A looping header by Phil Jagielka just past the hour mark settled a keenly contested but poor game overall from Everton’s perspective and condemned Reading to a seventh-successive defeat.
Having taken the decision to axe Yakubu for arriving back from the Africa Cup of Nations two days late, Moyes was able to deploy his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation with the inclusion of Tim Cahill, that despite his having flown more than halfway around the world just two days earlier following World Cup qualifying duty for Australia. Andy Johnson was tasked with spearheading the attack while Joleon Lescott moved to left back to accommodate the return of Joseph Yobo.
As they did at Blackburn last week, Everton took about 20 minutes to start getting into the game leaving Steve Coppell’s side to take the early initiative. Steven Hunt gave Tim Howard a scare inside 60 seconds with a direct free kick that the American saw very late because of the sunshine in his eyes but he smothered the shot at the second attempt.
The torpor of the first half was lifted only in the final few minutes before the break when great skill by Leon Osman to lose his marker enabled him to cut it back for Cahill but he shinned the bobbling ball embarrassingly wide. Former Blue, John Oster, then curled a free kick onto the roof of the net before Cahill connected with Arteta’s first decent set-piece delivery of the half but headed inches over from close range.
After James Vaughan was brought on at half time, the young striker immediately gave Everton some much-needed vitality. And after Lee Carsley had bobbled the first chance of the second period a few yards wide, Vaughan expertly escaped the clutches of Sonko by the touchline, drove inside and slid an inviting ball across the face of goal. Unfortunately, it skidded a couple of inches in front of Cahill’s toe and also evaded Johnson at the back post.
Instead, Arteta found his range from corners on the left side and Everton made the breakthrough. Vaughan had headed one corner narrowly over and Cisse had been forced to head another behind before Osman picked up a clearance from a third corner in two minutes and lofted the ball over a defence in the process of stepping out. Unfortunately for them, both Doyle and Mateovsky were playing Jagielka onside and he looped a header over Hahnemann and into the far corner to break the deadlock.
The goal was just what Everton needed to emerge from their shell and start to take control of proceedings in the manner in which you’d expect from a team currently sitting fourth in the table. The ball broke for Arteta in the area four minutes after the goal and he pushed it wide of his marker to Johnson but the striker’s cross-cum-shot was blocked. Then, Osman’s attempted cross from the left flank bounced off the face of the crossbar and was picked up by Arteta on the other side. The Spaniard skipped inside two players and shot but his effort was closed down.
The Blues were still poor overall, though, with Howard resorting once again to punting high balls towards the front two, Neville giving the ball away at almost every opportunity, Carsley looking uncharacteristically lead-footed, Arteta double-marked and Cahill drifting in and out of proceedings.
Once again, it was the precocious talents of Vaughan that intermittently livened up the affair and with 14 minutes left he collected a cross from the right with his back to goal, flicked it up and delivered a stunning overhead kick that Hahnemann palmed behind for a corner at full stretch.
Still, Reading’s attacking limitations meant that Everton were able to see out the last few minutes in relative comfort and claim a victory that they deserved on the balance of play but one which was also secured with an element of fortune about it. Three points when you’re playing badly, though, is the sign of a strong team so Moyes will be happy enough but he knows they can play much better. A display like that in Bergen in midweek or at City in 9 days’ time will almost certainly get punished.
