Everton 2, Newcastle 2: Defence causes concern again

Oct 6 2008

Mikel Arteta _320

YOU wouldn’t have blamed David Moyes for knocking on Joe Kinnear’s door last night to ask if he could borrow one of his x-rated tirades.

He could certainly make good use of it after watching his Everton side self-destruct in spectacular style yesterday, even by this season’s remarkably low standards.

Everton looked all set yesterday. They were cruising at 2-0 after 35 minutes, with Mikel Arteta marking his first game as captain with the opening goal from the spot and Marouane Fellaini scoring for the first time since his club record move from Standard Liege in the summer.

Without Tim Cahill and Phil Neville, and inspired by Steven Pienaar’s first start of the campaign, the sky was blue and it was finally looking like a good day to be a blue.

But then the air turned blue – and this time it wasn’t Kinnear doing the cursing.

The former Wimbledon manager must have been disappointed to have missed both of his team’s goals – he left his seat to get to the dressing room before Steven Taylor headed the first in first-half stoppage time, then after the break hadn’t returned to it by the time Damien Duff swept in the equaliser.

But Moyes must have wished he’d been elsewhere too to spare him the pain of witnessing yet more defensive disasters.

They are costing him dearly at the moment and have been all season as he now endures his longest run without a clean sheet of his Goodison reign.

They have robbed him of UEFA Cup and Carling Cup commitments to bulk up the winter schedule and they have contributed heavily to a sluggish start in the league – yesterday’s was the first point against a side that wasn’t promoted from the Championship last season.

But a visit from Newcastle really should have turned the tide and brought a first win in six games.

The last time the Toon Army descended on Goodison the hosts shot them down to secure fifth place, European qualification and a record Premier League points total.

In the four months since, the fact that the fortunes of Newcastle have somehow nose-dived even more spectacularly than their hosts’ made them ideal opposition for a side desperate to shake off the unease and nervousness that has dogged their defensive displays since their last meeting.