THE oxygen masks are still in demand in the buoyant blue half of Merseyside as Everton continue their best start to a Premiership season and stay in the rarefied atmosphere of the top three.

This was third against third bottom and should have been an easy three points. Well, that was before kick-off and after Everton boss David Moyes had just received the Manager of the Month award for September.

The award is often seen as the bringer of bad luck. This month the Merseysiders started with a home defeat to Spurs and for so long yesterday it looked as though the curse would continue as a solitary point seemed likely. But when all is lost up came fans hero Duncan Ferguson as a late substitute. With almost his first touch he headed down Thomas Gravesen’s speculative penalty area-bound throw into the path of Leon Osman. He swivelled and turned in an instant to knock the ball past goalkeeper Antti Niemi.

Southampton were without eight players and 18-year-olds Leon Best and Dexter Blackstock were paired together up front. Their pedigree is good, having scored 40 goals between them in the junior team last season. They did not look out of place on the big stage.

After a moving and impeccably observed minute’s silence for Ken Bigley, an Evertonian whose family live only a stone’s throw from Goodison Park, anything that followed was going to be almost meaningless.

And so it proved, especially in the opening stages, which amounted to nothing more than a tame knockabout.

Everton were almost too confident, often opting for elaboration rather than simplicity. Marcus Bent was the most guilty as he missed a succession of opportunities. The most glaring was after he had been put through by Gravesen and put in a weak shot across the face of goal.

The second half was much the same, with the home team huffing and puffing without threatening to blow the house down and the visitors remaining obstinate.

After waiting nearly an hour for their first corner, Southampton had three in quick succession, the first arriving courtesy of the outstretched leg of Alan Stubbs to divert the ball away from the lively Blackstock.

They were still trying for that cruel twist of fate leaving Saints manager Steve Wigley still looking for his first win.

Afterwards a delighted Everton manager said; “We are a good team but not a great team. I feel sorry for Steve (Wigley) as his team worked so hard.”

His team, among the pre-season favourites for relegation, now stand five points above Manchester United in the leading pack.

STAR MAN: Thomas Gravesen (Everton)

Player ratings. Everton: Martyn 5, Pistone 5, Stubbs 6, Weir 6, Bent 6, Kilbane 7 (McFadden 77min, 5), Gravesen 8, Cahill 7 (Ferguson 77min, 6), Osman 6, Hibbert 6, Carsley 6

Southampton: Niemi 6, Van Damme 5, Jakobsson 5, McCann 5, Svensson 5, Delap 5, Prutton 6, Kenton 6, Blackstock 6, Best 6 (Telfer 63min, 5), Nilsson 6

Scorer: Everton: Osman 88

Referee: B Knight

Attendance: 35,256

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