Black day for tamed Tigers

DAVID MOYES celebrates his eighth anniversary in charge at Goodison Park next week.

Phil Brown, the Hull City manager, will be fortunate to see out this season if there is a repeat of the shocking performance his doomed side produced at Goodison Park.

Make no mistake, Hull were every bit as bad as the scoreline suggests. In fact, they can count themselves fortunate to have left Merseyside without suffering an even bigger battering.

Had Yakubu not tamely struck his first-half penalty at Boaz Myhill, Hull’s minus 33 goal difference would be even worse.

“As far as I’m concerned goal difference will play a big part at the end of the season,” said a disillusioned Brown afterwards. “That second half performance won’t do us any favours. I thought we competed in the first half but the second half we certainly didn’t.”

This was way too easy for Everton, who were inspired by their Spanish playmaker Mikel Arteta. Even after teenager Tom Cairney cancelled out Arteta’s breakthrough effort with his first Premier League goal, it was only going to be a matter of time before the hosts restored their advantage.

This result will have been cheered in Wolverhampton, Wigan and Bolton, all involved with Hull in a desperate bid to avoid the drop.

With Portsmouth doomed and Burnley staring at a quick-fire return to the Championship, Brown’s side are running out of games to save themselves. Arsenal their next, a fixture from hell after yesterday’s shambles.

Hull were on the back-foot from the first kick to the last. Having lost back-to-back away games, Everton got the start Moyes had demanded when Arteta opened the scoring in the 17th minute. Yakubu, who was denied by a post three minutes earlier, provided the cross for the unmarked Everton No 10 to stab home his first goal for 13 months.

Yakubu was at the heart of his side’s best moves in the opening half an hour, the former Portsmouth forward winning his side a penalty after being hauled down by Kamil Zayatte on the half hour.

The 27-year-old Nigerian picked himself up but failed to beat Boaz Myhill from the spot, Hull’s keeper guessing the right way as Yakubu tried to place his kick.

It looked a costly miss as Cairney levelled with a stunning 32nd minute finish, the 19-year-old finding the net from the edge of the area with a thumping finish.

Hull celebrated wildly yet they were level for just seven minutes, atrocious defending again costing them, as they conceded their 56th goal on the Premier League stage. Another sweeping move saw Victor Anichebe deliver a dangerous cross into the danger area which Steven Pienaar back-heeled into the path of Arteta to produce a low finish.

Brown’s afternoon went from bad to worse after the interval when Garcia headed into his own net while trying to defend a dangerous cross by man-of-the-match Arteta before Hull raised the white flag in the closing stages.

If Landon Donovan is returning to LA Galaxy next week after a successful loan spell on Merseyside, then he goes with the gratitude of Everton supporters ringing in his ears after the veteran USA international made it 4-1. There was still time for Jack Rodwell to add another but it was Arteta who won the plaudits from his manager.

“Mikel took both goals really well. He’s still not right back to his best after his injury situation,” said Moyes. “But it just goes to show how much we have missed him.”

MATCH RATING: *** – Despite Hull’s lack of quality, enjoyable for home fans and neutrals. Plenty of free-flowing football from the hosts and excellent finishing.

REFEREE: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 6 – Kept his cards in his pocket and let the game flow.