Everton 3-1 Manchester United: The Daily Mirror match report

There was a moment, at the end of this enthralling contest, that encapsulated everything that had gone before in 90-odd pulsating minutes of vibrant Premier League entertainment.

Gary Neville took the hand of victorious Everton manager David Moyes, and through gritted teeth uttered a brief - though entirely sincere - salutation, before turning towards the tunnel, face set to murderous thunder, and exiting with an intent that had been almost entirely missing from his side's play.

In that second, the Manchester United skipper summed up the two most interesting aspects of this contest. One was Neville's disgust at his own side's attitude, the other his clear admiration for the performance of opponents led by his brother Phil.

It would be easy to dismiss this result as merely a United slip, a display condemned by the eternal perfectionist Neville's face, and by the comments of Patrice Evra afterwards, who basically admitted his team lacked the mentality required for victory...a crime down Old Trafford way.

Remember though, that this is a United side who destroyed Arsenal at the Emirates a couple of weeks ago, and took Milan apart in 15 glorious minutes at the San Siro barely days earlier. They have been in a rich vein of form, so to defeat them as comprehensively as Everton did, was some achievement.

Where to start then, with Red failings, or Blue triumph? Let us not be mean-spirited about this, the home side deserve their praise, because this was not a one-off performance. They did exactly the same to Chelsea a week ago, and before that dismissed Manchester City with something approaching contempt.

They also travelled to both Arsenal and Chelsea to take draws that could easily have been victories, and it is no exaggeration to suggest that since the turn of the year they have been the best team in the Premier League, with each of these results achieved through matching and even outplaying illustrious rivals, not merely outmuscling them. Remember, they should have had two penalties here, so could have won 5-1.

Had they not been deprived of so many important players at the start of the season, who knows where they may be now, in a campaign punctuated by the startling frailty of the leading sides. The question is, how they hell do they manage it, given the relatively limited resources at Goodison compared to all the rest of the sides competing for European places in the Premier League?

Their manager David Moyes accepts that cash really is king in the brash new world of the Premier League, yet he believes that his club is slowly getting back towards the level they achieved in the 1980s, through a mixture of intelligence on the field and in the transfer market.

"I hope people wouldn't just see us as a team who work hard. I'd like to think people would look at us and decide we got it right tactically against Manchester United," Moyes explained.

"We have tremendous spirit here, there is a togetherness in the squad, but we have quality too, we try to play in the right way. We played some good football, there were passages of play where we outpassed them, we played around them.

"I think we should be given a bit of credit for that, not just because of our spirit but also because of our tactics and the ability of the players. We have developed as a team and people like Arteta and Pienaar have certainly helped with that. But today Leon Osman was probably the one who was the catalyst to our play."

The sobering thought is that Everton managed this impressive victory without Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill, two players who will challenge strongly for any Premier League team of this season, and without Phil Jagielka, the most consistent cente half in the league during the previous campaign.

How? How do they manage to find the quality to match the very best sides on a fraction of the budget? Patience, for a start, in allowing a talented manager the time to grow and build towards a long term objective. Moyes has been at Everton for more than seven years, and they are getting their reward for the faith they have shown in his vision.

He's also remarkably astute in the transfer market, which helps, given that the likes of Arteta, Pienaar, Fellaini, Cahill, Bilyaletdinov, Heitinga, Distin, Yobo, Baines, Saha, Gosling and Howard - not to mention born leader Phil Neville - were all brought in on the cheap, and sometimes, like Landon Donovan, on cheeky loan deals.

Then there is the youth policy that unearthed not just man of the match Osman and goalscorer Rodwell, but lest we forget, England's best player Wayne Rooney too. It takes bravery from a Premier League manager to risk the inexperience of youth these days, and most fear the sack too keenly to dare.

Not Moyes, who offers another reason for his bold, forward thinking policies at Goodison. "A lot of people would like to be in Evertonís position right now and theyíd also like to have a chairman like Everton have got," he explained.

"You look at some other clubs who thought that foreign owners were all the rage. Now itís back to booking your holidays at home with the chairman youíve got, because we have got one who has passion for this club, and lives and breathes it, and that is so important.

"The club is certainly getting closer to the great days they had here in the 80s. We know that it's not just about having a good team and good players, you probably need something else now, unfortunately thatís called cash. But weíre going to get back there, even if it takes a lot longer, because we have people who believe in the club, not making money."

In some ways, Everton are the antithesis of Manchester United, which makes this game all the more remarkable, not for the result, but for the manner of the victory, given the home side's dominance after the opening period when United deservedly took a lead through a fine finish by the unfairly maligned Dimitar Berbatov.

As a postcript, it has to be said that United were diminished when the Bulgarian went off, and it was surely a big error by Sir Alex Ferguson to replace him, given his subtle influence on the game. Yet, by then, Everton were already in the ascendency.

The Blues equalised when Bilyaletdinov produced a contender for goal of the season with a swerving shot from distance straight out of the Roberto Carlos textbook, and in the second half the quality of their play merited the superb goals scored by fearless young substitutes Gosling and - in the dying seconds - Rodwell.

For those who have watched Everton recently it was no surprise, but for those who follow United it was shocking, given their ruthless quality. Certainly, Evra was left as angry and bewildered as his captain as he admitted it simply wasn't good enough.

"I would like to give an excuse, to say we're very tired after the amazing night in San Siro. But I don't want to give that excuse because I think today we didn't believe we could win," he said.

"Myself, every player, a lot of players have been tired but I think on mentality we lost that game because before the game everyone was just talking about, 'Oh I feel tired, my legs,' you know?

"I don't think we were focused on the game and this is why I don't want to give that excuse because if you don't have the right spirit - and I don't think we had the spirit of a winner today - and that's why we lost this game.

"It's about not believing. Today we didn't believe enough. We believe, yes, every time we play in the Man United shirt we want to win the game and we believe until the last second but I think not enough today.

"This is why I'm very frustrated. It's not an easy day, it's a tough place to go and a bad time to play as well, you know, but I think it was just about a little more belief in the victory today and we would have had the better result."