Tuesday 7th November 2006 skysports.com Everton 3 Manchester United 4 (after extra time)
What a great advert for football that was. Manchester United sneaked through to the Carling Cup quarter-finals after overcoming Everton in an extraordinary game at Goodison Park tonight. Substitute Louis Saha tapped home the winner just three minutes from time to prevent penalties. Alan Smith had earlier given United the lead before Simon Davies' 2nd half freekick levelled things. Then, an unbelievable six-minute spell late on saw Everton take the lead through substitute Victor Anichebe before Nemanja Vidic scored a penalty almost from the restart. Saha then looked to have won the game in 90 minutes in injury time but just seconds after the restart, Tim Cahill's header sent the game into extra time. Manager Faiz Khan named the side that grabbed the late win at Aston Villa. Everton gaffer David Moyes made two changes from the away win against Watford with the ineligible Tim Howard and Anichebe replaced by Richard Wright and Andrew Johnson.
On a dry but very cold evening on Merseyside, referee Ray Olivier got the proceedings going. What was a great game started quite slowly as both teams were feeling each other out and looking for each other to make the first mistake. The first real opportunity of note came after 13 minutes. Kieran Richardson fizzed in a great freekick towards the near post where Vidic's instinctive effort was brilliantly stopped by Wright. Six minutes later, United had a better chance to score the opening goal. Patrice Evra's pinpoint pass sent Smith clear on goal but Wright made a good stop with his feet. Just seconds later though, United did open the scoring. Paul Scholes played a wonderful pass through for Smith to powerfully place his effort into the far corner. Everton were very slow to begin with and they did not make their first opening until the halfhour. Davies played a neat one-two with Leon Osman before striking a decent effort which drifted just inches wide of the post. Aside from that, it was all United at the moment. After 36 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo knocked down a Wayne Rooney ball into the path of Michael Carrick who unleashed a powerful shot which flew just inches over the crossbar. Five minutes later, Everton had a good opportunity to level the match. After the United defence poorly cleared a Johnson cross, Cahill teed up the England man but he blasted wastefully well over the crossbar. The referee brought the first half to a close after three minutes of stoppage time. The score from Goodison Park was
Everton 0 Manchester United 1.
Khan was very happy with his side's performance that led to them leading at the interval. He did send his side out for the second half with caution though. But just after the 2nd half started, his players were pegged back. Ronaldo was penalised for holding onto James McFadden's shirt and Davies made United pay with a wonderfully placed freekick from 30 yards out into the top corner - his 1st goal of the season! The equaliser gave the home side a bit of momentum and they almost took the lead three minutes later. Nuno Valente strode forward unchallenged before teeing up Tony Hibbert from 20 yards out and his effort flew just inches wide of the far corner. Just before the hour, Everton should have taken the lead. Osman stormed down the right flank past Gary Neville and his cross to the near post was headed over Cahill from 6 yards out. The visitors were certainly struggling to keep up with their visibly fresher opponents and Everton almost took the lead midway through the 2nd half. Joleon Lescott played the ball down the line for Johnson to latch onto and his low cross found Cahill 12 yards out but his effort went trickling inches wide of the far corner. The match went a little quiet after that chance as United got hold of possession without really creating anything in the way of chances. The match suddenly came to life on 84 minutes when Everton took the lead. Davies played a freekick into the crowded penalty area and although Cahill's powerful header was saved by Edwin van der Sar, Anichebe was on hand to bundle in the rebound. From the restart, United quickly levelled matters. Substitute Saha ran down the left flank and crossed into the area where Yobo pushed substitute Darren Fletcher over and the referee quickly pointed to the spot. Vidic confidently stepped up and dispatched the penalty, going to Wright's right side - his 1st goal for the club and what a time to get it! The game entered stoppage time and United scored a dramatic third goal. Fletcher strode forward and played a delightful pass through for Saha to strike it first time into the roof of the net. United were still celebrating when Everton hit back just before the seconds were out. Hibbert exchanged passes with substitute Lee Carsley and crossed to the near post where Cahill's towering header nestled in the back of the net to send Goodison wild. The whistle for the end of 90 minutes went shortly with the crowd in a shocked mood. The score after 90 minutes was
Everton 3 Manchester United 3.
The extra time period begun at Goodison Park with both sets of supporters rallying their players on. United had taken quite a while to get going in that 2nd half but they almost took the lead early in extra time. Carrick and Fletcher combined superbly to send Smith through on goal but he dragged his effort well wide of the far corner. Towards the end of the first period, Everton came close to retaking the lead. Davies fed a dangerous ball across the face of goal and the ball came to McFadden who struck it low and hard, missing the far corner by a matter of inches. Into the second period of extra time and the hosts had another decent chance to take the lead. Valente sent a deep ball into a crowded area where Carsley climbed highest to head just inches over the crossbar. Two minutes later, United came closer to scoring. Fletcher picked out Saha who struck an instant volley which Wright did brilliantly to push away to safety. After 117 minutes however, Saha did take his opportunity. Neville sent Smith away on goal and instead of shooting, Smith laid the ball on for Saha to tap home from six yards. In the final minute, Saha sent Smith through on goal but the England man could only poke his shot wide of the far corner. The final whistle went at Goodison Park with the managers hugging, clearly showing what that game was all about - end-to-end drama with respect! The final score after extra time on Merseyside was
Everton 3 Manchester United 4.
Match Verdict - an unbelievable match to witness, especially in those dying minutes in the 2nd half of normal time. Neither side deserved to lose but on this night, United made sure that Everton were the losers.
Everton - Wright 7, Hibbert 7, Valente 6, Yobo 5, Lescott 7 (Stubbs 84, 6), Osman 7 (Carsley 76, 6), McFadden 7, Davies 7, Cahill 8, Johnson 6 (Anichebe 76, 7), Beattie 7.
Goals - Davies (47), Anichebe (84), Cahill (90)
Man Utd - van der Sar 7, G Neville 7, Evra 7, Ferdinand 7, Vidic 8, Ronaldo 7 (Park Ji-Sung 65, 7), Richardson 7, Carrick 7, Scholes 7 (Fletcher 79, 8), Smith 8, Rooney 7 (Saha 61, 8).
Goals - Smith (20), Vidic (pen 86), Saha (90, 117)
Booked - Ferdinand, Richardson & Carrick
Injured - Ronaldo (65)
Man of the Match -
Louis Saha - when your team are not playing well, you need someone from the bench to make the impact. And Saha proved to be Khan's saviour with two well-taken and absolutely crucial goals.
Other Carling Cup Results
Aston Villa 2 Watford 1
Charlton 1 Luton 0
Liverpool 2 Sheff Utd 0
Man City 2 Ipswich 0
Newcastle 0 Chelsea 1
Oldham 0 Blackburn 4
S'Thorpe 2 Rochdale 1
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