Everton 2 Wigan Athletic 2

Last updated : 17 September 2006 By Footymad Previewer
Like last Saturday they dominated and deserved to win, but unlike the famous victory over their old foes the Blues failed to keep their poise and concentration until the very end and paid the price for sloppy defending as two Paul Scharner goals cancelled out Andy Johnson and James Beattie's second-half strikes.

In a niggly first half David Moyes side did almost all of the early running.

With quarter of an hour gone Johnson's electric pace had Wigan on the back foot as he chased down Phil Neville's hopeful through ball and forced Fitz Hall into a mistake. Everton's man of the moment picked up the loose ball, jinked past a prostrate Hall and fired a left footed drive goalwards only for Chris Kirkland to save low to his left.

Seconds later Carsley almost gave the Blues a deserved lead when he headed Leon Osman's cross inches wide from four yards out.

The pressure seemed to get to Wigan as first Arjen De Zeeuw and then Kirkland took exception to a seemingly innocuous Tim Cahill challenge. A handbags at dawn style scuffle ensued before both Wigan players were eventually booked.

Jorge Valencia's persistent fouling, on a somewhat theatrical Mikel Arteta, added to the bad feeling between the sides and led to his entry into referee Alan Wiley's book just before the half hour mark.

The Ecuador international should have got his own back five minutes before the break but he fired wide from six yards out to squander the best chance of the half.

Four minutes into the second period Everton got the break their extra endeavour deserved through who else but Johnson. His persistence forced Emmerson Boyce into a mistake and from the resulting passage of play Kirkland saved superbly from Carsley, after Cahill's dangerous cross, and Johnson forced the ball over the line from six yards.

That lit the touch paper for the Blues as they streamed forward in search of a second. De Zeeuw was lucky to get away with a handball in the box under pressure from Cahill and Osman was denied twice in two minutes by the acrobatic excellence of Kirkland.

But the Blues dominance made way to complacency and after Gary Naysmith's dwelling on the ball had almost allowed Denny Landzaat to equalise Joseph Yobo's inability to deal with a run-of-the-mill clearance saw the ball land at Kevin Kilbane's feet and cross was headed home by Scharner.

Moyes' stunned troops responded almost immediately with the ever impressive Osman coaxing Landzaat into a foul inside the box. Beattie stepped up and converted the penalty with some aplomb, high to Kirkland's left.

Unbelievably, for a team that had spent the entire first hour camp in their own half, Wigan then went up the other end and equalised again. Andreas Johansson's low cross dribbling home via Scharner's left boot.

Johansson tested Tim Howard later on after another under par Yobo clearance and Osman flashed a last second effort high over the bar as both teams tried to bring a goal scoring end to a quite bizarre afternoon.

Everton will be desperately disappointed they couldn't build on last week's win but more concerned at the manner in which they threw away what should have been a straightforward three points.