Kanchelskis revives Everton's ambition

Everton 3 Kanchelskis 52, Watson 56, Ferguson 60 Nottingham Fore st 0 Attendance: 33,163

A VICTORY inspired by the trickery of Andrei Kanchelskis restored the momentum of Everton's upward mobility. The winger from the Ukraine scored one goal, created another and left Forest in the grip of a mid- season slump that threatens to wreck their ambitions on three fronts.

After a soulless first half, described as "funereal" by the Everton manager, Joe Royle, the match exploded at the beginning of the second in which a feeble Forest side was destroyed by three goals in an eight-minute Everton blitz.

Kanchelskis, whose tormenting of David Phillips had already posed Forest some awkward moments, left an indelible imprint on the contest seven minutes into the second period, controlling a long right-to-left ball from John Ebbrell on his chest, cutting inside two Forest defenders and shooting left-footed with power and precision into the far corner.

It was a fine goal, which lifted Everton to greater heights, blowing away the cloud hanging over them in the wake of their defeats against Port Vale in the FA Cup and at Old Trafford in the Premiership last week.

Five minutes later, their captain, Dave Watson, rose at the near post to glance home Andy Hinchcliffe's corner and, on the hour, Kanchelskis provided the cross from which Duncan Ferguson nodded in the third from close range.

Forest, who had threatened nothing before Everton went ahead, now looked a miserable, forlorn bunch. Manager, Frank Clark regretted that "one or two of our players stopped doing the things that make them good players."

No one more so than their Dutch international, Bryan Roy. Unexpectedly recalled after Andrea Silenzi, the Italian who had displaced him, withdrew because of a domestic problem, Roy offered no evidence that his rival need worry about reclaiming his spot.

Kanchelskis apart, there were other Everton players bestowed with their manager's praise afterwards, among them Hinchcliffe, who marginalised Steve Stone, and Jon O'Connor, a 19- year-old who. despite making his home debut was not, it should be said, much troubled by Roy.

Royle was inclined to be complimentary towards Forest, even though they had been out-played. "They are always difficult to break down," he said, which on this occasion was untrue.

Why it had taken Everton so long to find their upper gears, he could not say. "After the two defeats, I think the crowd was waiting for us to excite them while we were waiting for them to get behind us," he said. "In the event, neither happened."

Everton move into seventh place, their target of a Uefa Cup place looking increasingly realistic. In this form, however, Forest, who slipped to 10th, can scarcely contemplate such ambitions, nor can they look forward with relish to taking on Tottenham in the FA Cup on Wednesday and Bayern Munich in Europe a week later.

"I wish I knew what to do," Frank Clark lamented, "There is no magic wand. All the players can do is buckle down and work through it in the hope that they can turn things round."