Everton v Birmingham

Everton’s FA Cup dream was shattered by Messrs Benitez and Ferguson at Goodison Park.

The Birmingham players with the Premier League manager surnames both scored in a woeful first-half for Everton and although Leon Osman came off the bench to grab a goal, it wasn’t enough and last season’s finalists are out.

It’s not often that one of the substitutes gets a louder cheer than any of the starting eleven but today’s pre-match enthusiasm for Mikel Arteta was perfectly understandable. The Spaniard was back in the frame for the first time in eleven months as David Moyes selected an unchanged team.

Arteta’s name was greeted with a real Goodison roar but it took the visitors just under seven minutes to disturb the feel-good atmosphere.

Christian Benitez scores Birmingham's opening goal

A sweeping move that involved Barry Ferguson and James McFadden ended when Christian Benitez nodded the ball home from close-range.

Referee Howard Webb, whose last Everton cup-tie was the final in May, gave The Toffees a quick chance to hit back on 13 minutes when he penalised Stephen Carr for a push on Tim Cahill on the edge of the box. Steven Pienaar and Leighton Baines took a brief touch each before Louis Saha’s shot crashed into a defensive wall that by then was virtually upon him.

Everton continued to press but when Marouane Fellaini collected a weak clearance from Lee Bowyer he lost his footing as he shaped to shoot and the ball sailed high over Joe Hart’s crossbar.

For the most part though, Hart was largely untested as Everton’s general play lacked the cohesion so evident seven days earlier against Manchester City. Long passes were all-too-often going astray and there was an anxious edge to proceedings.

Birmingham’s strength, and the basis on which their magnificent unbeaten run is crafted, is solidity rather than fluidity and whilst they didn’t offer much in the way of an attacking options in the first half hour, they were certainly well organised and composed in their own final third of the field.

The obvious threat of Everton’s leading scorer Saha was comfortably stifled and starved of any decent space or service the Frenchman found it difficult to impose himself.

Steven Pienaar tried to worry Hart in the 38th minute but his effort from 20-yards was always rising.

Another fine goal from Birmingham left Everton with a mountain to climb four minutes before the break. Sebastian Larsson crossed low from the right, Ferguson stepped over the ball and McFadden cleverly flicked it back to his Scottish team-mate who coolly steered a nice finish past Tim Howard.

The Blues celebrate Leon Osman's goal

The Blues were reeling and David Moyes responded by introducing Leon Osman after the break in favour of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. Everton knew the scale of the challenge and started the second period with a renewed sense of urgency.

Fellaini headed just over inside the first few minutes and then Osman showed a touch of class to half the deficit. Leighton Baines skilfully made space for himself on the left and fed the ball to Pienaar who helped it on to Osman. The midfielder took a touch to steady himself before guiding a beautiful shot past Hart.

The anxiety that had swept down from the stands was replaced by vociferous encouragement and Saha wasn’t too far away with a snapshot on the hour.

He then came a bit closer when his half volley from a knock-down from Cahill bounced narrowly wide.

Saha was now all over the Birmingham defence and there were loud howls for a penalty-kick when he tumbled in the area under a challenge from Roger Johnson. Howard Webb had a long look and then waved away the protests.

Sadly, Saha’s increasingly influential contribution was curtailed twenty minutes from the end when he was forced off the field and replaced by James Vaughan.

With 15 minutes remaining, the moment every Evertonian had been desperately waiting for finally arrived. Eleven months after being stretchered off at Newcastle, Mikel Arteta trotted off the substitutes' bench and entered the fray.

Mikel Arteta makes his long-awaited comeback

He almost had an instant impact when his low centre was hooked just over the bar by Vaughan.

In the 85th minute, Fellaini thought he’d conjured up an equaliser when he controlled a lovely through ball from Pienaar and aimed the ball at the top corner of the net. The Belgian could only hold his head in his hands as Hart leapt to his right and palmed the ball away.

Arteta fired wide as well in the closing minutes and Fellaini pulled an angled effort past the far post but although they huffed and puffed, Everton couldn’t blow the Birmingham house down and it’s Alex McLeish rather than David Moyes who will be looking forward to the fifth round draw.