Charlton - 2 Everton - 0: Perhaps it was the pain of defeat, perhaps it was a reaction to Alex Ferguson's dismissiveness, but David Moyes took defiance to angry new levels yesterday.
The Manchester United manager had predicted Everton would fade in the second half of the season, and Talal El Karkouri and Hermann Hreidarsson's goals for Charlton may have set the prophecy in train.
This defeat was Everton's first in eight games and Moyes' response was heavy with sarcasm. "Oh, so it's a surprise now that Everton lose," he snorted.
"Do you not think that we're a breath of fresh air, challenging with the big boys? We should be encouraging teams to break the mould that you have to spend billions to be successful."
Financially fortified by the cash-for-equity injection of the Fortress Sports Fund and the £30 million sale of Wayne Rooney, Moyes will invest in the transfer market next month, "if the players we are interested in are available".
"We (had a thin squad) before the start of the season, but now 20 games have gone by and we've done all right with this squad," he said. "Maybe people should congratulate that, and overall that's the picture I've told the players in the dressing-room. This is a blip."
Everton are the Premiership's foremost exponents of the 4-1-4-1 system, forming a whole that is much greater than the sum of the parts; yet it has its limitations.
Though fine midfielders, Kevin Kilbane and Tim Cahill make stodgy wingers, and Marcus Bent may have the requisite pace and patience to fulfil the role of lone striker, but any injury to him would be critical.
Perhaps fatigue, and minds for caution in this most busy of periods, limited ambition, but chances were few before the late opener. The best of them was Bent's - a 14th-minute drive which followed missed tackles from Radostin Kishishev and Jonathan Fortune and required a fine save from Dean Kiely.
Charlton's only effort came from Kishishev's rasping 25-yard shot which the substitute goalkeeper Richard Wright, on for the injured Nigel Martyn, met well.
Charlton needed some impetus but their substitutions - removing the two most attack-minded players - seemed to indicate manager Alan Curbishley was settling for a single point.
Within a minute, he had two more. Danny Murphy's corner was cleared only as far as Paul Konchesky and El Karkouri outjumped Lee Carsley to meet the volleyed cross and head home. It was a time for cool heads from Everton, a time for the senior players to rally; instead, the most senior among them railed.
Ten minutes after replacing Bent, Duncan Ferguson jabbed his elbow into Hreidarsson's face only yards in front of the referee Mike Riley, who produced an instant red card. "It was a sending-off," said Moyes. "I won't elaborate on that. It happens, people do get sent off."
When asked if there will be disciplinary action he said: "I'll do what I have to do."
Hreidarsson had his own response. Murphy's corner may have taken a deflection, but Wright should have collected it. Instead, the defender was left unmarked to score at the far post.
Curbishley regrets they may have ended Everton's admirable defiance. "We flirted with the Champions League last year and we couldn't make it," he said.
"But it would be nice to come into the Premiership not thinking that Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will always be the top four teams."
CHARLTON: Kiely, Young, El Karkouri, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Rommedahl (Konchesky 79), Murphy, Kishishev, Holland, Thomas (Euell 69), Bartlett. Subs Not Used: Andersen, Hughes, Johansson. Goals: El Karkouri 82, Hreidarsson 85.
EVERTON: Martyn (Wright 45), Hibbert, Stubbs, Weir, Pistone, Yobo (McFadden 84), Carsley, Gravesen, Cahill, Kilbane, Bent (Ferguson 74). Subs Not Used: Campbell, Naysmith. Sent Off: Ferguson (83).
Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).
