JUST ONE WIN SINCE 1992! THE CURSE OF GOODISON
IF there was one ground Manchester City would not want to play at today, it is Goodison Park. The blue half of Manchester have only won once at Everton since 1992. DOMINIC KING, SIMON JONES and CHRIS WHEELER spoke to some of the stars to relive key moments concerning the Goodison hoodoo.
DAVID WHITE City striker, scored in a 3-1 win in October 1992.
It’s a very intimidating old-fashioned stadium with the crowd right on top of you. It’s quite hostile. I saw my goal from ’92 on YouTube not so long ago. I cut in from very wide on the left and hit it with my right foot. It got a slight deflection off the full back and looped over Neville Southall into the far corner. In another game at Goodison, I was up against Andy Hinchcliffe. I grew up with Hinchy at City and we used to be room-mates, but he’d moved to Everton. At half-time, Peter Reid said: ‘I’ve had enough of watching that love story with you and Hinchy, you’re not getting stuck in.’ He moved me to the other side of the pitch!
NIGEL MARTYN Ex-England goalkeeper who played for Everton against City five times between 2003-2006.
It certainly won’t count for anything today. If we ever had a record like that against us, it was always in our minds to go and break it. Everton are not as good as City but there’s plenty of fight there. The bigger the team, the more up for it they seem to be. I remember the game in 2011. David Silva was fantastic, the best player on the pitch. City were all over them in the first half and Yaya Toure scored, but Everton hung in there and came back to win. Roberto Martinez will make the midfield tight and the back four have to stay narrow against City. Everton need to give special attention to Silva and match up to the physical prowess of Toure so he can’t get into full flow.
PETER REID Former Everton midfielder, and then player-manager of City when they won at Goodison Park in 1992.
There are fans saying Everton shouldn’t win and give Liverpool the title. Liverpool fans are trying to buy tickets to cheer Everton on, it’s all rumbling on, but the Everton players will have their professional pride and they will want to beat City. I can remember being in that
City side of 1992 six months earlier and we beat Leeds United 4-0 at home. The City fans booed us off because they thought we had handed Manchester United the league title. It was crazy.
DAVID WEIR Former Everton captain who scored the only goal in a win over City at Goodison in 2006.
When I was at Everton, City were a side we expected to beat. They were always a mid-table team. As the investment came in I think David Moyes liked to use the role of financial underdogs to gain an edge and the players used to draw motivation from that — the working-class club up against the millionaires.
DAVID MOYES Former Everton manager on the 2-1 win in May 2011, when Leon Osman earned his side three points.
Leon Osman reminded me of Andy Gray. The big thing was he was brave to get his header. He came in and said he took one for the team because he got a bang on the back of his head. The goal, that type of goal, reminded me of the old days. There is a big difference in the talent Everton are able to put out and City are able to put out. Heart and desire are important. The melee (above, after a tackle from Jack Rodwell on Vincent Kompany)? I enjoyed standing back and watching it all, because at the end of the day your job is to fight for the 90 minutes.
LEONON OSMAN
Everton midfielder
You can get records like this against certain teams but I suppose this one stands out because City have been a real force to be reckoned with in recent seasons. Last season they were unfortunate to come to Goodison the week after we’d been battered by Wigan in the FA Cup. There was such anger after that defeat that we’d have beaten anyone in our next game. It just happened to be City City, but it needed a wonderslice goal from 20 yards to g get us on our way! Well ‘s ‘slice’ was the phrase Gary Neville used at the time! YouTube it and m make your own mind up!
LANDON DONOVAN
Fo Forward played a sta starring role in January 201 2010 as Everton won the first game at Goodison follow following Joleon Lescott’s controv controversial £23million move to the E Etihad.
That was my first game at Goodison and I was hoping it would be memorable. There is always something special about the late kick-offs. It makes the players get up for the game even more. The lights were on and you could feel the fans were into the game from the first minute and the atmosphere was unlike anything I had experienced. Right from the start, I don’t think there was any doubt in our minds that we were going to win.