Everton FC players celebrate scoring against West Brom
THE champagne might be on ice for Wembley but by avoiding an FA Cup hangover following their imperious display at Sunderland on Tuesday night, Everton FC ensured the Premier League battle between themselves and their neighbours is just hotting up.
There was every chance this game could have been a case of “After the Lord Mayor’s Show” for David Moyes’ boys but while it was far from a classic, the Blues efficiently swatted aside a team that went into the fixture with the Premier League’s fifth best away record that includes six victories on their travels to date – a figure bettered only by Manchester’s two title challengers and Arsenal.
In doing so, Everton recorded three consecutive wins for the first time this term to leapfrog their neighbours in the table and ensure Merseyside’s Premier League battle over the final six weeks of the campaign will provide an intriguing additional competition to the clubs’ big Wembley showdown in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Blues have finished above their neighbours just once since their last League Championship in 1987 when they came fourth in the 2004/05 season but given their traumatic start to the campaign with Moyes offloading several big names in late August without being able to bring in replacements, he is delighted just to be in with a chance of usurping the Reds who shelled out over £50million last summer.
He said: “I am just pleased that we are in this position. If you had told me at the start of the season I wouldn’t have believed you. All we can do is carry on and finish as high as we can. The influx of the three or four coming in over January has given us a lift.”
Saying that his acquisitions during the winter transfer window have given his side “a lift” is probably the understatement of the year from the Scot.
They’ve transformed a team that was toothless and on its knees – the Blues were averaging just a goal a game at Goodison going into 2012 – into a crack outfit who can now compete with the Premier League’s best and possess genuine aspirations of finally breaking Moyes’ trophy duck in his 10th anniversary season at the club.
Back in January there was a double-digit points gap between Liverpool and Everton in the table but while the Reds have mostly faltered since then in their Premier League fixtures – the notable exception being their emphatic derby victory at Anfield – Moyes’ new boys have helped his side rediscover their belief.