By Rhys Lewis
January 4 2006

Everton avioded a fourth straight home defeat on Monday by beating Charlton Athletic 3-1. It was Everton's best home performance of the season and the first time they had scored 3 in any competition since last april. It was a nervy start from both sides with neither side able to grab a hold of the game in the early stages. That was until Everton took the lead through James Beattie. Some good work from Mikel Arteta in midfield found Leon Osman who played a smart through ball to Kevin Kilbane before he was brought down in the penalty are by Dennis Rommedahl. Rommedahl was lucky not to be sent off but it did not matter in the end. Beattie saw his penalty saved by the former Everton keeper Thomas Myhre but he kept his head to put the rebound away to score his 5th goal in his last 7 home apperances.

Everton started to control the match, in particular Mikel Arteta. However Charlton equalised when Matt Holland scored a well taken volley from outside the area. It was the third time Matt Holland had scored from outside the area in the Gwladys Street End in the last few years. This disrupted Everton's play and they nearly went behind soon after when Brian Hughes saw his left footed effort fly over the bar. This seemed to spark Everton and they regained the lead 4 minutes before half time through some quick thinking from the excellent Arteta. He chipped a delightful ball into the far post before the Charlton defence were ready and Tim Cahill powered a header home in off the bar.

The second half was a very comfortable display from Everton, it was a performance that showed some confidence, which had been lacking in the last few games. Everton made it 3-1 in the 59th minute. Mikel Arteta was once again the provider with a sensational ball in for Tim Cahill to rise above everyone to score his 4th goal of the season. Remarkably despite a poor season so far the Aussie star has scored only 1 goal less this season as he had at this stage last season. He was soon denied his hat-trick as well. Some great play on the wing from Valente saw the Portuguese international beat 2 men before putting in a decent cross for Beattie to nod down to Cahill before he slammed it home, only for Uriah Rennie to rule it out wrongly. Charlton had opportunities to get back in the game, the best from Fortune who saw his header hit the post and fall into Nigel Martyn's hands. Also Darren Ambrose missed a sitter from 6 yards when he put his easy header over the bar. Cahill nearly secured his hat-trick in the dying minutes, his volley from 20 yards crashed against the post with Myhre beaten.

This was the type of performance David Moyes has been waiting for for a while. It was full of confidence after the win at Sunderland and every player played well. However it was against an out of form Charlton side so the team must not get carried away and think they are safe. They have to take this result and produce performances like that more often. If they do then there is no chance they will be relegated.