Top Stories

Donovan scores first European goal in Everton victory

Landon DonovanEverton (ISIphotos.com)

Photo by ISIphotos.com


 By FRANCO PANIZO

Landon Donovan has had a fine club career full of highlights and milestones, but Donovan accomplished something on Tuesday that he had never done before. He scored his first European club goal.

Donovan opened his European club scoresheet with a fine finish in Everton's 2-0 victory over Sunderland. Donovan latched onto a headed pass from forward Tim Cahill before chesting the ball down and easily finishing with his left foot.

If you missed the goal or would like to see it again, here are full highlights from the match (including Donovan's goal, near second goal and Tim Howard's clutch saves late):
 

While Donovan's goal was certainly a key moment in the match, Tim Howard also deserves credit for several key saves in the waning moments of the match. The clean sheet was Howard's fifth of the season.

What do you think of Donovan's goal? Impressed? Think this will help him get on a scoring streak? Do you see him staying with Everton until season's end?

Share your thoughts below. 

Comments

  1. The best measure of Donovan at Everton is what Moyes thinks of him, what the Everton faithful think of him, and what the British press think of him. He gets nothing but high praise from all of them. Check out the fan ratings at Sky Sports and such.

    Reply
  2. That’s how I remeber it. And wasn’t the manager Fabio Capello? Kind of funny that he’s now the England coach that suggested Beckham needed to play in Europe to have a chance at the World Cup.

    Reply
  3. Did anyone notice his run in support on the Saha counter opportunity?? He caught up to the play while blazing past 3 or so defenders…

    I am a passive EPL fan in that i’ll look for good match ups and DVR them and watch. I honestly thought LD was a liability on our MNT at times with his lack of tracking back on defense…

    With that said I LOVE this combo…i have become a fan of Donovan, started following the evertonfc.com website and am actively searching out everton games on TV…

    If Everton can find a way to sign him and he stays at Everton, i think he will actually do MORE for soccer in the US than if he comes back…more EPL (mainly Everton) games on TV with arguably our nations top 2 players and bigger interest from casual soccer fans as a whole…am i alone here??

    Reply
  4. I agree with you, Soccerdude. That’s the third time I noticed Saha ignoring a wide open Landon Donovan in the three games I’ve seen.

    Saha seems to take shots no matter how impossible the shot without even considering the pass. He’s Everton’s leading goal scorer, but he passes up good assist opportunities. Is he always like this?

    It could be Landon needs to gain his confidence, too. Hopefully, scoring goals will help.

    Reply
  5. Wondering what will happen once Arteta is back at full strenghth. Who’s going to get dropped from the starting line-up? Arteta is usually the RM, where Donovan has been playing, but he’s been in fine form. I think if Donovan keeps playing the way he’s been playing, Moyes will have a tough decision.

    Reply
  6. “wilshere didn’t end up materializing” I believe that was in reference to the loan deal with Arseneal did not materialize. Last I heard, Wenger changed his mind about the proposed loan deal after 2 games in a week against Bolton. But there is still a couple of days for Wenger to change his mind again…

    Reply
  7. Arteta has come on for Donovan two games in a row and is trying to get fit. I believe last night that when Arteta came on he didn’t take Donovan’s spot on the field. Somebody else shifted to where Donovan was playing. I could be wrong though. I do agree playing time is about to get real tough for him. Moyes will want a healthy player that is signed with his club on the field more than a player on loan. Donovan will have to continue to stay sharp. He can’t have games like he did against Birmingham.

    Reply
  8. If I recall correctly, when it was announced Beckham had signed a huge contract with MLS he immediately fell out of favor with Real’s coach who basically said he wouldn’t play for Madrid again. Madrid struggled, Beckham continued to practice hard, the coach had a change of heart and put Beckham back in the starting lineup. Beckham helped Real win a title in his last year. The only title they won while Beckham played for them. Anybody remember differently?

    Reply
  9. That’s what I thought. I think he was trying to go corner and defender did get a touch on the ball. Even the announcer pointed out that the defender got a touch and commented Donovan was a bit lucky because the touch sent the shot off its course a bit. Only Donovan knows where he was aiming.

    Reply
  10. Nice little header, but indeed he was offsides. Marking of Fellani was terrible too. 🙂

    Oh wait… I think Nicole was being facetious.

    Reply
  11. Neville does seem very reluctant to give him the ball. Is that what you are referring to?

    Or is it just something I am seeing?

    Reply
  12. guess what, even if the keeper was in good position and he tucked it into the corner it would have counted for exactly the same amount of goals so who really cares what it looked like, the ball went into the net.

    Reply
  13. As someone who has followed Everton for a few years it’s a tough call as to whether LD will stay. I think in a couple of weeks it will be tough for him to get consistent playing time. Doubtful that Moyes would pick LD over Fellaini, Pienaar, Cahill or Arteta once he gets back to 100%. He might take some time from Osman, but even that is not a given. He would probably get starts when someone needs a rest or picks up an injury. With the WC coming up would Donovan risk missing out on consistent starts? It’s possible, it’s not like Bradley would leave him off the team. Plus there is the money issue.

    I would like to see him stay with Everton, but it seems like a long shot.

    Reply
  14. hey Matt when Beckham sign with MLS The Galacticos wanted him out cause he was in bad form him coming to MLS got him back in the shape he need and then when big teams saw that the offers started to come

    Reply
  15. Of course, he might still acclimate. He certainly isn’t showing much sign of being out of his depth! But the Arsenal’s Artful Dodger is a goal to strive for.

    Reply
  16. Sorry, purchased from Everton’s website, shipped to the good ol’ US of A, for about $60. $45ish for jersey/lettering + $10-15ish for shipping.

    Damn good price for a damn nice jersey.

    Lots of English teams have kits on sale right now.

    Reply
  17. Couldn’t agree with you more on this point..

    I would accept either of these celebrations;

    1) the weird, cocky chest pound followed by a run to Cahill or the Goodison faithful and an applaud to them.

    2) a run over to Cahill or the Goodison faithful followed by an akward “no big deal” non-celebration thing…

    Unfortunately LD couples the two less favorable parts together, the –

    the weird, cocky chest pound followed by an akward “no big deal” non-celebration thing…

    Reply
  18. Donovan should have cut his second chance on goal back to Saha, and then the Saha breakaway should have been put back to Donovan, if that happened then it would have been reminiscent of the CD9 assist during the confed cup against brazil, ahhh what a goal that was. Landy has got to stay in Europe. Eff MLS.

    Reply
  19. TBF that ball was deflected off the defender. Itlooked like it was going to go straight at the keeper, but none of that matters Donovan got his first goal….hopefully many will follow.

    Reply
  20. I am a Galaxy fan, but I would love to see Landon make the move permanent! I think he fits well into the club, has a good coach, and has another American to help with the adjustment. The best thing for Landon and the USMNT is for him to stay!

    I have faith Bruce will figure out a way to keep the Galaxy competitive without Landon.

    Reply
  21. Johnnycougar – thanks for the rational analysis! It’s pretty funny how a poster on a blog becomes an uneducated soccer/futbol fan, USMNT hater, and an LD critic because they answer a question posed by the author: Impressed? Really, I wasn’t overly impressed. When he scored versus Brazil in the Confederations Cup I was very impressed and jumping out of my seat. When he scored versus Mexico in 2002 I was impressed.

    Also, I appreciate the gk’s analysis about low hard shots next to the body – fully understood. However, can anyone disagree that beautiful shots tucked into corners are more impressive? Matter of preference?

    Finally, these Landon goals impress me!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcB7IdMH6mU&feature=related

    All love! All love! Happy to spark some not-so-friendly banter.

    Reply
  22. I don’t get your point. Every goal in one way or another is a mess up on the defense. Whether someone lost their mark or didn’t pressure enough. The keeper didn’t see it, or wasn’t positioned well. As far as I know, if you let a goal in, you messed up in some capacity. How many guys mess up that type of shot anyway? Countless do and maybe LD would have missed it too or will miss it in the future. The point is, he did what he intended to do and succeeded in doing it. He did everything good. He shot a low ball when many would have tried to rip the shot and would have sent it midbody where a goalie might have had a better chance. But he didn’t. He has 1 goal and 1 assist in 3-4 games? Those are good production numbers. Considering that he isn’t playing forward, I don’t expect him to score every 2 games. I expect him to assist maybe every 2 games or score every 4. That seems to be realistic to me.

    Reply
  23. This is the comparison I usually make. But I think Arshavin is a cut above Landycakes, whom I love. If LD had stuck it out in Leverkeusen somehow (or made his way to a different team with Euro play) he’d probably be on par with Andrei. But what they say about the speed of play is true!

    Reply

Leave a Comment