Blues 3 Everton 0 .. BluenoseRon Reports

Johnson 8, Lazaridis 39, Forssell 49

Match Report

Goals from Damien Johnson, Stan Lazaridis and Mikael Forssell earned Blues their biggest league win of the campaign in a comprehensive performance prior to the big FA Cup tie at Sunderland on saturday.

Steve Bruce is now blessed with the kind of selection dilemma that managers will always revel in - most notably in defence. Bruce had made particular mention to Everton's aeriel threat in pre-match press conferences, and had hinted at starts for new boy Martin Taylor and fit again Matthew Upson. In fact, it was only the latter who started the game, but somewhat surprisingly at left-back, with Jeff Kenna making way. As such, Kenny Cunningham and Darren Purse continued their partnership in the heart of defence, with the ever-enigmatic Olivier Tebily at right-back. Clinton Morrison replaced Stern John up front, with Martin Taylor and Christophe Dugarry on the bench.

Bruce had clearly been a little bit hurt by the 'boring' labels placed upon his side following the goalless draw at Manchester City, and there was an upbeat feel about Blues from the off, with Johnson berating a fan for not throwing the ball back to him quick enough after about 30 seconds. Within the first 5 minutes, Forssell had gone close twice, and Upson had headed wide from a Robbie Savage corner.

After just 8 minutes, Blues were ahead. Perhaps Damien Johnson reads these reports, and has been a little hurt himself by the endless criticism that his finishing receives. Anyway, he wasted little time in proving yours truly wrong when a poor Thomas Gravesen clearance from another Savage corner dropped to him. He took the ball on his chest, and hit a fierce drive that was on target - very different from injury time in Manchester. His shot took a deflection and crept past Morrison into the back of Nigel Martyn's net.

After this Blues eased off a little, and let the visitors back into the game. With the likes of Duncan Ferguson, Kevin Kilbane, Alan Stubbs and David Unsworth in the opposition team, the last thing you want to do is concede corners and set pieces in dangerous positions. Blues obviously decided to test the resilient defence and concede as many as possible. Stubbs headed wide, and otherwise Blues coped well with Gary Naysmith's deliveries - apart from Cunningham trying to lob Maik Taylor with one back header.

As the half began to draw to a close, Blues seemed to up the tempo again, and Lazaridis hammered a wayward shot over the bar, before two Bryan Hughes shots in succession were blocked. At the other end, Wayne Rooney mis-timed an attempt at a wonder goal, as Everton struggled.

Seven minutes before the break Blues were 2-0 up thanks to Lazaridis. Savage played an excellent ball in front of the Australian winger, and that was all the invitation he needed. Lazaridis swept forward, past the Everton defenders before unleashing a terrific shot past Martyn from a tight angle for his second of the season. Blues then stepped up a gear even further before the break, with Martyn saving well from Forssell just before the interval.

Everton threw on Kevin Campbell and Alessandro Pistone for Ferguson and Unsworth at half-time, but before either could have any impact, it was 3-0. Savage intercepted a poor clearance, and laid the ball off the Forssell. The ball wasn't the best in the world, but Forssell was able to turn and strike a sweet left-footed drive inside Martyn's left-hand post.

Kilbane headed tamely into Maik Taylor's arms as Everton meekly pressed for some sort of consolation, but it was still Blues who were dominant. Forssell headed a superb Hughes cross onto the bar, and Morrison's attempt from the rebound was deflected over, before a Lazaridis cross was expertly turned behind by Pistone as Dugarry lurked behind.

David Moyes was angered when what looked like a clear penalty following Hughes' challenge on James McFadden wasn't given, but in truth, it was borne out of frustration rather than any hope of a comeback. Hughes then hit Martyn's crossbar when well placed after a great Lazaridis ball, before Rooney capped a tireless performance by hitting the post himself late on. Rooney will always come in for stick on the ground where he received his first ever red card last season, but he is still a hell of a talent, and this game would have been very, very close if Everton had 10 more players like him.

Blues had a strange look to them towards the end, thanks to some unconventional substitutions. At one point Forssell, Morrison, John and Dugarry were all up front, whilst they ended up with four centre halves in defence (including Martin Taylor for his debut), a striker on the right wing, a central midfielder on the left wing, and a winger and a defender in midfield. That defender, in Tebily, made one challenge on Pistone that was reminiscent of his all-time legendary tackle with no boot on against Stuart Nethercott at Millwall. Pistone had no idea what hit him. Whatever criticism Tebily gets, he's a hell of a player to have around the place, for his pure aggression and strength. There was even chance late on for Dugarry and Purse to try and have a little bit of a scrap, for whatever reason, with Upson acting as peacemaker.

Following sunday, you got the feeling that Steve Bruce and his players wanted to prove a point tonight, and go out and play some good attacking football. That they certainly did in patches - even showboating a little in the second half. The defence - especially Purse - was magnificent, but further forward things clicked too. It was all very promising prior to a big, big couple of games.

Blues 3 Everton 0 .. BluenoseRon Reports

Last updated : 12 February 2004 By Richard Barker