So inconceivable was the miss that the scoreboard spent the next 10 seconds flashing up "Goal" while Rooney buried his head in Roy Carroll's towel. Squad Everton Season 2003-04 Premier League: Martyn, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo, Hibbert, … We just didn't have enough to get over the finishing line.".
Carlo Ancelotti says Everton will get a true measure of their improvement when the surprise Premier League leaders face champions Liverpool on Saturday.... more » 16.10.2020 15:28 Nothing should detract from what has still been a startling campaign for Everton but this was no way for their season of resurgence to end. United were at their swashbuckling best here, with only Richard Wright preventing the cricket score their slick passing always threatened, but even so the teenager still emerged from the Everton muddle to spurn a trio of tantalising opportunities. Having enjoyed and deserved a top-six place since November, David Moyes' side wake today in seventh, pipped for a Uefa Cup place by Blackburn Rovers. The 17-year-old picked himself up to connect with Gary Naysmith's low centre but poked his shot mystifyingly wide. Parity was only ever one precise finish away and arrived just before the interval, David Beckham dipping a vicious free-kick across Wright and into the far corner. "There are winners and losers," sighed Moyes, dejected in defeat. Cruelly, though perhaps predictably, the Everton revival endured a bitter twist at the last.
So, too, have been United since the turn of the year, though their autumn defensive problem briefly flared when Kevin Campbell peeled away from Mikael Silvestre and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to head in Thomas Gravesen's centre after eight minutes.
After that, though, the new champions were irrepressible. To compound that with medial ligament damage was insanely cruel. All his misses came once the injury had been sustained, Laurent Blanc turned humiliatingly on the halfway line only to trip the youngster as he threatened to burn away into space. In 2002–03, all the talk at Goodison Park was about how David Moyes was restoring some pride to the blue half of Merseyside thanks to a seventh-place finish. Ruud van Nistelrooy lost his footing and crumpled under vague challenge from Stubbs 11 minutes from time and Mike Riley awarded the seventh penalty he has given United this season. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. That set the tone. Share on Facebook; ... Cruelly, though perhaps predictably, the Everton revival endured a bitter twist at the last. In the end, having scored first, Everton succumbed to controversy. 2003-04, however, was quite a different story, as Everton struggled at the wrong end of the Premiership and finished the season one place above the drop zone with 39 points (a tally which in many seasons has seen teams relegated, even under the 38-game format), albeit the abysmal seasons suffered by all of the bottom three clubs meant that Everton rarely looked to be in any serious danger of relegation. Rooney can now rest, but the Scot faces sleepless nights pondering what might have been. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. While Manchester United bounced gleefully amid the tickertape, Wayne Rooney trudged off with an ice pack on his knee and a bandage required for a battered ego. "We've been beaten by a brilliant free-kick and a soft penalty," growled Moyes.