Everton 3 Man U 1

What a game. For those of you who were unable to get up at 7:30 a.m. (or 4:30 a.m. PCT) to watch Everton host defending champion Manchester United, you missed a hell of a game. For the second time in just ten days, Everton have come back from down a goal against an EPL giant, but this time, they added a little insurance with Jack Rodwell's goal in the 90th minute.

This game had so many angles: Former Devils Tim Howard and Louis Saha, former Toffee Wayne Rooney who is slowly turning himself into one of the best players in the world, Everton hadn't beat Man U in an EPL game in ages, and Everton missing both Tim Cahill and Fellaini...

I'll have highlights later, but in the meantime, Donovan played really well for the most part, except he "fluffed a sitter" with the ball at his feet only a few yards away from the goal. But he got the Gretzky assist on the second goal and was active the entire game. It was a performance that has mirrored most of his other games in a blue shirt, which is why he was named Everton's player of the month for January.

Also, I guess I can't hide my man-crush on Jack Rodwell (he's bare-chested in the picture above). He showed why he's such a world-class talent in his taking of the third goal. He also showed why Everton should hold onto him for as long as they can, and why he should never be stuck in the back just due to his size.

We'll see how the rest of the weekend plays out, but Everton now sit 8th in the table with 38 points, which leaves them five points back of a Europa spot, and just seven points out of a Champions League spot (one can dream).

Next up for EFC is the return leg to Sporting Lisbon in their Europa League campaign. The match is on Thursday at 3:05 p.m. EST and will be on some random channel on DirecTV. Everton won the first leg at Goodison this past Tuesday by a score of 2-1. Since Sporting got that away goal, Everton really need to buckle down in Portugal.

COYB!