Everton Season Review: May

Today we finish up our season review of Everton month by month. Shockingly enough for our finall article we will take a look back at the final month of the season that provided some spectacular play and unfortunate defeats. With no cup play to be worried about, Everton headed into May with 3 games remaining against Manchester City, West Brom, and Chelsea where they came away with 6 points of nine. In typical Everton fashion the squad played to the level of their opponents, but as always they finished the season strong.

The Toffees first match of the month came against favorite opponents Manchester City where legend Duncan Ferguson was honored by the fans. After City's utter humuliation by Everton before Christmas, City was certainly out for revenge, and Yaya Toure managed to start the goalscoring with a brilliant goal off of a sublime David Silva pass. Silva was to much for the Everton defense to handle, and Roberto Mancini could only rue the chances his side missed early on. Jermaine Beckford came in after half and provided his trademark speed although he was unable to truly test the keeper. Thankfully Everton were able to equalize when Sylvian Distin notched a fantastic header off of an Arteta free kick that Hart could only get a finger too, but couldn't stop it. The fans quickly returned to the action, and Goodison Park was rocking with the anticipation of another goal. And that goal came in the form of midfielder Leon Osman's head. Osman got into a perfect position to direct a Phil Neville cross to the back post over Hart's head. Defender Kompany was beaten despite having a good 9 inches on the midfielder, and he will be perplexed as to how the little man outjumped him for the ball. In the end Everton did enough to secure all three points and the double over City for the season.

Following the victory against City, Everton travelled to West Brom in the hopes of retribution against a squad that defeated them 4-1 in November. Everton never really had a good handle on this game, especially after Mulumbu notched a 10th minute goal, and the few chances Everton had were squandered. Perhaps the best way to sum the game up was Billy's sending off soon after coming on as a substitute. The referee's decision was harsh, and the last sight of the Russian in Everton blue may have been walking down the tunnel to the dressing room before the game ended in a final 1-0 score.

To end the season Everton had the great fortune of drawing Chelsea at home.  While Chelsea had nothing to play for having all but secured second place for the season, Everton needed all three points to ensure a 7th place finish. As has been the case since the F.A. Cup Final in 2009, Everton were the better team on the day. Numerous chances were either wasted or saved by an in-form Cech, and after the first half it seemed as if it was a matter of when and not if Everton would take the lead. This confidence was dealt a blow when Seamus Coleman was sent off from a second yellow card on what could only be described as an utter disgrace by the Chelsea players. After Coleman was incorrectly whistled for a foul, the Chelsea players surrounded the referee and in a scene more associated with Barcelona players, attempted to convince him that Coleman deserved a yellow. Unfortunately the referee succumbed to their demands, and just like that the Toffees were down to 10 men for the 25 minutes. After the sending off Everton continued to press forward and even with their disadvantage still managed to look the more dangerous of the two teams. Still the Toffees could not break through Cech until Jermaine Beckford began a run that has to rank high on the list of goals of the season. Beckford gathered the ball in Everton's box after a Chelsea corner, and quickly began to run the length of the field. Instead of passing to a sprinting Arteta, Beckford elected to keep the ball and with a fortuitous bounce, managed to sprint by 3 Chelsea defenders who had converged on him at midfield. After that he was off to the races, and in the end managed an exquisite chip over the onrushing Cech to bury the ball into the back of the net and send Goodison Park in to an absolute frenzy. The game ended soon after with a 1-0 scoreline, and Everton secured 7th place with a fantastic game to end the season.

That brings us to the end of our season review for the 2010-2011 season. As always please leave your comments below, and starting next week we take a look at the transfer market, and begin to preview the upcoming season. Remember everyone, only 2 weeks until the first preseason game against Bury, and until next time COYB!