OK, you could be forgiven for not knowing that a german born astronomer, composer and short-term resident of Sunderland discovered Uranus but maybe not I'm afraid, for being unaware of Everton FC's excellent record against the Mackems at Goodison Park.
A quick glance (why not a normal look?) at the league table deemed that nothing but taking all three points against our bi-annual whipping-boys would have been acceptable. And so, with the Chelsea triumph afresh and the recent 7-1 mauling of 'Sunlen' still clearly etched in the collective Evertonian mind, all the signs were flashing 'WIN.'
- Bruce Almighty
Comfortable certainly wouldn't be a word to sum up Everton's season up until now but after the drama against Blackpool, the disaster at Bolton and the delirium of Stamford Bridge, it is a perfect way to describe this particular Saturday afternoon fare, alongside solid, functional, routine and my personal favourite; workmanlike. We could hardly have wished for a more cooperative opponent as Jermaine Beckford's double moved Everton into the top half of the table for the first time in 2011.
No palpitations, no extra grey hairs and no kicking of any domestic animals were necessary.
Apart from the magnitude of Steve Bruce's middle-aged-spread, the result was also notable for David Moyes joining Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger by surpassing the milestone of accruing 500 Premier League points. No mean feat for a man who has worked under the financial constraints of the current chairman and his board of directors.
And so, with a very winnable Tuesday evening FA Cup tie versus Reading and a run of league fixtures against Newcastle, Birmingham, Fulham, Aston Villa, Wolves and Blackburn on the horizon, a season that only last week, was just a couple of minutes from receiving its last rites, has suddenly been kicked, workmanlike, back into life.
COYB.
