Headers and Volleys (and a stray elbow)

By Chris Kirwan
April 27 2003

Everton sneaked the game with Villa, with a Campbell header and a Rooney volley doing the damage. Big Dunc also did some ‘damage’.

Wayne Rooney was once again the player to net the late winner, a goal made all the more important by Blackburn’s excellent win at Elland Road. But Moyes revealed after the game that he was close to bringing off Rooney:

"We had been getting close to taking him off.

"Just because he scores in the 93rd minute doesn't mean he's not getting tired. But we felt he may have something left in his bag for us and decided to leave him on."

Moyes was forced into playing Rooney when Radzinski failed a late fitness test, but Rooney showed his value with his dangerous running and the excellent late volley. He was aided by the introduction of Duncan Ferguson who took the pressure off the pairing of Rooney and Campbell, the latter repaying Moyes with his first goal at Goodison since late September. But Big Dunc brought a different type of impact to Joey Gudjonsson, elbowing the Icelandic international as he tracked him into the box. Ferguson had thrown a few stray elbows at the recent reserve game with Newcastle and may face an FA inquiry.

The win was crucial to maintain the gap between the Blues and Blackburn, especially with the visit of Manchester United on the last day of the season. Moyes will be hoping to get 3 points from the trip to Loftus Road to face Fulham, and hopefully the Blues will be able to hold off the challenge of Blackburn. He reflected:

"It's been a hard old week after those two Easter defeats, and we knew Blackburn were pushing us hard. But the fact that we now probably can't finish below seventh is a marvellous achievement for this club.''

It was a tough 3 points yesterday, but as we are frequently told by pundits and commentators at this time of the season it’s all about ‘winning ugly’, a phrase given a whole new meaning by Alan Stubbs after a clash of heads with Dion Dublin. I’d be more than happy for the Blues to be absolutely repulsive, as long as they sneak into Europe.