Today in 2013 Evertonians enjoyed one of their greatest Premier League away days as Bryan Oviedo’s goal gave their side their only victory at Manchester United for the past 30 years.
Everton have another daunting trip to Old Trafford coming up next month in the FA Cup third round so are there any pointers Frank Lampard’s side can pick up from their predecessors of nine years ago to triumph against the Red Devils?
Leftfield winner
When manager David Moyes swapped Everton for Manchester United in 2013 after over 11 years in charge at Goodison Park, he tried to take left-back Leighton Baines with him. However when the Scot chanced his arm with a £28million bid for BOTH the England international plus Blues record signing Marouane Fellaini in August, his former employers knocked it back, declaring the offer to be “derisory and insulting.”
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Everton’s comments were backed up by the fact that before the month was out, Fellaini alone ended up being reunited with his old gaffer in a deal worth just £500,000 less than what United had offered for him and Baines who stayed put. However, with the native Merseysider out of the December clash with a fractured toe, it was another of Moyes’ Blues recruits who played a starring role as an understudy.
Oviedo had been snapped up from Danish side Copenhagen for £3.5million at the start of what proved to be the long-serving manager’s final season at Everton and while his versatility made him a useful squad option, his outings had been limited until Baines was sidelined. Like the Blues’ current left-back Vitalii Mykolenko, he went into what was his first away game against Manchester United having joined in the previous campaign and with one goal to his name.
The Ukrainian broke his duck in spectacular fashion at Leicester City in May to secure Everton’s first Premier League away win since the previous August but in Oviedo’s case it had come just four days before in a 4-0 romp at home to Stoke City. However, when Romelu Lukaku pulled the ball across United’s penalty area in the 86 th minute, the Costa Rican international was on hand to coolly slot it home.
Cruelly, a double leg break suffered in the FA Cup fourth round at Stevenage the following month scuppered Oviedo’s dreams of playing in the 2014 World Cup finals although with 79 caps to date, he subsequently returned to play for his country both in Russia in 2018 and all three of their group games in the current tournament in Qatar.
Dominating the engine room
It was imperative that Everton were able to get a foothold on proceedings in the centre of the park and as the ECHO’s Greg O’Keeffe wrote in his match report at the time, “The Blues started in a rampant mood befitting their current confidence, getting the better of the early midfield tussle and testing David De Gea at the Stretford End with a couple of Kevin Mirallas attempts, initially a glancing header, then a vicious shot that the Spaniard had to tip over after a smart through ball from James McCarthy.” Indeed it was the Republic of Ireland international who was named the visitors’ star man with O’Keeffe proclaiming: “James McCarthy was a case-study in the art of ceaseless midfield work-rate. He simply never stopped and ensured the Blues kept ticking all the way to their famous victory.”
After Casemiro and company were able to boss things in the middle when the two sides met in the Premier League at Goodison Park in October, Amadou Onana, Lampard’s closest box-to-box equivalent to McCarthy will know that he’ll need to be on the top of his game.
Goalkeeper on form
You know when you go to Manchester United, your man between the sticks is also going to have to be on his toes at all times. Back in 2013, the ECHO reported that: “ Wayne Rooney gave Tim Howard a scare when he cut in from the left and unleashed a fierce effort which the American had to beat away” while “Howard again had to be alert to hack the ball away as Danny Welbeck lurked with intent.”
The same will go for England number one Jordan Pickford when he follows up his current World Cup adventure with this high-profile tie. While Asmir Begovic is an able deputy, after the Carabao Cup shambles at Bournemouth when Everton were unceremoniously dumped out 4-1 after Lampard changed all 11 players, surely the Blues boss has to go with his strongest possible line-up here?
Cheer we go
Although the trip down the East Lancs Road to Old Trafford is currently Everton’s shortest Premier League journey after crossing Stanley Park for Merseyside Derbies, both fixtures have proven particularly tough in recent decades. The Oviedo-inspired victory is the Blues’ only success away against Manchester United since a 3-0 success in the opening week of the Premier League era in 1992 while the neighbours haven’t been beaten in front of fans at Anfield since 1999 with the only triumph coming in the coronavirus-induced behind-closed-doors fixtures of the 2020/21 season which saw many long-standing sequences of results end in the sterile settings without spectators.
With FA Cup allocations allowing away fans up to 15% of capacities and Old Trafford’s capacity of 74,310 that would equate to over 11,000 (although it often ends up being less due to safety guidelines), Everton are set to be backed by a bumper travelling contingent making the short journey from Merseyside and that could help give them an edge. When Oviedo netted in 2013, O’Keeffe declared: “the away end erupted into a haze of blue smoke and unbridled joy” while Neville Southall tweeted: “Fantastic result, great team spirit, best, best fans.”
These days everyone has to be on their best behaviour when it comes to pyrotechnics inside stadia but Everton’s loyal but long-suffering fanbase will be up for this one regardless so let’s just hope the players on the pitch are too to give them something long overdue to cheer in the cups.
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