View from The Stands: Memorable day to say ‘I was there’

Nov 26 2007 by Mark McKenna, Liverpool Daily Post

Everton v Sunderland - scoreboard

SATURDAY was very much an “I was there” match for Evertonians and one that will live long in the memory.

Throughout David Moyes’ time in charge, the standard of football has been criticised even when we have been winning. This game, however, could only be described as a dream performance in every aspect and one which shows how far Moyes has brought us.

It says it all that perhaps the biggest talking point from the match was how we didn’t score more than seven. Their keeper actually had a good game and the combination of his saves and some wayward finishing kept the scoreline down to seven.

Our cause was helped by some simply woeful defending, but that can’t take away from the quality of our display. We’ve been elated by some four or five-goal thrashings we’ve given out over the past decade or so, but this truly was of a School of Science stature.

While Arteta, Yakubu and Cahill will attract the headlines, for me the star of the show was Lee Carsley. Our dearly beloved Harry Hill tribute simply dominated the midfield and allowed Osman, Pienaar, Arteta and Cahill the chance to attack at will, which they did so emphatically.

While the standard of football has now turned up a notch, it’s brilliant to see we’re still maintaining the work ethic that is typical of Moyes. The sight of Pienaar chasing the full length of the pitch to retrieve the ball from their player when we’d already scored seven goals epitomised this.

So it turns out the derby debacle was the turning point in our season.