Everton legend Neville Southall was spot-on with his advice to the Blues current players ahead of this match when he told them to “Just be a Scouser.” How sweet it must have been for home-grown hero Anthony Gordon, born and raised in the shadow of Goodison Park, to fire past Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea and have the ‘Grand Old Lady’ rocking again.
Southall, a pivotal member of the club’s most-successful team, celebrated in one of the banners unfurled on the Gwladys Street before kick-off, complete with a likeness of his manager Howard Kendall, whose name now adorns the end of the ground that houses Everton’s most-vociferous supporters, had offered Frank Lampard’s side some sage pointers. The man who was once widely-regarded as being the world’s best goalkeeper said: “For us it is all about being solid, being hard to beat, being aggressive, basically, just be a Scouser and we will be fine.”
Gordon, the only Liverpool-born player in the side certainly led the way in that respect, not just netting the winner but working tirelessly throughout, but all of his team-mates in royal blue jerseys responded too and they certainly needed to. While in many ways Manchester United have been described as a bigger version of Everton in that they can often be an under-achieving and inconsistent outfit who are less than the sum of their parts, they still possess world-class players.
PLAYER RATINGS: Alex Iwobi and three others superb against Manchester United
YOUR SHOUT: Rate the Everton players after 1-0 win over Manchester United
Unlike at Turf Moor on Wednesday, the Blues knew they couldn’t try and get by on superior man-for-man ability but instead had to show the battling qualities required when you’re in a relegation dog fight. Regardless of the result here, that was now the reality of the situation after being beaten in a ‘must not lose’ fixture to Burnley.
Here there was no margin for error and Everton knew they had to win to guarantee they wouldn’t end this weekend in the drop zone. On a day when the stakes were high, Gordon knew you’ve got to put a bet on to win big and his gamble paid off thanks to a deflection. It might be worth asking him who he fancies at the Grand National.
