Anelka Hat-trick ruins Knight's best efforts

City 3 Everton 1

Kevin Keegan elected to keep faith with the eleven who had played so badly at Villa on Wednesday night, Everton named their usual collection of journeymen sluggers.

Despite a slower start than last week City took just 14 minutes to take the lead. In a rare show of competence, referee Barry Knight awarded City a free kick just outside the Everton box, Anelka struck it and benefited from a large deflection to open his City account.

It had taken the Frenchman two hundred and eighty four minutes to score his first City goal, it took him a further two to claim his second. Niclas Jensen performed wonders to keep the ball in on the left, his far post cross was headed back across goal by Stevie Howey for Anelka to meet and tap home from four yards.

City gained confidence from this two goal burst and started to look like they would impose a similar score to the one the last time the two teams met at Maine Road, cue Barry Knight.

Knight had given City very little from the start but no one was complaining when he awarded Everton a 29th minute penalty after Naysmith was upended by Wright-Phillips in the box. Wright-Phillips was called over to Knight and must have been expecting a yellow card at worst. Inexplicably Knight had interpreted Wright-Phillips foul as a professional foul, despite Naysmith being out wide with City cover in the middle. Wright-Phillips was disgracefully sent off and Unsworth duly scored.

Knight’s decision effectively ruined the game as a spectacle with City being forced to defend as Everton sensed the game was theirs for the taking.

Keegan’s City side is made of sterner stuff however. Wins against Norwich and Millwall last season stand testament to this. This was Premiership opposition though and City had a full hour to hold on.

Quite simply for the remainder of the first half, and all of the second, Keegan’s defence was magnificent. Schmeichel continued to convert even the bitterest of blues with yet another outstanding goalkeeping performance, Distin was a colossus and continued to look a bargain at £4 million, Sun Jihai had yet another wonderful game as he covered both his own and Wright-Phillips positions and Stevie Howey produced another impressive display in the centre of the back three, one headed clearance in the first half from under the bar quite simply world class.

After soaking up almost a full 60 minutes of Everton pressure Anelka won the ball on the right hand side, he ran into the Everton box, wrong footed the defender and blasted a low shot across and beyond Simonson in the Everton goal to complete his hat-trick and seal the points for City.

The hat-tick capped a superb performance from Anelka and duly won him the man of the match award. To see a man who takes constant criticism from the press playing in almost a right wing back role for the greater good of the team was a joy to see, as were his first goals of many in a City shirt.

City moved above the rags on the back of this game and to a lofty sixth in the Premiership. The Kevin Keegan revolution continues apace, bring on the Arsenal.

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