Everton compounds Moyes's woes

David Moyes suffered a torrid return
to Goodison Park as Everton
comfortably overcame Manchester
United 2-0 in the Premier League on
Sunday.
The Scot spent 11 years at the
Merseyside club before joining United
at the start of the season and was
jeered as he emerged from the tunnel
at the start of the game.
Moyes' mood will not have been
improved by United's disjointed
display, as first-half goals from
Leighton Baines and Kevin Mirallas
kept Everton's UEFA Champions
League hopes alive.
The pressure was on Roberto
Martinez's men to respond after
Arsenal's 3-0 win at Hull City earlier in
the day and Everton did just that with
a dominant performance.
Baines - often linked with a move to
Old Trafford in recent times - put
Everton in front with a penalty after
Phil Jones had handled Romelu
Lukaku's shot midway through the first
half.
Shortly before the break, Mirallas gave
the hosts some breathing space with a
fine low finish across David de Gea
after getting on the end of Seamus
Coleman's pass.
The result keeps Everton a point
behind Arsenal in the race for fourth,
while United remain seventh, six
points adrift of Tottenham in sixth.
Steven Naismith, recalled to the side
along with James McCarthy, ought to
have given Everton the lead in the
22nd minute.
Lukaku's knockdown found Naismith
all alone inside the area, but the
Scotland international blazed wildly
over the crossbar from just inside the
area.
That miss was rendered irrelevant six
minutes later, though, as Baines put
the hosts in front from the penalty
spot.
Jones, having lost his footing, stuck out
an arm to block Lukaku's shot and,
after referee Mark Clattenburg
awarded the spot-kick, Baines sent his
effort straight down the middle.
Everton doubled their lead two
minutes before the break, Mirallas
finishing from a tight angle after being
slipped in by Coleman.
Lukaku had the chance to make the
game safe in the 62nd minute, but the
Belgian fired straight at De Gea after
being picked out by a sensational pass
from Mirallas on the halfway line.
Naismith spurned another opportunity
before being denied by De Gea at full
stretch 10 minutes from time.
Former United goalkeeper Tim
Howard, who this week signed a
contract extension, was not seriously
called into action until three minutes
from the end, when he made a superb
save from ex-Everton man Wayne
Rooney to preserve his clean sheet.
The win, which secured Everton's first
league double over United for 44
years, provided a welcome tonic for
Martinez and his side after the
disappointment of Wednesday's
surprise 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace,
while the result leaves Moyes with
plenty to ponder.