Dutchman Drenthe missed the defeat to United through suspension after starring in midweek against Chelsea in the Carling Cup.

Chelsea 3-1 Everton

Goals from Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Ramires condemned Everton to defeat at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.

Substitute Apostolos Vellios added a late consolation 18 seconds after being introduced, but the points stay in London after a largely disappointing performance from the away side.

Prior to this afternoon we had not lost at Chelsea on each of our last 6 visits, although our form had hit a recent trough - indeed, the defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool were our first consecutive losses in over 60 games.

Despite the official Everton Facebook page listing our line-up as having 12 players (Moyesie you caniving bastard!) the eleven that took to the field were; Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Rodwell, Fellaini, Coleman, Cahill, Saha.

That side was unchanged from the derby defeat, which meant that Royston Drenthe and Apostolos Vellios were again restricted to the bench. They were joined by Mucha, Heitinga, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi and Neville. There was, to the dismay of many supporters, no place in the squad for young Ross Barkley.

Everton started the game reasonably brightly. Louis Saha looked lively up front and had our first real opportunity after about 10 minutes when his shot was blocked by Petr Čech in the Chelsea goal. At the other end Sylvain Distin did well to intervene and prevent Ramires from gaining a clear sight of goal.

Shortly afterwards a fantastic last-ditch tackle from John Obi Mikel denied Marouane Fellaini a shooting opportunity inside the six-yard box, but it was Chelsea who started to take control of the game and who looked more likely to deliver the opening blow.

That's exactly what happened. On 31 minutes Juan Mata played a worldy of a pass into the path of Ashley Cole and England's second best left-back teed up Daniel Sturridge, who could hardly miss with his header from 3 yards out.

Chelsea doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time when John Terry headed in Frank Lampard's free-kick amid some unconvincing goalkeeping from Tim Howard. That was effectively game over with the result a formality from thereon in.

Within 15 seconds of the restart Leon Osman had grazed the post with a quick-fire effort, but that was just about it in terms of our attacking intent for the next 25 minutes.

The ineffective Seamus Coleman was replaced by Royston Drenthe shortly before Chelsea added a third goal. Didier Drogba sent in a low cross for Ramires to have the simple task of slotting home from inside the six-yard box. Game well and truly over - if it wasn't already.

So, 3-0 down. Who's going to score us a hat-trick?

Phil Neville, of course.

In an absolutely baffling managerial decision David Moyes removed Tim Cahill and threw on the constant goal threat that is captain Neville. Baffling.

Moyes' third and final substitution, however, did yield a consolation goal. It was Greek striker Apostolos Vellios who came on - belatedly in the opinion of many a supporter - and made an immediate impact. 18 seconds had passed between his crossing of the white line and the ball crashing into the Chelsea net.

He simply HAS to start next week.

Chelsea almost added a fourth in injury time but 3-1 was how it finished. It's not as if we should have expected anything from the game but the nature of the defeat made for a thoroughly disappointing evening.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 4, Hibbert 4, Jagielka 3, Distin 5, Baines 5, Coleman 3, Rodwell 4, Fellaini 4, Cahill 5, Osman 4, Saha 5.

Subs: Drenthe 5, Neville 4, VELLIOS 5.

Everton 0-2 Liverpool

Sendings-off and penalties have always been commonplace in Merseyside derbies.

That shouldn't mean that the people officiating these all-important games have the remit of showing a red card at the first sighting of a slightly over-the-top challenge. Or, in today's case, a goofy Uruguayan rolling around as if he had been shot.

The 216th Merseydside derby hinged on an absolutely shocking decision from referee Martin Atkinson which saw the dismissal of Everton's Jack Rodwell midway through the first half. Rodwell cleanly won a loose ball on the slide and his momentum caused South American Suarez to tumble over.

The challenge was totally clean, good and fair. I have since been told that Graeme Souness on Sky Sports said that it wasn't even a foul, which tells you just how bad a decision it was. The referee was stood no more than three yards away from the incident. Baffling.

Rodwell's case - which needn't have existed - was not helped by Suarez - who flopped to the floor, held aloft his arm in appeal and, bizarrely, clutched his knee in apparent agony. Suarez, unfortunately, is an excellent footballer and there is no disputing that.

He's also a horrible, slimy cheat.

After returning from the match I saw this thread on the GrandOldTeam forum. Whilst the game is not completely dead on me yet, it is heading that way thanks to the antics of cheating little gets like Suarez.

Assuming a man advantage, Liverpool took control of the game. Our defending, as last week, was resolute and we were rarely threatened. And then Suarez decided he would take a tumble. Penalty.

Phil Jagielka had certainly made contact with the Uruguayan in the corner of the box, and I have no complaints over the award of the spot-kick. Suarez again made up the referee's mind by rolling around a bit and Atkinson pointed to the spot.

Dirk Kuyt - a thorn in our side throughout recent derbies - stepped up to take the penalty, but was thwarted by an excellent left-handed save from Tim Howard.

With an extra 2 men (the referee), Liverpool were again unlucky not to score before the break as Charlie 'goofy' Adam struck the bar with a long-range effort.

The main topic of conversation at the interval was obvious - the question was: could we hold on for a draw or would the inevitable happen?

Sadly, it was to be the latter. Despite having a lot of the play, Liverpool's £50 million strikeforce combined to condemn Everton to defeat.

The first goal came at around the same time in the match as Mario Balotelli had notched last week at Eastlands. It was scored by an equally annoying player.

Andy Carroll, who, up until then, had barely justified a price tag of 35 pence let alone £35 million, easily stuck home a Jose Enrique cross from 6 yards out. It was harsh on Everton, who had defended so stoutly but also continued to pose an attacking threat.

The second came soon after and to rub salt into Everton wounds it was the cheating Uruguayan who added his name to the scoresheet. It was a simple finish after a mistake in the Everton defence, and one which put the game well and truly to bed.

With the result was no longer in the balance, tensions amongst Everton's incensed supporters boiled over. Plastic bottles rained down on Craig Bellamy from the Gwladys Street and Suarez was kindly thrown a 10p piece. There goes our transfer budget.

On a serious note, it is only our own club who will suffer from that type of fan behaviour and it was totally out of order.

As was the story I heard of an Evertonian singing "96 was not enough" to a Liverpool fan amongst the Evertonians. Needless to say, and regardless of anything that ever occurs on a football pitch, that - if true - is utterly, utterly despicable.

There is no place for anything like that, anywhere.

An all-round bad day at the office, then.

Everton: Howard 7, Hibbert 8, Jagielka 5, DISTIN 8, Baines 6, Coleman 5, Fellaini 7, Rodwell 6, Osman 5, Cahill 6, Saha 5.

Subs: Drenthe 4, Neville 4, Vellios 4.

Manchester City 2-0 Everton

Everton's defensive stand lasted 68 minutes at the Etihad Stadium before Mario Balotelli and James Milner scored to send their side to the summit of the table.

We shouldn't be too downhearted, though, with a loss to a side whose starting XI cost £189 million to assemble. Indeed, we defended stoutly for a large periods and our opposition needed two players from their £130 million bench to change the game.

The line-up and consequent formation made it clear that our tactics would be to frustrate City's superstars, get men behind the ball and, should we be presented with the opportunity, try to nick a point or three. Tim Howard started in goal as usual, with Leighton Baines, Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka and Tony Hibbert in front of him.

Hibbert's inclusion meant Phil Neville was shoe-horned into midfield, where he was joined by Seamus Coleman, Marouane Fellaini, Leon Osman and Jack Rodwell. Cahill started as our lone striker but quickly dropped back into a 4-6-0 formation.

Ján Mucha was preferred to new signing Marcus Hahnemann on the bench. John Heitinga, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Royston Drenthe, Denis Stracqualursi, Louis Saha and Apostolos Vellios joined the Slovak custodian.

The plan to frustrate City was executed well throughout the first half. Jack Rodwell did a good job man-marking David Silva, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin limited City to few clear-cut opportunities and Tim Howard stopped anything that managed to breach the defence.

Spaniard David Silva, denied an inch by his shadow Rodwell, resorted to rolling about on the floor to gain his side an advantage. Referee Howard Webb obliged and produced bookings for Rodwell and Neville, before another for Osman after a nudge on Balotelli.

Webb, who refereed the World Cup final and is widely regarded as one of the best referees in the world, did little to enhance his reputation with an awful display of officiating. David Moyes agreed, although he will probably face sanctions for his post match comment of "there were a couple of similarities in a few of the challenges - you'd expect consistency and you'd expect it to be done correctly."

Edin Džeko's skied effort from 10 yards and Sergio Agüero's long-range strike were the closest City went to finding the net in the first period. They were contained well, although Joe Hart could have had a nap in the City goal such was the lack of attacking intent from the visitors.

Nonetheless, Everton would have been satisfied with the half-time score of 0-0.

City looked as if they'd had a larger-than-usual dose of Italian tripe translated by David Platt fed to them during the interval, because they came out for the second period with the bit firmly between their teeth. Richards, Agüero and Silva all went close shortly after the restart but it took a £25 million player to come off the bench and break the deadlock.

Mario 'named after a video game character and can't put a bib on' Balotelli was that man - he curled a 20-yard strike into the bottom right-hand corner via a deflection off Phil Jagielka.

Everton needed to switch to 'plan B'. But before they could do so, with the introductions of Saha, Drenthe and Vellios, City piled on the pressure and could have immediately stretched their lead with a number of chances. Tim Cahill's header flew just over as Everton ventured into the previously undiscovered territory of City's half, although the Aussie's afternoon was ended shortly afterwards by a stamp from Vincent Kompany.

All three substitutes looked sharp. Saha, with a point to prove after last week's twitter outburst, provided an outlet ball. Vellios showed some great touches and hold-up play that will help his cause for inclusion in the starting eleven, whilst Drenthe also looked keen to get on the ball and try to make things happen.

It was Drenthe, though, whose mistake allowed City to put the game beyond doubt. Attempting a simple pass to the left hand side, he gifted the ball to David Silva. The Spaniard still had plenty to do but, capitalising on further sloppy defending by Jagielka and Distin, he held it up and slid through an exquisite pass for James Milner to double City's advantage.

2-0 was how it ended. It's always disappointing to lose but less so when you expect to. Not many sides will win at Middle Eastlands this season, and all we can do now is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and stuff our neighbours next week.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 6, Hibbert 5, Jagielka 6, Distin 7, Baines 6, Coleman 5, Neville 4, Osman 4, RODWELL 7, Fellaini 5, Cahill 5.

Subs: Saha 6, Drenthe 5, Vellios 6.

Man City: Webb 10.

Everton 2-1 West Bromwich Albion

A rare goal in extra time from Everton captain Phil Neville secured a place in the next round of the Carling Cup.

Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini had earlier cancelled out Chris Brunt's penalty for Albion as the first ninety minutes ended 1-1. The extra-time victory stretches our unbeaten run to 5 in all competitions as we await the fourth round draw on Saturday.

* * *

Everton made six changes to the starting line-up from the side that beat Wigan on Saturday. Most notably, deadline-day signings Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi were handed full debuts, whilst Ross Barkley and Phil Neville also returned. Sylvain Distin and Tim Howard were rested, with John Heitinga and Jan Mucha their replacements.

The full side was; Mucha, Baines, Heitinga, Jagielka, Neville, Drenthe, Barkley, Fellaini, Rodwell, Coleman, Stracqualursi, and the subs bench consisted of; Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill, Gueye and Vellios.

A mysterious bug had deprived Albion of the services of striking duo Shane Long and Roman Bednar and Everton will also have been pleased to see that 'bogey player' Paul Scharner started on the visitors' bench.

The first half was an almost entirely uninspiring period as both sides created few notable opportunities. West Brom offered little but had arguably the best chance of the half when Simon Tchoyi sent an effort just over early on. Royston Drenthe, taking over from regular taker Leighton Baines, sent a free-kick just over, and Marouane Fellaini saw his header trickle wide.

Peter Odemwingie spurned another opportunity for the Baggies before the break as the sides went in level at 0-0.

Everton seemed to have woken up at half-time and started the second half really well. First Seamus Coleman shot at Albion 'keeper Fulop and then Stracqualursi's prodded effort was also well kept out by the Hungarian custodian.

West Brom also threatened and earned their chance to take the lead when Peter Odemwingie was felled by Slovakian goalkeeper Jan Mucha as the Nigerian forward sprinted into the Everton box. Chris Brunt (another WBA player who loves playing against us) slotted home the resulting penalty to further frustrate the 17, 647-strong (weak) crowd.

Everton went on the search for an equaliser, bringing on Tim Cahill, Apostolos Vellios and Magaye Gueye and shifting Marouane Fellaini up front. Vellios and Fellaini both had half-chances to find an equalising goal but time was running out for Everton to avoid being knocked out of the Carling Cup at the 3rd round stage for the second year running.

With some fans heading for the exits, Marouane Fellaini collected the ball from a Vellios flick-on, swivelled and fired home an excellent left-footed half-volley from the edge of the box. Those that were half way towards the exits turned back. Game on.

Jack Rodwell could have snatched an improbable comeback in injury-time but his header from Phil Neville's cross bounced just wide. With this weekend's opponents Manchester City safely through after fielding their reserves against Birmingham City, we would have to play an extra half-hour before Saturday's early kick-off.

Fellaini remained up front after salvaging the game in the 88th minute of normal time, with Tim Cahill in midfield. West Brom looked tired as Everton pressed but the visitors could have taken the lead if Tchoyi had found his bearings when well placed inside the Everton box.

After that let-off, Vellios set up Drenthe whose effort was ever so slightly off target. The Dutchman was, however, to play a massive part in what turned out to be the winner. He jinked and dribbled past two Baggies defenders on the right byline before cutting back to skipper Neville, who exquisitely curled into the top corner with his left foot.

It was a rare goal for Neville - his 5th in almost 250 Everton appearances - but they do tend to be special! He looked a bit too shocked to celebrate properly but Royston Drenthe went absolutely mental. On his own. I love him already.

An unconvincing performance but we are through the next round. I'll take another ugly win on Saturday please. Oh, and one against our red neighbours in a fortnight's time. Cheers.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 4, Baines 6, Heitinga 6, Jagielka 6, Neville 7, Drenthe 5, Barkley 5, Fellaini 6, Rodwell 6, Coleman 5, Stracqualursi 5.

Subs: Vellios 6, Cahill 5, Gueye 6.

Everton v Wigan Athletic Preview

A twist of fixture computer fate handed Wigan Athletic games against all three newly-promoted sides (Swansea City, QPR and Norwich City) in the first three weeks of the season. Draws against the Swans and the Canaries sandwiched a win over Everton's conquerors QPR, meaning that the Latics were unbeaten prior to last weekend's drubbing at Manchester City.

Since then a total of 94 travelling fans watched Wigan exit the Carling Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace in midweek, and so Roberto Martinez's men come to Goodison looking to stop the mini-rot.

Everton's league record thus far reads P3 W1 D1 L1 - not a spectacular start by any means, although not as shambolic as recent years. Indeed, a win on Saturday would leave us with a reasonably healthy 7 points from 4 games. The performance last time out should also breed optimism amongst supporters. We took the game to Villa and they were extremely lucky to leave with a point.

There is also some good news on the injury front. Seamus Coleman produced a wonderful display on his return to action against Villa last week, John Heitinga should recover from a calf injury in time to feature on Saturday, and Royston Drenthe scored his first goal in Everton blue as the reserves beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Tuesday night.

That reserve game also featured Ross Barkley, who scored Everton's first goal, and Magaye Gueye, who impressed on his return from injury with both assists. Argentine forward Denis Stracqualursi also got ninety minutes under his belt, although by most accounts he will need a few more before he is ready to take on the Premier League.

Louis Saha, however, is not expected to be fit (surprise surprise) and so Tim Cahill will probably lead the line as he did so well against Villa. Also pushing for a starting berth is Greek striker Apostolos Vellios, whose impressive substitute appearance last week very nearly yielded two goals, although I suspect if he is to feature it will be from the bench.

Indeed, the squad is so unusually fit (Saha aside) that David Moyes has the welcome dilemma of selecting his best eleven. One of the spots in contention is at right full-back, where club captain Phil Neville and Tony Hibbert, who played well against Villa, are vying for the jersey. And with Leon Osman, Ross Barkley, Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell and possibly John Heitinga available in centre-midfield, it could be a tricky task to select the team.

Anyway, that's what Moyes gets paid for. And slated for if he gets it wrong. Predicted line-up:

_________________________________________________

STAT'S LIFE

Welcome to stat set no. 5 of the 2011/2012 campaign

• Everton's premier league record against Wigan reads P12 W6 D4 L2.
• Blues skipper Phil Neville requires one more appearance to reach 200 for Everton in the premier league.
• Leon Osman and Leighton Baines are the only two Everton players to have scored more than once against Wigan in their Everton careers.
• Tim Cahill hasn't scored for Everton in 2011. His current 13-game goal drought is his longest in six years.
• Everton took 24 out of 30 points from their last 10 home matches of the 2010/11 campaign, but are winless are Goodison Park so far this season.

_________________________________________________

On paper this fixture should not represent much of a problem for Everton - but since when have Everton been predictable? We often play poorly against the 'lesser' sides at home and goals may be a problem for a front line hampered by injury.

Despite all that I'm going to predict a home win, with Tim Cahill ending his drought in the process.

StickyToffee Prediction: Everton 1-0 Wigan Athletic

Everton Reserves 2-1 Aston Villa Reserves

A strong Everton second string beat Aston Villa by 2 goals to 1 at the Stobart Stadium in Widnes tonight thanks to first-half goals from Ross Barkley and Royston Drenthe.

Reserve team boss Alan Stubbs was able to call on a host of recognisable names for the fourth reserve fixture of the campaign. They included Slovakian number 1 Jan Mucha, teenage starlet Ross Barkley and new signings Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi, who had both been added to the reserve squad for a bit of added match fitness.

The full Everton starting line-up was; Mucha, Browning, Nsiala, Mustafi, Garbutt, Gueye, Baxter, Barkley, Drenthe, McAleny, Stracqualursi, with a substitutes bench of Davies, Bidwell, Forshaw, Orenuga, and Hope.

The visitors started the brighter of the two sides and went mightily close to taking the lead when Robinson hit the bar with a 25-yard effort. Villa were on top, but Everton threatened through Ross Barkley and Magaye Gueye as the young duo took the game to Villa.

Indeed, it was that combination that gave Everton the lead. Frenchman Gueye cut the ball back to Barkley, who slotted home from the edge of the area to break the deadlock.

Royston Drenthe, who made his senior Everton debut at the weekend, was heavily involved. One of his less spectacular contributions was a volley that cleared the stand behind the goal, although he did extend Everton's lead before half-time.

A swift counter-attacking move started by goalkeeper Mucha allowed Drenthe to showcase his blistering pace. Magaye Gueye grabbed his second assist of the evening, teeing up the flying Dutchman to make it 2-0.

Denis Stracqualursi, pulling on the royal blue for the first time, showed some neat hold-up play but wasn't overly threatening in terms of goalscoring. He may have to rely on his physical presence to prove a handful for Premier League defences. But the stand-out player for the home side was by far and away Ross Barkley, who, by the admission of the Aston Villa commentator Dan, was 'a class act' and 'majestic'.

Drenthe lived up to his reputation as a bit of a nutcase when, midway through the second half, he blatantly and without any hint of disguise pushed over a Villa player who had just fouled Everton striker Conor McAleny. He was shown a yellow card for his troubles. The derby may be interesting - especially given he has a bit of previous with Stevie G laa...

Aston Villa pulled one back after a shot was parried by Mucha, but Everton held on to claim their second win of the reserve league season.

Everton 2-2 Aston Villa

A late Gabriel Agbonlahor goal saw Aston Villa take home a barely deserved point from a lively draw at Goodison this afternoon.

It was a thoroughly impressive and much improved Everton performance and Leon Osman deservedly opened the scoring after 18 minutes. The home side then had a clear penalty shout dismissed following a quite blatant trip on Leighton Baines.

A moment of magic from Villa's Stiliyan Petrov levelled the fixture shortly after half-time - his stunning 30-yard strike bringing Villa back into a game they did not deserve to be in at all. Everton responded well to that setback, and were awarded a penalty following Fabian Delph's foul on Phil Jagielka.

Leighton Baines made no mistake from 12 yards, but Gabriel Agbonlahor's late header denied Everton the win they deserved.

* * *

The game was preceded by a protest staged by the Blue Union, voicing their collective dissatisfaction at the running of the club. It proved a success for the group, with over 1,000 fans marching from Spellow Lane to the director's entrance to the stadium.

Whether you agree with the protest or not, you have to commend the Blue Union for taking action - and for doing so in the right manner. The protest was done in the right way - peaceful and as dignified as a protest can be. A video of the protest can be seen here.

The marchers sent a message to chairman Bill Kenwright by chanting "let go, if you love the club..." along their route, although his appearance on the big screens during the match was greeted with cheers after an initial chorus of boos.

Anyway, on to on-the-pitch matters.

The side that had stolen 3 points at Ewood Park was shaken up, to say the least. Some of the changes had been enforced, as Victor Anichebe and John Heitinga had picked up injuries whilst playing for Nigeria and Holland respectively. Ross Barkley was on the bench after featuring for England U21s in midweek, whilst Tony Hibbert was selected at right-back in favour of Phil Neville.

In the wake of Mikel Arteta's departure, Phil Jagielka took on the role of captain. Both new signings - Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi - were only fit enough for the bench. Seamus Coleman made a very welcome and quicker than expected return from injury and Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was also handed a starting berth.

All that meant that the side was; Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Coleman, Rodwell, Fellaini, Osman, Bilyaletdinov; Cahill. Both new-boys were listed amongst the substitutes, the full list was; Mucha, Neville, Drenthe, Barkley, Stracqualursi, Gueye, Vellios.

Although starting without a recognised striker, Everton assumed the initiative straight from the off. Leon Osman had a penalty shout turned down inside the first minute, Darren Bent headed off his own goalline from a Phil Jagielka header and Shay Given saved well from Osman.

Our dominance paid off when, after 19 minutes, Leon Osman slotted home a pass from Tim Cahill. Everton were well on top and both Jack Rodwell and Marouane Fellaini went close with long-range efforts. Villa offered very little throughout the first 45 minutes, with a Barry Bannan strike the closest they came to a goal.

Indeed, we really should have been given the chance to extend our lead but referee Michael Oliver failed to spot a blatant trip that brought to a halt a marauding run by Leighton Baines.

The decision not to award a penalty meant Everton headed into the dressing room at the break with a deserved but all too slender 1-0 advantage. We had dominated proceedings, and so it was of course inevitable that Villa would equalise.

And that's exactly what they did. In stunning fashion as well. Bulgarian Stiliyan Petrov picked up the ball 30 yards from goal and sent in an unstoppable strike. 1-1. The goal came after Villa's best period of the game, and they might have scored a few minutes earlier had it not been for an outstanding tackle on Gabriel Agbonlahor by Sylvain Distin.

Everton quickly responded and Tim Cahill, who had one of his best games since before the Asian Cup back in January, saw his header instinctively palmed out by Shay Given. In the resulting scramble, Fabian Delph committed a foul on Phil Jagielka and this time a penalty was awarded.

Leighton Baines tucked away the penalty - never in doubt. 2-1.

A few minutes later Royston Drenthe was introduced to the Goodison crowd, coming on to replace Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. Needless to say, the Dutchman received a rapturous welcome from the terraces and seemed to be buoyed by his reception.

He gave us all a glimpse of his frightening pace, robbing Alan Hutton of possession and tearing down the wing. With Drenthe on one wing and Coleman on the other, it was the first time in a lng while that we had genuine pace on both flanks.

It lasted for about 5 minutes, though, as the impressive Coleman, who had terrorised Villa's left-back, was replaced by Ross Barkley.

The visitors drew level once again on 83 minutes. Marc Albrighton's cross caught out the static Sylvain Distin and Gabriel Agbonlahor rose to head home.

Yeah, whatever Gabby. Doesn't make up for the fact that you have a girl's name.

A third Everton change was made as Tim Cahill was replaced by Apostolos Vellios, and the Greek forward almost snatched the points at the death brought a fine save out of Villa goalkeeper Given.

It finished 2-2, a result that was not reflective of a fluid, strong and impressive performance from the home side. Villa are fast turning into a bogey club for us - and, as the fantastic Mickey Blue Eyes on Bluekipper writes: "It's difficult to avoid the notion that everything about the Brummy club is repellent, most of all the notorious crackpot worst of their fans."

So I guess the good news is, we don't have to play them again for a while. Up next, Wigan Athletic. COYB.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 6, Hibbert 8, Jagielka 6, Distin 6, Baines 8, Coleman 8, Rodwell 7, FELLAINI 8, Osman 7, Bilyaletdinov 6, Cahill 7.

Subs: Drenthe 6, Barkley 6, Vellios 6.

Everton v Aston Villa Preview

Club football makes a welcome return this weekend after a fortnight-long international break, with Aston Villa the visitors to Goodison as we begin life without Mikel Arteta.

Forwards Jermaine Beckford and Yakubu have also departed since the last-gasp win at Ewood Park, whilst Argie forward Denis Stracqualursi and Dutch winger Royston Drenthe have joined from Tigre and Real Madrid respectively.

Their first match will be preceded by a protest against the stagnation of the club staged by a group of supporters under the banner of 'the Blue Union'. You can find out more about that here, but I'll concentrate on what is going to happen inside the ground.

Supporters wishing to see Stracqualursi and Drenthe make their debuts may have to wait a while as there are doubts over both players' match fitness. Which is understandable, considering that neither have played for over two months.

Victor Anichebe has also been ruled out for three months after picking up a groin injury playing for Nigeria. That news leaves us dangerous short up front with Saha and Stracqualursi doubts and Anichebe out. Cahill and Fellaini it is then...

There is, however, some positive news on the injury front as Seamus Coleman and Magaye Gueye could be available for selection against Villa after recovering from ankle and toe injuries respectively. Leighton Baines, who withdrew from the England squad due to injury, may also make the game, whilst David Moyes revealed on Friday that 'John Heitinga had a bit of a knock but hopefully he will be okay'.

We often struggle against Villa. Indeed, we haven't come out on top in 10 attempts since May 2006. The fixtures do, however, tend to be tight affairs - with Villa's last-minute 2-3 win at Goodison a few years back a prime example. Last campaign's corresponding fixture finished in a 2-2 draw which, but for some poor officiating to disallow Jermaine Beckford's goal, could well have been a home victory.

The second-city claret and blues are unbeaten in three at the start of this campaign, with two Alec McLeish-inspired goalless draws and a home win over Blackburn so far. Like Everton, there is clear frustration amongst fans at Villa, demonstrated by the attendance of under 31,000 for the derby clash with Wolves at Villa Park.

They sold two of their most prized assets (Downing and Young) this Summer but still have plenty of firepower to hurt Everton. Darren Bent is a slight doubt but, although I certainly hope the game comes too soon for him, he is expected to be fit. Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton are in line to make their debuts. Oh, and sod's law N'Zogbia scores...

_________________________________________________

STAT'S LIFE

Welcome to stat set no. 4 of the 2011/2012 campaign

• Only one of Everton's last eight league games has seen more than 2.5 goals.
• This fixture is the most played top-flight fixture (192). Villa have 72 wins to Everton's 70.
• Tim Cahill has 7 goals against Aston Villa - his highest number against any team whilst playing for Everton.
• If selected, Phil Neville will make his 200th Everton appearance and Leon Osman his 250th.
• This is the 550th league match in the managerial career of David Moyes.

_________________________________________________

StickyToffee Prediction: Everton 1-1 Aston Villa

Welcome to Everton, Royston Drenthe

Royston Ricky Drenthe. The man once described by Spanish football pundit Marco Ruiz as 'a bad boy with the heart of a football pitch". The man who once returned from holiday to find messages such as "son of a bitch", "bastard" and "mercenary" in spray paint on his house.

And the man who, when asked "how often do you have sex?", replied "with my wife, you mean?"

Everton's deadline day arrival certainly comes with an off-the field reputation to rival Mario Balotelli. More on that later, but first let's take a look at his on the field credentials.

Drenthe first came to the world's attention back in 2007 after a €14m transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid. On his arrival at the Bernabéu, Madrid's sporting director Predrag Mijatović proclaimed that the latest Galáctico was "the prototype of the modern player".

Originally a left-winger, Drenthe can now also operate as a left full-back - something that could prove very useful if, God forbid, Leighton Baines suffers an injury. Drenthe will, I assume, play on the left-hand side of midfield for Everton, although he may be asked to play on the right at times as Moyes does like to switch his wingers around.

Drenthe is probably most noted for his raw pace. A very direct and skilful player who loves to take his marker on, he must be a defender's nightmare. As explained in the wonderful blog The Executioner's Bong, he could be the Charles N'Zogbia we never were able to sign.

Prior to his big-money move to Madrid, Drenthe had been plying his trade with Feyenoord. He had been there since the age of 13 - apart from a two-year spell with feeder club SBV Excelsior after being told his future at Feyenoord was in doubt.

It was at Excelsior where Drenthe was first deployed as a left full-back rather than a winger. His success in the new position led to him being asked to re-join Feyenoord, an invitation he accepted. In the next two seasons Drenthe established himself in the first-team and earnt a call-up to the Dutch national under-21 side, with whom he won the Under-21 European Championship.

Drenthe was soon a target for La Liga giants Madrid and the transfer was helped by Drenthe's threat to take Feyenoord to court if they would not let him go. He scored a wondergoal on his debut in Spain and featured regularly for the first season. However, he then fell behind Brazilian Marcelo in the pecking order and was last season loaned to Hércules.

In Alicante everything changed. Drenthe started playing, for a start. He scored the winner against Real Sociedad and grabbed an assist at the Nou Camp in Hércules' stunning 0-2 triumph over Barcelona. His pace and trickery proved a nightmare for La Liga defences and he soon became a huge favourite with his new fans.

Indeed, when Real Madrid barred him from playing against them in one of those petty contract clauses, Drenthe offered to cough up the €2m penalty himself. In the fans' eyes, he could do no wrong. He was caught driving at 160km per hour and ignoring 4 red lights. He was let off. The fans laughed with him when he made the quip about being an adulterer (see second paragraph) and when he said "I'm 23. Of course I go out. And why would I go out to sit on a sofa?"

He even had his own fan club (see below). Fan 'blacked' themselves up, purchased Drenthe wigs and wore yellow t-shorts inscribed with the message: "I heart Roy". Racist, but this was in Spain. And Roy didn't seem to mind. After all, Sergio Ramos does it.

His time at Hercules was going swimmingly - on and off the pitch. That was, until he returned from a Christmas break to find messages such as "bastard", "clown" and, disturbingly, "KKK" written in spray paint on the front of his house.

The reason: Drenthe was on strike. He claimed that he had received just 1/6th of the wages that Hércules owed him and refused to accept the club's promise to pay 50% of his year's earnings in a lump sum at the end of the season. Drenthe's bond with the club and its fans had been destroyed. As for his future at the club, well, the writing was - quite literally - on the wall.

We have on our hands a clearly talented footballer. That is not in question. You do not get signed by Real Madrid if you are not talented, nor do you do this.

The question is, can we keep his off-the-field antics to a minimum on Merseyside? He sounds like a more talented version of Andy van der Meyde, but fans, players and the manager alike will be hoping that we will be able to appreciate his footballing merits rather than being exposed to his 'bad-boy' ways.

Anyway, I am more than willing to give him a chance. In fact, I am very excited to see him in action along with Baines on the left-hand side. He is a free agent at the end of the year and so if everything goes well it could prove to be a very astute bit of business indeed.

Welcome to Everton, Royston Ricky Drenthe.

Deadline Day Review

Well, deadline day was a lot more hectic than we all had envisaged.

Before the clock struck 11pm and the transfer window was gently closed (it wasn't slammed shut as Sky Sports would have you believe), a trio of players had left for pastures new and two new faces had been brought in for the season. Our strikeforce has thinned further after the departures of Jermaine Beckford and Yakubu to Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers respectively, whilst play-maker in chief Mikel Arteta has taken up the opportunity of Champions League football at Arsenal.

Over £15m was raised through those three sales but none of the money was reinvested as both new recruits - Argentine striker Denis Stracqualursi and Dutch winger Royston Drenthe - have joined on loan deals.

INS

Denis Stracqualursi

Argentine forward Stracqualursi has joined on a season-long loan deal from Tigres in his homeland. I, like most, had never heard of him before, so I am only really going by what I can find on his Wikipedia page - which yesterday read: "In August 2011 Stracqualursi became a mongrel by signing for the stupidly rich Premier League team Everton, owned by Sheik Kenwright."

Which proves the reliability of Wikipedia. Anyway, from what I can gather, he's 23-years-old, 6ft 3 and finished top of the Argentinian goalscoring charts last year after netting 22 times in 35 appearances. Previous top scorers in the Argentinian Primera División include a host of players who have enjoyed successful careers in Europe; Javier Saviola, Mauro Zárate, Fernando Cavenaghi and Lisandro López, and so David Moyes will be hoping that Denis can prove a menace to Premier League defences.

When we were struggling in the mid-nineties we brought in a 6ft 3 centre-forward on loan. And that one didn't turn out too bad...

Royston Drenthe

Our second loan signing was Real Madrid's 24-year-old Dutch winger, Royston Drenthe. Middle name Ricky, of course. Drenthe, who can operate in midfield as well as in defence, was signed by Real Madrid in 2007 for 14 million Euros. He featured regularly at first, but gradually fell out of favour at the Bernabéu before spending last season on loan helping Hércules get relegated.

The wideman arrives on Merseyside with a bit of an off-the-pitch reputation as a loose cannon, just like another Dutchman well known to Evertonians, 'Shandy' van der Meyde. On the pitch he will add some much needed pace to the side - you would be hard pushed to find a faster player in the league.

Drenthe is a free agent at the end of the season and so, if everything goes well, we might be able to extend his stay at Goodison.

OUTS

Shane Duffy

Teenage centre-half Shane Duffy has joined Scunthorpe United on an initial month-long loan deal. The 19-year-old has European experience having played for Everton against AEK Athens and BATE Borisov, and will now look to force his way into the first team setup by getting regular games for League One side Scunthorpe.

Yakubu

'The Yak' will be put on a new diet of Venky's chicken following his transfer to Blackburn Rovers. The fee differs according to which report you read but it is believed to be around £1.5-2m. A snip of the once club record transfer fee of £11.25m that we paid for his services, but after not featuring for a while it was best to get that than nothing.

It also means that he is off the wage bill, something that is critical for Everton if we are to bring in any players in January. There has been no word on his fellow Nigerian Joseph Yobo, whose transfer to Fenerbahce has been put on hold all Summer.

Jermaine Beckford

£4m profit in just over a year and 10 goals to boot sounds like very good business. It does, however, leave us criminally short up front, with only Vellios (young), Stracqualursi (untried), Anichebe (useless) and Saha (perma-crocked) to choose from.

Beckford jumped two leagues to sign for Everton and, taking that into consideration, ten goals for the season was a very decent effort. They were memorable too - the last-gasp equaliser at Stamford Bridge, the goal at Anfield and who could forget the Roy of the Rovers effort on the final day?

Ever since his touchline spat with David Moyes last season in the 0-3 win at Wolves last season there has been a sense that he was not in the manager's good books. And so the lesson to be learnt is never mess with a Glaswegian... or you might end up with Sven.

Mikel Arteta

It was on. It was off. It was on again.

That was the story of Mikel Arteta's deadline day move to Arsenal. After 6 1/2 years of plying his trade at Everton, I don't begrudge him the move to a side that will contest in the Champions League season on season. It's not a question of money as most outlets are reporting he took a pay cut to become a Gunner (goner) and so after so long of having had the pleasure of watching him I wish him all the best in London.

I was - to coin Harry Redknapp - 'gutted' to see Mikel leave but the timing of it frustrated me more than anything. With so little time to find a replacement, the only place the £10m is going is to the bank. Apart from the 85p in every pound that goes to Finch Farm, of course...

Thanks for the memories Mikel - it's been a pleasure. You leave with my best wishes and you leave behind some great memories - the wondergoal against Fiorentina, the derby winner, the equaliser against United, the unstoppable free-kick against Hull. The best little Spaniard I knew.

Whilst I'm sad to see the back of Arteta, it is a part of football. Players will come and go and break fans' hearts. But Everton are forever. It feels very much like the end of an era. But that only means that another is about to begin. Marouane, Jack, Ross, Denis, Royston... over to you.