Everton set sights on Europe

Everton 1 Blackburn 0

Everton have Europe in their sights after this revenge win at Goodison Park.

This “small club”, as Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez considers them, could well be rubbing shoulders with the continent’s elite next season after taking three points that puts them within touching distance of a top-six place in the Barclays Premiership.

Andrew Johnson scored the winner, his 10th of the season, in a one-sided first-half. Blackburn barely showed up in that period, but they mounted a determined comeback after the break.

But Everton were aiming for revenge after being beaten 4-1 by Rovers at Goodison last month, and they deserved their victory this time.

A late recurrence of Tony Hibbert’s groin injury ruled him out of this north-west derby clash, which meant captain Phil Neville reverted to full-back, with Andy van der Meyde coming into the side.

Leon Osman was suspended, handing on-loan Manuel Fernandes his debut in midfield.

Blackburn also had their problems, with Stephen Warnock suspended with Morten Gamst Pedersen and Matt Derbyshire injured. Rovers’ latest signing Bruno Berner made his debut.

And Van der Meyde got Everton off on the front foot with a run in from the left and a 25 yarder that flashed wide.

David Dunn was not getting started anywhere near as well as he would have liked. Inside a couple of minutes, he was involved in a shoving match with Tim Cahill and, a minute later, went straight through Neville with a lunging tackle that had the England man telling Dunn what he thought of him.

Dunn came out of that reckless challenge by far the worse, and he did not last much longer.

Rovers were not getting out of their half at this stage, and on nine minutes, they went a goal behind. A long throw was poorly cleared, with Lee Carsley nodding the ball back into the box.

Johnson – just onside – reacted far quicker than Christopher Samba, turning and volleying the ball high over Brad Friedel and into the roof of the net.

Dunn, who had been limping ever since his clash with Neville, was taken off in the 14th minute and replaced by Jason Roberts.

Rovers’ boss Mark Hughes fumed on the line, patrolling the technical area enraged by his side’s limp performance.

Johnson, sent home by England in midweek when he said he was unable to train, looked sharp and could have had a second on 29 minutes.

Cahill got past Zurab Khizanishvili on the left and set-up a chance for his colleague, the low, measured shot being charged down by Berner.

A minute later, Johnson turned provider by racing down the middle before laying the ball into Fernandes’ path. The Portuguese midfielder saw his first effort half blocked by Friedel before driving the rebound into the side-netting.

Rovers finally forced Tim Howard into his fist save of the match a minute before half-time when the American keeper tipped over a 30 yarder from Khizanishvili.

Inside a minute of the re-start, Paul Gallagher fired in a fierce 30 yarder Howard just managed to scoop round a post, Rovers starting to show some much-needed urgency.

But Everton should have got a second in the 52nd minute when Mikel Arteta got past Brett Emerton and Khizanishvili on the left before setting-up Johnson a couple of yards out. The striker somehow managed to get his feet in a tangle and the chance trickled wide.

James Beattie came on for Van der Meyde in the 55th minute, a muscle injury forcing the Dutchman out of the game.

Hughes was even more upset with an Arteta challenge on Khizanishvili, which seemed some distance from the ball. Referee Rob Styles failed to penalise the incident, and the game became increasingly spiteful as a result.

Samba was caught by a stray Beattie elbow, and there was more complaining from the touchline before Hughes sent on ex-Everton man Francis Jeffers for Gallagher, who had limped out of a Carsley challenge.

Cahill was booked for a challenge on Berner, nowhere near the worst tackle of a fractious second period. Fernandes was next in the book for upending Jeffers.

Johnson saw a glancing header from Arteta’s corner saved by Friedel, but the pressure was mounting at the other end as Rovers battled to make Everton pay for their missed chances.

Andy Todd took over from Khizanishvili with eight minutes remaining, and he was booked within 60 seconds for two fouls, the final one being on Arteta.

Beattie just failed to get onto the end of a Cahill header from Arteta’s 88th-minute free-kick, and Everton survived a late Blackburn surge to make it four straight games unbeaten.