English Premiership/Everton 1 - Manchester United 0: History repeated itself in glorious fashion for Everton last night, adding yet more credence to the unlikeliest of pursuits of a Champions League place. A decade since Duncan Ferguson planted a header beyond Peter Schmeichel to record their last league success over Manchester United, the Scot repeated the trick here to leave the visitors floundering.
With the goal conceded, Gary Neville exchanged words with supporters near the visitors' dug-out 18 minutes from time, as United made a substitution, then kicked the loose ball with venom at the fan. The referee flourished red. Neville retreated down the tunnel, Paul Scholes followed him for a second yellow in injury time.
Wayne Rooney had been granted licence to roam behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, dropping deep to gather then charging at his former team-mates with menace, virtually everything United created going through him. The 19-year-old was left with a bloodied nose within the opening five minutes courtesy of a loose ball belted at him in the cluttered midfield. With his face still stinging, Rooney hammered a shot goalwards which Nigel Martyn pawed away.
Yet for all United's clear intent, Everton whipped up more of a whirlwind than they ever offered in their FA Cup surrender two months ago. There was rare bite down either flank, Kevin Kilbane tearing into Gary Neville with relish while Marcus Bent drifted wide, with Tim Cahill flitting forward into space normally guarded with a snarl by Roy Keane.
The Australian had been flattened early on as Keane attempted to mark his territory. Cahill recovered his poise to spin an overhead kick at goal which Wes Brown volleyed from the goal-line. When Steve Watson crossed for Bent, the striker failed to find space between defenders to connect cleanly with his header. The visitors breathed again.
Alex Ferguson was entitled to expect better than this. Sunday's semi-final stroll against Newcastle United was also supposed to have sharpened his side's pursuit of second place and automatic qualification for the Champions League. Instead Rooney's invention and the occasional flash of brilliance on the right flank from Cristiano Ronaldo aside, they had offered pitifully little.
Urgency duly drove the visitors on thereafter. Scholes, virtually anonymous before the interval, was freed by Rooney's chip over the retreating Joseph Yobo only for Nigel Martyn to save smartly at the midfielder's feet.
Yet, where United appeared to be edging into the ascendance, complacency swiftly undermined them at the back. Rio Ferdinand was horribly culpable as Mikel Arteta fizzed an in-swinging free-kick towards the six-yard box 10 minutes after the break. Ferguson, ridiculously ignored by the England centre-back, dived into the space he had obligingly vacated to power his header beyond Tim Howard.
That was the Scot's 58th goal in two spells at the club, his presence having long unsettled the visitors' rearguard, with United's frustrations epitomised by Rooney's crude lunge at Watson. The locals bayed for a card, their fury ignored by the referee. Martyn could only flick away Ronaldo's battered attempt from distance before Rooney spat a shot which trundled wide. United's chances went with it.
Guardian Service
EVERTON: Martyn, Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Watson, Carsley, Bent (Osman 76 mins), Arteta, Cahill (McFadden 86 mins), Kilbane, Ferguson (Beattie 80 mins). Subs not used: Wright, Vaughan. Booked: Arteta, Ferguson, Hibbert. Goals: Ferguson 55.
MAN UTD: Howard, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown (Silvestre 72 mins), Heinze, Fletcher (O'Shea 76 mins), Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo, Rooney, van Nistelrooy. Subs not used: Smith, Fortune, Carroll. Sent Off: Gary Neville (72), Scholes (90). Booked: Scholes, Ronaldo.
Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).
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