Subs not used: Ward, Clarke, Simonsen.

Booked: Watson, Pembridge.

Leicester: Flowers (Arphexad, 8), Taggart, Walsh, Sinclair, Savage, Lennon (Thomas, 90), Zagorakis (Campbell, 79), Oakes, Eadie, Elliott, Cottee.

Subs not used: Gunnlaugsson, Gilchrist.

Booked: Sinclair.

Attendance: 30,490.

Everton (1) 2 Leicester (2) 2 FT
Weir 15 Elliott 26,31
Unsworth 56 (pen)

Matt Enjoys His Day Out 'Up Front'


As this game finished we all had to come to terms with the fact that 'the holiday was over', it was time to forget Christmas and not even mention the M. word and get on with our lives.
In fact this was the first draw we've had in the league since we last played a bunch of scousers in the form of Liverpool at home way back on September 8th 1999, that game finished 2-2 as well.

The team lined up in unfamiliar formation but that in itself is a familiar situation given the horrendous injury problems we have had over the last few weeks.
So Matt Elliott was to play up front with TC, or was he, as Darren Eadie seemed to start off there and Matty sort drifted into place after about 10 mins.
It was Eadie who set events in motion with a dash down the left and a shot on target after only 3 mins. but he then sadly faded from sight which was a disappointment considering he is our 'biggest' signing in the clubs history. We might not see much of him in the near future as he collided with Taggert in the dying moments of the game, it looked very painful although Gerry typically never flinched.
After 10 mins Tim Flowers came flying out of goal after a poor kick out by him had set Barmby in motion. There was a sickening collision and both players left the field of play. Flowers was in a very distressed condition clutching his 'bad knee' again.  How a penalty was not given I will never know, somehow the referee Jeff inter must have had his attention diverted by the collision (sorry is that too unbiased?)
Peguy Arphexad came on and the first business he had to attend to was to pick the ball out of the back of the net after Weir's shot had struck Hutchison's hand for an impossibly deflected shot on goal which was not savable.
Leicester though were playing well and they bounced back; Zagorakis got on the end of an Elliott header across goal, his shot was on target and goalward bound; the ball hit Gough on the chest and flew wide and the ref didn't even give us a corner.
This only spurred The Greek on. He ran at the Everton defence who scattered like frightened rabbits -  he slipped the ball to the edge of the box and Matt Elliott was there to sweep the ball majestically home to bring the two sides level.
Matt in fact began to play like a man possessed, he won every ball in the air, he flicked, he laid off,  he did everything right and he got his just desserts with another goal after 35 mins. Arphexad cleared the ball long to Savage who scuttled forward and under pressure played the ball forward; Gerard the Everton 'keeper and Watson his centre back made a hash of it all, and collided with each other,'Thanks very much' said Matt as he smashed the ball cleanly into the back of the net to take us in at half time with a deserved lead.

Throughout the second half we were still the better side and had it not been for Frank Sinclair's bit of volleyball in the box we would have won the game quite easily, but as it was Unsworth converted the penalty kick with great efficiency.

It was good to see an improved performance from Stef Oakes who on this occasion got the bit between his teeth. Eadie still remains something of a worry or am I expecting too much too soon, but his touch, passes and weak tackling ensure that the jury is out on his Premiership credentials although he does drive a very nice Porsche Carrera.
Taggert had a magnificent game and Lennon was efficient although not quite up to his usual high standard, being in the process of coming back from an injury.
Campbell came on for Zagorakis after he had been tackled on the chest by Watson but the little 'Scot' was pole-axed by Pembridge who is not a foreigner to such situations, I watched him open up David Oldfield's shin a few years back and this was a similar 'touch.'

All in all though you would have to say this was a satisfactory performance but with a little more luck we could easily have gone away with all three points.