The first week of play in the 2012-13 Barclays Premier League concluded with a bang on Monday, as Marouane Fellaini's header in the 57th minute lifted Everton to a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Gooderson Park, only the fourth win for the Toffees in 21 visits by Man U. Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, fresh off of his stellar performance for the United States in a 1-0 friendly win over Mexico last Wednesday (the first ever for the U.S. on Mexican soil), kept the clean sheet for the home team, wrapping up a stellar week in net.
Everton controlled the pace of play early, enjoying good time of possession, but United began to show its strength in the middle stages of the first half. Even as the visitors put on the pressure, Everton found its opportunities, with a shots into the woodwork by Fellaini among the most frustrating near misses, along with a stellar save by Man U's David De Gea on a turning shot from Leon Osman that deserved to be a goal. The teams went to the locker rooms at half with the game still scoreless, but that was due in large part to the efforts of De Gea and Howard with the latter making a couple of saves on Wayne Rooney. Rooney, naturally, got a not-so-warm welcome at his old stomping grounds.
In the second half, Osman had another brilliant chance fall by the wayside when he struck the crossbar with his shot at what appeared to be a wide open goal, but that didn't matter when Fellaini finally broke through to put the home team up 1-0. Tony Hibbert served up the corner, and Fellaini rose up to head it down into the bottom right corner of the net to give his team the lead.
Newly acquired Robin Van Persie began warming up shortly thereafter, and made his Man U debut as a sub in the 68th minute. Sir Alex Ferguson's club began to control the ball more in the later stages of the game, but nearly allowed a second goal when De Gea left the crease too early. While Antonio Valencia was there to break up an Everton opportunity, United was unable to put in a goal of its own, and Everton opened its 2012-13 Premier League campaign on a high note.
The Toffees will look to keep that momentum going on Saturday when they travel to Aston Villa, while United will return home to Old Trafford to welcome in Fulham.
