David Moyes' Everton came from behind to defeat Alex Ferguson's Manchester United on February 20, 2010, with Jack Rodwell scoring his first Premier League goal
Jack Rodwell of Sydney FC
Jack Rodwell of Sydney FC(Image: Matt King/Getty Images for APL)
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“Too much Birkdale and not enough Kirkdale.”
That pithy seven-word phrase became something of handy summary among certain Evertonian sages as to why Jack Rodwell’s career never quite reached the dizzying heights his early promise hinted he could reach. The glib assessment of a once precocious talent who became the Blues’ youngest player in European competition and made his England debut aged 20 might sound snappy, but in truth it’s a gross over-simplification of a far more nuanced set of circumstances.
To suggest that if only the graceful ball-playing centre-back turned defensive midfield regista who was once sent off in a Merseyside Derby for a legitimate challenge on Luis Suarez – a red card that was rescinded by the FA – would have progressed to be one of the all-time greats if only he’d possessed the grit of being raised in the shadow of Goodison Park rather than in the far-flung Merseyside outpost of Southport is rather fanciful. Despite making a £10million transfer to petrodollar-fuelled Manchester City in 2014, Rodwell’s big move to the Etihad Stadium never worked out with a string of injuries hampering his progress and he was critical about the club, urging other English players to think twice before joining them.
Things then nosedived spectacularly at Sunderland where he infamously endured a 1,370-day drought without winning a Premier League game in which he started. After that, because Stadium of Light chiefs had not inserted clauses in Rodwell’s contract to reduce his salary if they went down, he ended up being treated like an expensive pariah by some at the Black Cats after they suffered back-to-back relegations.
Following a brief revival in the Championship at Blackburn Rovers, Rodwell hardly got a kick back in the Premier League at Sheffield United before heading Down Under to wind down his career in Australia, turning out for West Sydney Wanderers before completing the Antipodean equivalent of what in Scouse parlance used to be called “crossing the park” and finishing his playing days with Sydney FC in 2024.
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Back on this day (February 20) in 2010, all this was to come though for Rodwell who celebrated a landmark moment in his then fledgling career by netting his first Premier League goal in a memorable 3-1 win for David Moyes’ Everton over Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United at Goodison Park. Following the game, the then 18-year-old said: “We’ve beaten Man City, Chelsea and now Man United.
“We’ve had some great results at home and the confidence is brilliant. I really think we can go and do good things this season.
“Just to get on against United (Rodwell and fellow scorer Dan Gosling were both substitutes) was great, but to score and beat them was the icing on the cake. Mikel played a lovely ball into me, and I looked up and thought ‘There’s a lot of space here.’
“Louis was pulling off and I thought ‘I’m one-on-one with the defender, all I have to do is take it past him,’ which I did and luckily got the goal.
“Mikel Arteta was amazing against United, and he’s been out for a year. Who knows where we’d have been with him?
“Phil Jagielka hasn’t played and he was our best player last season. The future really is bright for Everton at the moment.”
Ferguson’s side were the defending Premier League champions, but arrived at Goodison Park second in the table which would remain their final position with this defeat contributing towards them being pipped by a single point to the title by a single point by a Chelsea team managed by future Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti who was on his first of what would become numerous overseas coaching assignments for the Italian. To be fair to Moyes’ men though, they had also beaten the west London outfit just 10 days earlier as they recovered from falling behind to Florent Malouda’s 16th-minute strike to triumph 2-1 thanks to a Louis Saha (35, 75) brace.
Greg O’Keeffe referenced this in his ECHO match report, remarking: “Everton boosted their top six credentials with a rare and magnificent victory over Manchester United at Goodison. The Blues beat Alex Ferguson’s title contenders 3-1 in the early kick-off thanks to a display of effort and endeavour every bit as impressive as the performance which saw Chelsea leave Walton defeated. “The icing on the cake was a late clincher by 18-year-old Jack Rodwell, to add to strikes from fellow teenager Dan Gosling and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.”
Jack Rodwell runs in to score his team's third goal during the match between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park on February 20, 2010
Jack Rodwell runs in to score his team's third goal during the match between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park on February 20, 2010(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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Once again, a resolute Everton had to come from behind to secure the three points. O’Keeffe wrote: “With a grim predictability born of winning 17 of the last 19 Premier League clashes at Goodison, United took the lead with 15 minutes gone.
“Valencia beat Leighton Baines on the left and his low cross was not blocked with enough conviction by Distin. The ball broke for Berbatov who rapped his shot in off the bar.”
However, the Blues responded in style to level proceedings within three minutes. O’Keeffe said: “A long ball from John Heitinga was carelessly left by Patrice Evra, and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov seized on it to fire a left-footed rocket past the stranded Van de Sar.”
Although from that point he adds that “the game developed a ripe end-to-end tempo,” it wasn’t until 15 minutes from the end that Gosling, who had replaced Bilyaletdinov five minutes earlier, put the hosts ahead. O’Keeffe declared: “Landon Donovan linked up cleverly with Pienaar who fired an exquisite low cross into the box for Dan Gosling to stab home and race into the delirious Gwladys Street.”
The coup de grâce was yet to be delivered though in the 90th minute. O’Keeffe said: “The excellent Steven Pienaar was replaced by Jack Rodwell on 87 minutes, and the young midfielder could not have imagined the impact he would have.
“Arteta slipped a ball to the teenager who carried it confidently, dummied Johnny Evans and beat Van de Sar with a neat finish that sent Goodison Park into raptures.”