Everton's loss to Blackburn Rovers, What went wrong with Everton?
It was third match for two of the most respected clubs in English football history. Black burn Rovers hosted a talented Everton side, in their 3rd match of the premier league season
A single goal from Nikola Kalinic was enough to see Rovers through their first home win of the season. The goal could’ve easily have been avoided from David Moyes’s men, as the goal came off a howler from Everton keeper Tim Howard. Howard couldn’t control the ball and ended up gifting the ball to the Croatian forward, who just couldn’t miss an open goal. That goal, which came just after 14 minutes, was the only difference between the two sides, as Everton couldn’t find the equalizer, gifting all three points to Sam Allardyce’s side.
Newly signed Manchester United striker Mame Biram Diouf made his much awaited debut for the Rovers and the player added the much needed pace and energy from the word go. Goal keeper Paul Robinson proved why he’s still one of the finest shot stoppers in the country, when he saved two back to back shots from Everton in added time. This win against Everton makes it three in-a-row for Sam Allardyce’s, who ended last season with victories against Arsenal and Aston Villa.
The coach employed a similar starting XI for the Rovers, but was without Rovers’ player of the year, Steven Nzonzi, who found himself on the substitute bench. Jones was, as expected, engaged in the new defensive midfield role while goal scorer Kalinic was rightly chosen over newly acquired Mame Biram Diouf up front.
Over at Everton camp, Tim Cahill successfully recovered from knee strain to find himself in the starting XI. Black Burn was fed from the energy of the 12th man; the home crowd, which led the team to starting off the match in emphatic fashion. Within the starting two minutes of the match, Gamst Pedersen lobbed the ball right into the feet of charging Martin Olsson, who found himself right in front of goal. The player however couldn’t finish as he lifted the ball over the post. At 9 minutes, Rovers had to deal with their first injury of the season, when David Dunn was seen limping off to make way for Nzonzi.
The Rovers, however, didn’t let the injury down their morale and found the back of the net only minutes later. Hadji Diouf headed the ball towards Tim Howard, who made a mess of a simple save and landed the ball right into the feet of Kalinic. The youngster spun around and took the shot into the empty goal, registering his first goal of the season. Ewood Park erupted in celebration following the goal, with fans and players making deafening noise to celebrate the goal of the season so far. Kalinic, who joined Rovers last season, needed such a moment to kick off his slow start to English football.
The goal led to Everton improving their performance and Rovers had to deal with wave after wave of attack from the Toffees. Star midfielder Mikel Arteta free kick was deflected wide and Steven Pienaar fired a shot right into the hands of goal keeper Paul Robinson, from the resulting corner. This was the only stroke of action till half time.
Returning from the much deserved half time break, a well timed run from Jones got the crowd on its feet. The player passed the ball toward Kalinic, who made a mess of the ball and possession was lost. At the hour mark, both sides made their much needed substitution. Rovers gave Manchester United loan signing Mame Biram Diouf his home debut while Jermaine Beckford replaced Leon Osman over at Everton. Diouf replaced the goal scorer Kalinic and received a warm welcome from the home fans. The player almost made a dream start to his Rover’s career, when he chased a ball and passed it well towards Pedersen. Diouf however failed to time the reception of the pass, which led the referee to flag Diouf offside.
The referee signalled 3 minutes added time to the usual 90 minutes. Everton really took the game to the hosts, when Jagielka shot a powerful shot towards Robinson, who managed a superb save. Seconds later, Jack Rodwell managed a marvellous bicycle kick, which was again denied by Robinson. The referee then blew the final whistle, awarded the much precious victory to the home side.
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