Carling Cup: Brentford vs Everton - Full time report
Score line 1-1
Everton were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw against a low lying Brentford side. David Moyes’s men started the match in good spirit and found the early good, courtesy of Seamus Coleman. The defender found the back of the net with
a header with only five minutes on the clock. Everton dominated the home side for most of the game and managed to dominate possession. Yet owing to some slack defending by the visitors, Brentford managed to equalize just at the brink of half time. Gary Alexander
headed the ball home from short range at the 40th minute to bring things back on equal pegging.
At half time, there was nothing to choose between the two sides as Brentford put the pressure on the premier league side. In the second half, Everton made several changes, which included star midfielders Steven Pienaar and Mikel
Arteta. These changes were made by the manager to find the winning goal for the side, but the home side looked to be defending in numbers. Brentford seemed to have employed all the players on the back line, with just a single striker taking the front line.
Brentford had a good chance to find the winning goal on the 56th minute when Brentford were awarded a penalty kick. The penalty was awarded for an unfair challenge on Myles Weston by Seamus Coleman. Seamus Coleman went into the referee's book for
unsporting behavior. Penalty was taken by Charlie MacDonald but was saved by Jan Mucha. The scoreline stayed the same. Charlie MacDonald then later took a shot but Seamus Coleman got a block in. Following that attack, an outswinging corner was taken by Craig
Woodman from the right by-line.
That was the closest that the side may have gone to decide the match. Following the inclusion of their first team players, Everton looked more dangerous to finding what may be the winning goal. Steven Pienaar’s long distance effort
hit the post in the 78thminute and Mikel Arteta missed an open goal following the shot. The manager was frustrated by the solid defence of the second tier side and changed the tactics with more wing based players. That helped a lot in getting forward
as both Arteta and Pienaar combined well. Everton had another good chance to score. Due to a goal keeping fumble by Richard Lee, the ball unexpectedly fell into the feet of Leon Osman. The player’s rocket shot was however blocked by Brentford’s centre back
at the last moment and the ball went out for the corner. Owing to constant complaining by manager David Moyes, the manager was requested to go inside the dressing room and further action may be faced by the already in trouble manager. Moyes recently came out
of a touchline ban owing to his argument with the referee in their 3-3 draw against Manchester United two weeks ago.
With nothing to choose in between the two sides in 90 minutes, the match would have to be decided in extra time and/or penalties. With so much on the line for Everton, who are having troubles in the Premier League, the boss may
well want to change his tactics more and find the winning goal on the counter attack. That is the only possible chance to break the solid defensive tactics of Brentford, who seem to be comfortable with taking the match for another 30 minutes. This is the knockout
round and there just has to be a winner.
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