(Pic:Magi Haroun)

Dan Gosling loves to score memorable goals - and this time, against Sir Alex Ferguson's champions, the football world WAS watching.

Against Liverpool in the FA Cup last season his extra-time match-winner was missed by the nation thanks to ITV's infamous blooper when they cut to an advertising break moments before the Devon-born youngster sent the blue half of Merseyside wild.

This time it was Manchester United who went blank, though, as Ferguson's stars switched off in a second half dominated by the Toffees, who gave United a taste of their own medicine.

(Pic:Magi Haroun)

Gosling, 20 earlier this month, pounced five minutes after coming on as a substitute to finish Steven Pienaar's dangerous cross and give Everton a crucial 75th-minute 2-1 lead with his second league goal of the campaign.

Jack Rodwell, another of Everton's promising young kids, rubbed salt into Fergie's wounds with an eye-catching stoppage-time strike to hand Chelsea the initiative in a title race that's becoming a see-saw battle.

Gosling said: "It's all come together for us this week but the secret to beating United was hard work and we ran more than they did.

"We also went at them because we are a good side as well."

(Pic:Magi Haroun)

So often United have overwhelmed teams with their energy and pace in the final half-hour of games. But to Ferguson's dismay at Goodison Park, it was David Moyes who watched with pride and delight as his stars ran a jaded United into the ground to claim a second successive special League victory.

Eleven days ago they defeated a below-par Chelsea - and yesterday they claimed the scalp of the reigning champs who looked like they'd left their recent rampaging form in the San Siro.

So, no heroics this time from Wayne Rooney - United's man of the moment. Instead the stage belonged to two kids who have followed in his footsteps at Everton.


Gosling and Rodwell grabbed the glory but it was the experienced heads in Moyes's team that made victory possible. John Heitinga and Sylvain Distin at the back, and Leon Osman, Pienaar and Landon Donovan in the middle were the men who made Blues tick.

But it was United who brought the game to life with an opener that had been threatening after a series of rightwing forays by Antonio Valencia.

Rooney started the move with a crisp cross-field pass to the Ecuadorian star who sent a cross through the legs of Leighton Baines. Distin mucked up the interception and the ball fell for Dimitar Berbatov, who smashed home a closerange shot off the bar.

It was the Bulgarian's ninth goal of the season and should have given United the platform for victory.

But United's lead was short-lived as three minutes later Everton drew level in spectacular style.

Dutch defender Heitinga launched a high ball forward towards Louis Saha and the ball dropped for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who struck a superb leftbelow-foot screamer into the corner from 25 yards.

It was exactly the response Moyes needed to peg back a United side who have enjoyed plenty of winning days at Goodison in the past.

The goal gave Everton more belief, especially as United looked uncertain and vulnerable under pressure with Rio Ferdinand still serving a domestic ban and Nemanja Vidic on the bench.

The game could easily have swung Everton's way much earlier but Russian goal-hero Bilyaletdinov blazed high and wide after Saha cleverly dummied another decent Baines cross.

United weren't firing and former Red Phil Neville piled on the misery by racing back to rob Rooney as he prepared to pull the trigger after jinking around Tim Howard, another former United star.

Everton could easily have had a penalty when Wes Brown handled a cross from Baines and Donovan failed to punish the United defender by messing up his follow-up attempt.

The second half belonged to Everton and despite Ferguson sending on Paul Scholes and Gabriel Obertan, United couldn't raise their game.


Rooney made Blue hearts flutter with a free-kick deflected over. But after all his sparkling form recently, it was the England star who helped put the final nail in United's coffin.

He lost possession to Mikel Arteta then could only watch as Rodwell ran from halfway to outwit first Jonny Evans and then Edwin van der Sar with a cool finish.

No wonder Moyes was delighted. "I really wanted to have a go at United today and I thought we did that," he said. "United started better than us but we grew into the game, just like we did against Chelsea.

"We needed to get back into it after United scored and it was a terrific goal by Bilyaletdinov. My substitutions didn't work in midweek against Sporting Lisbon but they did today."

Goal hero Rodwell added: "The manager said to me 'go out and mark Scholes because they have brought him on to change the game with his passing.' He also told me to get forward on the break - and I think I did that!"

Shiner Donovan

Had flu before the game but it was United who caught a cold as the American was a constant threat

Everton: Howard 6 - Neville 7, Heitinga 7, Distin 7, Baines 7 - Arteta 6 - Bilyaletdinov 6 (Gosling, 70mins, 7), Osman 7, Pienaar 7 (Rodwell, 88mins), *DONOVAN 8 - Saha 7.

Man Utd: Van der Sar 6 - Neville 6, Brown 6, Evans 5, Evra 6 - Valencia 6 (Owen, 80mins), Carrick 6, *FLETCHER 7, Park 5 (Obertan 66mins, 5) - Berbatov 6 (Scholes, 66mins, 6 ), Rooney 6.

Referee: H. Webb 6.

Shocker Evans

Got a roasting from Fergie in Milan and would have felt the manager's wrath again after this hesitant display