Article by Mark Graham, Stats Nerd

Match Review
Manchester United 4 v 2 Everton, Goodison Park, Merseyside, 12.45pm, Saturday 28th April 2007.
Goals: Everton: Stubbs (12), Fernandes (50)    Manchester United: O'Shea (61), Neville (68 O.G.), Rooney (79), Eagles (90).
Attendance: 39,682

In an emotional day for both supporters, Everton & the rest of the Premiership paid their respects to former hero Alan Ball who tragically died on Tuesday, our thoughts here at MUFCINFO.COM go out to Alan's Family & Friends.

United finally slapped The Blues hands right off the back of their shirt tails giving the soulless, false West London Club the two finger salute as the charge continued at Merseydive.  United staged a fight back of titanic proportions at Goodison Park after suddenly finding themselves 2-0 down early in the second half, the Reds digging deep then deservingly responded with a 4 goal surge to propel themselves 5 points ahead in the final stretch of the Premiership title race. 

United surprisingly started with OGS ahead of Ronaldo on the right and as SAF explained "Ronaldo had a knock in training & if he plays it could keep him out for 2-3 games"

With only three minutes gone Everton had struck the woodwork as Lescott headed an Arteta corner against the bar, the Toffees then opened the scoring after Patrice Evra needlessly leapt in the air and referee Wiley rightly so awarded a free kick to Everton, Alan Stubbs then struck a drive at EVDS who with the shot covered started to dive, however Michael Carrick stuck out a leg and gave the shot extra height which EVDS had not compensated for, resulting in the ball bulging the net.

For almost the rest of the half United then saw possession in plenty but no end product as Solskjaer & Smith slowed United's attack with their more patient attacking style & limited use of movement.

Rooney later shot at Turner who held well & Alan Smith after some well put together football, dragged his shot poorly wide after a brilliant lay off from Ryan Giggs.

As the 1st half wore on Giggs & Scholes become United's creative hub & a long pass from Scholes picked out Rooney well only for the former Everton striker to show a poor first touch and Rooney instead of shooting on goal could only kick the ball into touch for a Everton throw in.


The second half had hardly begun when United's hard task was made even harder after Fernandes struck a sublime effort, after breaking up an attack Everton moved toward United's goal Fernandes under the watchful eye of Wes Brown moved to the right just outside of the box before he belted a shot into the corner, giving EVDS no chance at all.

United forever making it harder and never easier for themselves then had lady luck on their side as Turner dropped a routine catch from a corner, JOS had positioned himself perfectly as the Irishman swung his boot at the loose ball, striking into the net for the start of a magical revival.

As soon as the reds scored, SAF instructed Ronaldo to warm up & it was game on, another set piece saw the Reds equalise as Ronaldo met a corner with power, after a pinball like scramble Everton Captain & Double Agent Neville Jnr turned the ball into his own net, giving his brother a fantastic opportunity for a personal phone call after the match.

Everton then reeling from the equaliser then failed to clear an attack & who else but the White Pele to score to take the lead, Rooney the former darling of Goodison patiently & expertly took his time before beating a lunging tackle & the goalkeeper.

Rooney then celebrated by kissing the badge in a show of just how important this goal was to be in the title race.

With the News filtering through from Stamford Bridge, which was several minutes ahead of this game that the score had finished at 2-2, Ronaldo had a perfect opportunity to score as he was spotted making a run into space, Turner saved very extremely well from Ronaldo who was left looking up at the skys after he felt he should have scored..

Chris Eagles then came on for OGS and the youngster making his league debut then with an assist from Rooney curled a shot around Turner moving the Reds 5 points clear.

After the game the buoyant Alex Ferguson then  came on the pitch signifying that this was the beginning of the End of the reign of False Champions & that the Race for the Title had took an enormous shift Northbound, to a club with History, passion & soul.

Thank You Bolton!!!!.

United Starting Line-up
Player Ratings in parenthesis
Van der Sar (6); O'Shea (8), Brown (6), Heinze (6), Evra (3); Solskjaer (5), Scholes (8), Carrick (6), Giggs (9); Smith (5), Rooney (8).
Subs Used:  Richardson (6) for Evra (56 mins), Ronaldo (7) for Smith (63 mins), Eagles (7) for Solskjaer (86 mins).
Subs not used: Kuszczak, Lee.

United's Man of the Match
Ryan Giggs was a nightmare for Everton, playing just in front of the Everton's back four the Welshman tortured the Toffees with brilliant flicks & passes all day, complemented by Rooney & JOS who were fantastic & Paul Scholes range of passing all deserve a mention.

Keano16's Reaction
Having to watch the game in Newcastle City Centre due to Girlfriend commitments (LOL), The Barcode supporters in the bar your reporter watched the game in seemed ever so pleased when Chelski were winning & we were losing, Sad Barcodes they soon shut up though.

Moan of the Match
We know form is temporary & class is permanent but, What the hell was Patrice Evra on, he almost needed reminded who to pass to, shocking tackling, out of position, dreadful distribution, but hey, Who cares!!!.

Was Our Prediction Right?
We said 2-0, United Rant 7 v 49 Wrong Predictions.

Milestones
John O'Shea's 9th Premiership goal of his United career & 12th goal overall.
Wayne Rooney's 41st Premiership goal of his United career & 59th goal overall.
Chris Eagles's 1st Premiership goal of his United career & 1st goal overall.

Wes Brown & John O'Shea are both tied on 159 competitive league games for United.

Miscellaneous Info
United’s next match is on Wednesday 2nd May 2007 (A) to AC Milan in the UCL Semi Final 2nd Leg, 19.45pm K.O. G.M.T.