dAVID James may have been a villian for englNG BUT HE WAS A HERO FOR Man City EVEN THOU THEY WERE BEATEN AT HOME BY Everton,city would have been sunk without trace but for james first half heroics which rightly earned him the home teams man of the match award. three times james denied Everton certain goals with saves which underlined why he was englands no1 until days ago.
james spared cities blushes because the would have suffered a even heavier home defeate instead of the one gal reverse inflicted be Tim Cahill 59 min goal, it was a frustating afternoon for city as expectations were high following there 4 -0 victory against charlton in there previus home match.
but as is so often the case with city there inconsistancy again resuffacedand they have been unable to pull of back to back league victories for over ayear. Sylvain Distin and Trevor Sinclair had early chances for city, but niethier was able to hit the target. james's first piece of heroisim came in the 12 min when hebrilliantly blocked Steve Watson shoot as the mid field player raced thru on goal. Shaun Wright-Phillips then saw his goal bouce shoot sliced over the cross bar by evertonTim Cahill.
James came to City's rescue again midway through the half with a brilliant save from point blank range to keep out Marcus Bent's header.
Then shortly before half time James produced his third fantastic stop to foil Leon Osman with another great block as he raced through on goal.
Lee Carsley , Joey Barton and Cahill were booked late in the half when the match temporarily became heated and threatened to get out of control.
Everton defender Alessandro Pistone was also cautioned early in the second half before Everton took a deserved lead in the 59th minute.
Cahill stooped at the far post to head home a right wing cross from Tony Hibbert. It was the Aussi's first goal since last month's £2,000,000 move from Milwall.
But seconds after the goal Cahill was controversially sent off for pulling his shirt over his head in celebration.
It was Cahill's second yellow card as he had been cautioned in the first half for a foul, but Everton were mystified as the player did not remove his shirt.
City threw on substitutes Jonathan Macken, Sun Jihai and Antoine Sibierski but, despite their territorial advantage, they remained void of attacking ideas.
Though City launched an onslaught, ten-man Everton defended resolutely and quite comfortably kept the home side at bay.
If City were to get a goal their likliest source was Antoine Sibierski who had a number of decent chances, but only once test goalkeeper Nigel Martyn.
In the dying minutes defender Sylvain Distin saw a drive fly narrowly over the cross bar after Nicolas Anelka opened up the Everton defence.
And at the final whistle it was a victory to savour for Everton who on their last visit late last season suffered a 5-1 drubbing.
In the intervening five months manager David Moyes has transformed the fortunes of his side which was then battling against relegation to one which is now challenging in the upper reaches of the Premiership.