Hero Osman draws Gray comparisons

David Moyes heaped praise on Leon Osman after the Everton midfielder’s goal was enough to beat Manchester City.

Moyes likened Osman to Everton legend Andy Gray after his second-half header claimed a 2-1 win for the Toffees at Goodison Park.

Yaya Toure opened the scoring in the first half before Sylvain Distin levelled and Osman’s power header won it.

Moyes said: “That was an Andy Gray header! I know Andy’s a few inches taller than Ozzie but it’s a great leap across the big centre,” Moyes said.

“I think he took a knock after the header, he keeps telling me he took one in the back of the head for the team but it was a great goal by Ozzie.”

“I told him I didn’t think he played well today for 60 minutes but once we got a head of steam he became better, the team became better.”

“He’s done that in recent weeks, he’s scored important goals, he’s probably been the catalyst for our good performances.”

Moyes admitted his side deserved to be 1-0 down, but paid tribute to his team for battling back from a losing position to claim the points.

“It’s a great result that didn’t look likely after 45 minutes,” Moyes said.

“We did well to come in only 1-0 down – Manchester City played terrifically well and we were struggling to cope with it.”

“Maybe a couple of alterations in the second half helped make the difference.”

“We started getting a bit closer I thought we started showing what I think we’ve got in abundance here and that is a spirit, a great attitude and determination.”

“We hadn’t really shown that in the first half and we just about hung in there and thankfully got in at half time to ruffle on or two feathers.”

Roberto Mancini bemoaned his side’s profligacy in front of goal, with several excellent chances going begging in the first half.

“In football matches, it is 90 minutes and we have to score,” Mancini said. “It’s important to score the goals and we had too many chances for this.”

“We didn’t deserve to lose this especially after the first half. Everton pushed more and more and played long ball after long ball – and we had many chances to win.”

“I don’t know why they played long balls but it was easy for us. We were deep and had defenders near the box – it was strange as we did not deserve to lose this game.”