Manchester United was denied the title last season by some 11th hour heroics from intra-city rivals Mancehster City. They were hoping to start the season with a vengeance against Everton at Goodison Park. They have gotten plenty less than what they were hoping for. Everton took the match 1-0 with a clearly superior performance. It was Everton's fourth win against United at home in 21 matches.
In a truly exciting match, Everton's Marouane Felaini stole the show. The 6'4" Belgian was nothing short of dominant in the air for the Toffees. His height was way too much for United's battered defense, as he netted a header off a corner in the 57th minute. He was, by far, the man of the match.
Everton held the advantage for most of the match before the goal. They were twice robbed by the woodwork. Once when Felaini waltzed in on goal for a seemingly harmless chance. The other came early in the second half when Leon Osman drilled a shot off the cross bar, clearly beating the stunned David de Gea in Manchester's goal.
United was not without their own chances. After Everton opened the scoring, they were able to maintain possession and even come within inches of a goal themselves. Had it not been for an outstretched left foot of Phil Jagielka, the Red Devils would have managed to scrape a point out of this match.
Jagielka certainly deserves to be the secondary man of the match because of his strong defensive effort. In addition to his game saving left foot, he made a habit of being in the right place at the right time. Whether he was beating Wayne Rooney to a through ball or being steadfast on the goal line, Jagielka played a major role for Everton today.
Robin van Persie, fresh off a more than 30 million pound transfer from Arsenal, came on as a substitute as United tried to find a goal to level the game. He never played a large role in the outcome. It was more or less weird seeing him in a uniform other than Arsenal's. I don't doubt that last years golden boot winner will have an impact on Manchester United's season, but tonight he was rather unimpressive in his substitute's role.
In his defense, by the time he came on, Everton's defense was firmly parked with nine players behind the ball at all times. That gave him very little room to show off his wares.
The win is exactly the start Everton dreamed of. After a seventh place finish last year, Liverpool's other team has high hopes for a top six, if not better, finish after this year. This game was also a perfect finish to an exciting opening weekend of the Barclay's Premier League that saw the defending champions Manchester City have to fight for three points against newly promoted Southampton, Fulham net five goals without their star, and West Ham United announce their return to the top flight with a 1-0 win against Aston Villa.
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