Cahill, Yakubu propel Everton

Everton 3 - 2 Blackburn

Cahill’s 90^th minute strike keeps Everton in the hunt for Europe. Everton dominated possession all match, but Tim Howard and the defense struggled immensely on set pieces. The scoring started early, with a converted penalty in the 4^th minute, after Mikel Arteta was clearly fouled in the box by Ryan Nelson. From there on Everton dominated most of the half, but never created any good opportunities to go up two. In the 20^th minute, Arteta lucked out by only picking up a yellow card after poking Morten Pedersen in the eye. Blackburn slowly started picking up their attack after this incident. Most of their chances were created during set pieces, where Everton’s fullbacks and Tim Howard looked lost. Everton were lucky to go into the half unscathed.

The second half began with some more pressure by Blackburn, and they finally equalized with a phenomenal strike by Steven Nzonzi. The Toffees attack started to seem feeble, and Moyes made two changes, the second one being Yakubu for Tony Hibbert. This move proved to be the difference. Within 20 seconds of coming in, Yakubu found the back of the net. This was done after a long throw by Baines was headed toward Yakubu by Victor Anichebe. Yakubu headed the ball in with a defender falling into him. Two minutes later, on a counter-attack by Blackburn, Jason Roberts powered a strong shot following a through ball to equalize again. This match started to look tantalizingly similar to the last two matches played by Everton. Cahill had something to say about a draw though. Cahill, on a recent scoring tear, tapped in a short cross after Yakubu made some astonishing moves on the left side of the box to bring out the goalie. This 90^th minute goal kept the dream of Europe alive and puts the Toffees within striking distance of Aston Villa and Liverpool.

The addition of Arteta and Yakubu made an immense difference in the play of Everton. Arteta held possession for Everton (63% for Everton compared to 37% for Blackburn) and changed the dynamic of the game for Everton. Yakubu created goal chances, something Everton lacked in the first half. Cahill also continued his goal scoring streak by putting another one in the net after scoring two against Villa. This victory was essential in Everton’s hopes to get to Europe and shows how important Arteta is to the team. As long as our team stay healthy, we should have quite a good chance to finish at least in the top 7 and hopefully make it to the Europa League (given Portsmouth is still denied).

Next week Everton plays Fulham at Goodison Park. If Everton wants any chance of making it to Europe, a victory would be very wise.

Tim Howard Taking Responsibility

If you have ever watched an Everton match, you know how fiery Tim Howard is. Any time an opposing team is even near the box and he makes a save (or even a shanked shot for that matter), Howard starts shouting like a madman to his teammates. If you haven't had the opportunity to see this scene, just picture Didier Drogba after he loses a match, or Wayne Rooney when his feet touch anything that resembles a pitch, or Bobby Knight after any referee's call against him, or Hal McRae after a stupid ass question, or Mike Gundy after he reads a newspaper, or Dennis Green after thinking someone was who he thought they were, or Jim Mora any day of his life. If you don't know at least one of these references and you call yourself a sports fan, then god have mercy on your soul. Here's the best montage I could find with a lot of these angry people clips - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF7aCF8WFbA

It always seems like Howard is berating his teammates for not trying hard enough or making too many mistakes. Even when Howard himself makes mistakes, it seems that he is shouting at the top of his lungs at someone else. I always thought he did this because he didn't take responsibility for goals against him.

Today I realized, he did this in order to provide leadership, and because he's just a plain crazy dude on the pitch.

"I feel disappointed for everyone," Howard said in reference to the Aston Villa match. "I feel from my standards I need to keep those balls out. I got tied up on the bounce and it's just taken a nick off our player. I'm disappointed but you have to hold your hands up."

He took responsibility for the own goal by Phil Jagielka! I've watched the goal a couple of times, and I know Howard couldn't have kept that ball out. It was just an unlucky deflection by Jagielka. But we now know that Howard doesnt hide behind anything for any ball that finds the net. The reason why he's barking orders at someone or other is because he is just plain crazy.

Either that or he really is an ass and just puts on a front to make it seem like he's nice in the media. I like to think he is crazy.