John Carew kept Aston Villa in the hunt for a UEFA Cup spot with a late header in a dramatic 2-2 draw against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Norwegian striker Carew secured a hard-earned point with his 86th minute goal after Joseph Yobo looked to have won the game for Everton just a minute earlier.
On a rain-soaked pitch, both sides struggled to gain the upper hand in a dismal first half that generated more yellow cards — three — than goalscoring opportunities.
Everton’s Nigerian forward Ayegbeni Yakubu escaped Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on 19 minutes before unleashing a powerful strike at goal. Villa keeper Scott Carson could only palm the shot away, but Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes scuffed his shot from the rebound.
Villa could hardly be described as wilting under the pressure and O’Neill’s men were comfortably containing Everton when they were given their first sight on goal on the half hour after referee Phil Dowd had awarded a free-kick following Phil Jagielka’s foul on Olof Mellberg.
Just 20 yards from goal, both Gareth Barry and Ashley Young lurked with intent at the set-piece and England winger Young rattled the crossbar with his powerfully struck effort.
Villa looked the stronger, fresher team, but Everton found an extra level in the second half as they chased the victory.
And the breakthrough came on 55 minutes when Phil Neville put Everton ahead with a deflected strike following good work by Yakubu down the left flank.
The former Middlesbrough man broke free after latching onto Leon Osman’s pass and his pull-back picked out Neville on the far edge of the penalty area. Neville was left with a difficult chance, but his powerful right foot shot beat Carson via a deflection off the chest of defender Martin Laursen.
With his team facing a six-point deficit on Everton with just two games to play, O’Neill went for broke by replacing defenders Wilfred Bouma and Zat Knight with forwards Marlon Harewood and Patrik Berger and the gamble paid off on 80 minutes when Gabriel Agbonlahor snatched an equalizer with a close range strike from Barry’s corner.
Everton regained the lead four minutes later, though, when the Villa defense lost concentration at the far post to allow Yobo to volley Lee Carsley’s cross into the net.
Goodison erupted, but the home fans were still celebrating when Carew netted Villa’s second equalizer less then sixty seconds later.
In Sunday’s other game, Portsmouth were defeated 1-0 at home by Blackburn Rovers when Roque Santa Cruz scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was