Everton win as United up Rooney bid

Everton 2 West Brom 1

Everton chose the moment the whistle went on an impressive home win to announce that Manchester United had made a second bid – believed to be £25m (€37.5m) – for Wayne Rooney.

The cheers of the home faithful after two goals from another homegrown talent in Leon Osman had secured a second successive Barclays Premiership victory for David Moyes’ team were still ringing around this old stadium as the departure of their 18-year-old hero was coming closer.

Those Everton fans had howled their anger at Rooney’s supposed “greed” in asking for a move during the second half, not knowing that the second United bid was already on the table.

It will take more than one encouraging home victory to erase Rooney from the minds of the Everton faithful, but they treated this success, and the performance of another new hero in Osman, as if they had won the FA Cup.

All the pre-match talk was of transfers, Rooney’s out of Goodison Park and Robert Earnshaw’s likely arrival at The Hawthorns.

Whatever the fans feel about the Rooney saga, their players got down to work seemingly unaffected by the situation.

They were ahead after just one minute 52 seconds. Thomas Gravesen’s long throw hurled in from the left was headed on by Kevin Kilbane for youngster Leon Osman to head back across goal and into the far corner.

But it was not long before Albion were level. Jonathan Greening was much involved in the comeback with some intelligent work on the left.

On seven minutes he took a right-wing corner and Scott Dobie appeared in the six yard box to flick a header over Nigel Martyn without any sort of challenge from several Everton defenders all around him.

Everton’s response was a Gravesen corner from the right a minute later that was met with a powerful header by Joseph Yobo, Russell Hoult saving instinctively with his legs on the line.

Albion, for a while, dominated midfield with Andy Johnson and Neil Clement having plenty of possession, but Everton battled for a measure of equality and started to expose Albion’s weakness defending crosses.

Albion had Thomas Gaardsoe carried away on a stretcher, and before substitute Martin Albrechtsen could get on, Everton created another fine chance for Osman when Kilbane’s cross found him once again unmarked just beyond the far post but this time the unopposed header dropped just wide.

Gaardsoe was able to climb off the stretcher when it got to the tunnel and limp away, seemingly with an injured right leg.

Albion continually failed to spot the danger of Osman. He was unmarked again on the right of the box and hooked over from an Alessandro Pistone cross from the left.

They almost suffered again when Gravesen’s long free-kick from the right curled into the area for Marcus Bent to meet totally unmarked, but his header flashed wide from 10 yards.

Bent may lack some basic skills but he lacks nothing in effort and was a persistent problem for Darren Purse.

Osman worked his socks off all over the park to typify this defiance and effort from David Moyes’ squad.

He created a chance for Bent to head straight at Hoult and then set up Gravesen for a dipping drive the Albion ’keeper clutched gratefully.

Then an Everton break out of defence saw Tony Hibbert fire in a cross that Kevin Campbell headed tamely at Hoult.

That was his last involvement and he was replaced by Duncan Ferguson, and Everton were soon back on top.

The big Scot was instrumental in Everton taking lead again on 68 minutes. He was fouled on the edge of the box by Albrechtsen, and shaped to take a curling free-kick which provoked Albion to put a player on the post.

But it was Gravesen who fired in the free-kick and little Osman – by now able to stand right in front of Hoult -w as able to flick his head at the ball and send it crashing into the net from what would have been an offside position had not Albion opted to pull a man back.

Bent went clear and shot wide and then headed over from Hibbert’s cross, Everton now swarming forward.

Their fans chose the moment to produce chants that resounded around the stadium suggesting that Rooney only wanted out for the money!

While all this was going on Ferguson had two towering headers that would surely have settled the issue but the direction was poor and Hoult saved them both.

Albion had barely had a shot in the second half, and when they did Kanu shot tamely at Nigel Martyn from 12 yards.

Then a minute later the big Nigerian blasted wide from just outside the box.

Albion threw Darren Moore up front, abandoning their five man defence in the last quarter and Everton were under pressure, Johnson twice seeing efforts from outside the area flash over.

It had taken all this time for Albion to come out of their defensive shell in a second period that, after a promising opening, they had been a big disappointment.

And when Ferguson took on Albrechtsen, it needed a desperate tackle from Purse to avoid the chance of a third goal.