Everton Paper View

Last updated : 13 April 2008 By Brian Cartlidge
The Telegraph: After a troubled week for Birmingham City off the pitch, Mauro Zarate provided an arresting moment on it with a free-kick that his fellow countryman Diego Maradona would have been proud to claim. With Bolton and Fulham, the Premier League's dead men walking, both winning, it earned a point that left Brum in relative comfort, or at least prevented them from going into full panic mode. Read Full Report


The Observer: How Everton must wish it was Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres ripping lumps off each other across Stanley Park in place of Tom Hicks, George Gillett and Rick Parry. A draw here elevated Everton's points haul to a record 61 with four fixtures to play, yet still they remain in Liverpool's Champions League wake. Read Full Report


The Independent: Mauro Zarate brings a smile to your face which, as a harrowing week looked to be taking a turn for the worse, was what Birmingham and their manager Alex McLeish needed. Trailing against the run of play to Joleon Lescott's second-half header, substitute Zarate struck an exquisite free-kick seven minutes from the end. Read Full Report


The Times: Mauro Zarate may have more than Argentinian nationality in common with Carlos Tevez. Goals from Tevez, dubiously "on loan", kept West Ham in the Premier League last season, now Zarate, with four in four games, looks like doing the same for Birmingham. The 21-year-old striker, borrowed from Al-Sadd of Qatar, scored two in the victory over Manchester City a fortnight ago and his equaliser yesterday, from a 25-yard free kick, was worth another priceless point in the fight for survival. "A beautiful goal," was how his grateful manager, Alex McLeish, described it. Read Full Report