Premiership: Ferguson signs off with a bang

Everton 2 Leicester 2

Duncan Ferguson signed off for the season by scoring the goal which should ensure Premiership football for Everton next season.

Ferguson continued his rollercoaster ride since David Moyes took over four weeks ago by scoring Everton’s equaliser four minutes from time with his 50th league goal for the club.

It was his fourth goal during Moyes’ reign, to go with his red card at Newcastle, and it takes Everton to 40 points which should prove enough for safety.

Ferguson will now sit out Everton’s remaining three games because of that rush of blood at St James’ Park, but at least he can feel he has done his bit to help the Blues’ cause.

Moyes had made three changes and in came Paul Gerrard, Alan Stubbs and David Unsworth and out went Steve Simonsen, Peter Clarke and Jesper Blomqvist.

The match was Micky Adams’ first as boss of already-relegated after succeeding Dave Bassett on Monday and he made just the one change with Matthew Heath replacing groin-injury victim Matt Elliott.

Stefan Oakes should have got Adams’ reign off to a memorable start after 17 minutes when Matthew Piper found him unmarked at the back post.

But rather than hit the back of the net, he hit the fans in the Gwladys Street end.

Brian Deane showed him how it’s done a minute later when Robbie Savage found him unmarked 20 yards out from goal and he curled a right-foot shot home.

If Everton’s defending had been bad for that goal it was downright abysmal after 27 minutes when they gifted Leicester a second goal.

Stubbs and Gerrard got in each other’s way going for Frank Sinclair’s lofted ball from the halfway line to present Deane with the simplest of tap-ins for his seventh goal for the Foxes.

Everton were in disarray and Leicester might have had a third when Paul Dickov shot right-footed across the goal from a narrow angle on the right.

The Blues tried to claw their way back into the game and Unsworth blasted over with his weaker right foot.

Leicester might have scored again and Lee Marshall shot wide from Oakes’ cross when he really should have hit the target.

Everton finally threatened and Sinclair cleared Niclas Alexandersson’s shot off the line at the back post.

That effort was not enough to appease some of the home fans who booed Everton off at half-time.

Everton continued to flounder until they switched to plan B on 61 minutes and brought Nick Chadwick on for Tomasz Radzinski.

The change worked and within three minutes of coming on, the 19-year-old pulled a goal back for Everton.

After Unsworth had seen a shot deflected just wide, Thomas Gravesen crossed from the left for the striker to head home only his second goal for the club from the edge of the six-yard box.

Now it was game on and referee Uriah Rennie had to cool tempers after Stubbs and Deane shoved each other.

Everton kept up the pressure and Walker dived to keep out a Chadwick volley as the home side sensed an equaliser.

Alexandersson played Chadwick through on the right only for Walker to smother the ball at the second attempt.

Everton’s best chances continued to fall to Chadwick and Walker brilliantly touched his back header over the bar.

Moyes went for broke when he threw on Kevin Campbell with eight minutes remaining and the striker had only made one substitute appearance since March 6 because of his knee injury.

Then on 86 minutes Unsworth’s curling free-kick from the left flank fell to Ferguson, who stabbed it home left-footed from close range to send the Everton fans away happy.