Moyes relieved as Toffees turn to Fellaini again

Everton 2 Sunderland 1

The 23-year-old Derry-born Republic of Ireland winger certainly raised some eyebrows during the pre-match Remembrance Day ceremony as the only player on either side not to wear a specially-embroidered shirt.

But it was Marouane Fellaini, a son of Flanders now fighting with distinction for the Everton cause, who demanded and received the spotlight with the game-changing intervention that turned hope to disappointment for McClean and his team-mates.

Sunderland, without an away win in the Premier League since a 1-0 success at Stoke in February, were on their way to rectifying that record thanks to a cracking finish almost on half-time by Adam Johnson, his first goal since a €12.5m summer return to the North-East from Manchester City.

Cue Belgian star Fellaini, who flipped the game on its head, first collecting a pass from newly-drafted England man Leon Osman to turn and fire low beyond Simon Mignolet then almost immediately providing a clever backheel pass — through captain John O’Shea’s legs — for Nikica Jelavic to plunder the winner.

Such players are at a premium and Everton manager David Moyes knows Fellaini’s admirers will be wondering whether to plot a move during the impending transfer window.

“Everybody knows where he is,” he said. “It would be a big price on his head. Felli knows what I think and I know what he thinks, and I think more than anything he’d love to take Everton into the Champions League — and that’s what we’ll try and achieve.”

McClean, up against compatriot Seamus Coleman in a lively duel on Everton’s right flank, was prominent in one of Sunderland’s better performances in a worrying run for Martin O’Neill of just one win in 18 games, and the manager declared himself “bitterly disappointed” at retrieving no reward from a game “we could have led 3-0 at half time”.

Defender Carlos Cuellar, who also played for O’Neill at Aston Villa, said: “I know the statistics. They don’t always show the truth of how a team are playing.

“The confidence is high. We believe in the team. We believe in each other. We know how good we can be. You cannot say we deserved to lose. The performance was great. They scored two goals but that was about it. They created two chances.”

Enough for victory, thanks to Fellaini, Everton’s man of the season so far. England left-back Leighton Baines admitted: “Felli is arguably in the best form since he’s been here and teams are worried because he is a massive goal threat.”

Everton: Howard (6); Coleman (6), Jagielka (7), Heitinga (6), Baines (7); Mirallas (7) (Naismith 30, 5), Neville (5) (Vellios 73), Osman (6), Pienaar (7); Fellaini (8), Jelavic (6) (Hitzlsperger 86).

Sunderland: Mignolet (6); Gardner (6), O’Shea (6), Cuellar (7), Rose (6); Johnson (7) (Vaughan 84), Larsson (6), Colback (6) (Wickham 88), McClean (7); Sessegnon (6), Fletcher (6) (Saha 69, 5).

Ref: Lee Mason (7).