Everton 2 Manchester C 0:MOMENTS AFTER his ninth-minute introduction in place of the injured Roque Santa Cruz, Robinho was snapping at the heels of Marouane Fellaini, deservedly robbing the Everton midfielder of the ball. It was his last useful contribution and almost half an hour after the Brazilian had suffered the ignominy of being himself replaced, by Shaun Wright-Phillips, it was left to Fellaini to provide samba verve, pirouetting away from Craig Bellamy with a graceful facsimile of Zinedine Zidane's patented la roulette.
Everton’s record signing was as imperious here as Manchester City’s was feckless and if the €17 million Belgian is beginning to look like he would be cheap at twice the price (which would still be €2.8 million less than Sheikh Mansour shelled out on his yellow-booted statement of intent) Robinho’s future looks hopeless.
After an impressive debut season – in which he scored nine times, often playing as a striker – doubts had been cast over Fellaini’s suitability too, as an under-strength Everton struggled earlier this term with injuries. But a lingering virus has been overcome and the former Standard Liege player has lately been a revelation. Besides, the Everton manager, David Moyes, did not buy with goals in mind and is satisfied Fellaini is fit for his original purpose.
“Last season I was playing him further forward and that was because he wasn’t disciplined enough in the (defensive midfield) role at the time. A lot of the things went on around him very quickly and he wanted to be involved in everything,” said Moyes. “I think the fans were probably wondering ‘What is he?’ But he is a really talented player and we’re beginning to see the fruits of that now.”
Moyes credits Fellaini’s better grasp of English for some of the improvement and his team-mate Tim Cahill said everyone now enjoys the Belgian’s waffle.
“Even his banter is on our wavelength, he is part of the furniture. It is fair the manager saying he is a world-class midfielder,” said the Australia international. “He is in the engine room at the moment and we are building around that.”
When they produced their chequebook with such a flourish 17 months ago, City’s owners surely thought they were securing the services of a man they could build a team around but instead they have a goalless attacker who has yet to complete a full 90 minutes this season. “I wasn’t worried about taking him off because I had to change the situation on the pitch,” said manager Roberto Mancini. “I can’t worry about him.”
In the Brazilian’s defence, he was not alone in being unable to compete. Of City’s outfield 10 only Bellamy and Nigel de Jong did not implode in the face of unbridled commitment from a midfield four consisting of the home debutant Landon Donovan, Fellaini, Diniyar Bilyaletidinov and the wonderful Steven Pienaar.
It was the South African who gave Everton the lead when his free-kick snuck through the wall and beat Shay Given at his near post minutes before Louis Saha struck from the penalty spot. In an effort to claw back this deficit Mancini introduced Benjani and effectively switched to a 4-2-4, which manifested itself for a time in the Zimbabwean, Carlos Tevez and Robinho standing in a line with hands on hips. All the while Fellaini was in front of Everton’s back four, intercepting and using the ball sensibly. The 22-year-old would have claimed the goal his performance deserved in the 78th minute had Given not tipped his header on to the woodwork.
Despite this victory Moyes, still smarting from the manner of Joleon Lescott’s €25 million move to City in the summer, could not resist heaping a little more pressure on the Italian. “I think the players they have got and the money they have spent, you would ask questions if they didn’t qualify for the Champions League.”
Mancini reckons he may need some more money. “Santa Cruz is injured, (Martin) Petrov too. And we don’t have the numbers in defence. We have some problems.”
