December
December began with Everton coming to terms with a double striker blow that followed the win at Spurs.
Yakubu was ruled out for the season following the trip to White Hart Lane, while Louis Saha would also be absent until the New Year.
So when Aston Villa came to Goodison, Victor Anichebe was the only fit frontman. Despite that, Everton were unlucky to take nothing from the game following Ashley Young's late effort, especially as Everton themselves had equalised just seconds before.
That disappointment was put to bed six days later when another late show saw Tim Cahill nod in the winner at Manchester City.
Everton had no fit strikers from the City game onwards after Anichebe suffered a back problem - but that didn't hinder the Toffees.
They were unlucky not to defeat Chelsea at Goodison after the Londoners had John Terry sent off for a foul on Leon Osman.
It ended 0-0 and Osman missed the Boxing Day game at Middlesbrough as a consequence. That handed a chance to 18-year-old Dan Gosling and he impressed in a 1-0 win - Cahill again the scorer.
So the year came to a conclusion with the visit of Sunderland to Goodison. It didn't quite match the heady heights of the previous year's 7-1 hammering, but Everton did impress.
Two stikes from Mikel Arteta meant the Toffees were flying, before Gosling entered the fray and promptly netted on his Goodison debut with a classy sidefoot effort.
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