By Rhys Lewis
December 4 2005

Everton won their fourth game in five Premiership matches today with a 2-0 win against Blackburn Rovers. The goals came courtesy of James McFadden and Mikel Arteta in the first half. Rovers had their captain Andy Todd sent off in what turned out to be a comfortable win for the blues. It was Blackburn however who started the game the better. They caused Everton problems right from the kick off with some dangerous crosses from either side and they also had plenty of corners. Rovers should have taken the lead after only 6 minutes into the game. Some good work from Bellamy released David Thompson down the right hand side, who crossed the ball for Morten Gamst Pedersen to shoot horribly wide from only six yards after a brilliant dummy from Steven Reid. Pederson almost gave Blackburn the lead moments later with a cross that looped over Nigel Martyn, who was relieved to see the cross hit the post. Blackburn could have easily been 2-0 up after the first 20 minutes.

It was then however that the game changed and this was mainly due to some brilliant tactical changes by David Moyes. Moyes changed the system to 4-5-1 from 4-4-2 with McFadden moving out left, van der Meyde out right and Mikel Arteta moving to a more central role. This paid dividends almost immediatly with the games first goal after 28 minutes. Phil Neville played a long ball, which was flicked on bravely by Andy van der Meyde and James McFadden crept in behind the Blackburn defence to nod the ball past Brad Friedel. It was McFadden's first goal since last January and judging by the confidence he played with in this match I doubt he will be waiting another 9 months for his next goal. Everton looked a different team and just a minute later Blackburn were down to 10 men. It came from some good work by the excellent James Beattie who flicked the ball past the Blackburn captain Andy Todd who stopped the ball with his hand. It appeared as though it was accidental and the decision to send Todd off may have been a bit harsh, though he was the last man and it did deny a goalscoring opportunity. Mikel Arteta nearly scored from the resulting free kick but saw his effort go agonisingly wide. Arteta however wasnt to be denied. It didnt take long for Everton to double their lead and it was a cracking goal. Osman showed some good skill before laying the ball off to Mikel Arteta, who from about 25 yards out placed the ball brilliantly into the top corner to all but kill the game.

Everton were forced into making one change at half time and that was Richard Wright who came on for Nigel Martyn who had picked up a groin strain. The second half was a much calmer affair than the first though it didnt start that way. Just 2 minutes into the half Lucas Neill crossed the ball to Pedersen, but once again the Norwegian International missed when he sould have buried it. There was little else in the way of chances in the half. Blackburn's best moments came from eithr crosses into the box where Richard Wright looked shaky, as well as a couple of long range efforts, which Richard Wright dealt with easily. Everton could and perhaps should have added to their total, especially towards the end of the game. Several times a midfielder broke with the ball but they failed to produce a shot or a chance.

The only downside to this match were the injury to Nigel Martyn and also Mikel Arteta recieved his fifth booking of the season and will now miss the trip to Manchester United next week.

This was an important win for Everton and the players fully deserved it. The best players on the pitch were Mikel Arteta and Joseph Yobo, who was a rock at the back winning everything that came near him both on the floor and in the air. There were 7000 Evertonians at the game, the vocal support that was given to the team was fantastic and David Moyes ensured his team sent them home extremely happy.