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Battle of the Brittania ends drawn

Michael Kenrick , 1 May, 58comments  |  Jump to most recent
Stoke City 1 - 1 Everton
As Everton look to register a seventh League game without defeat to keep hold of seventh place, Moyes made two changes to the team that started against Fulham. Gibson missed out and Neville was rested, with Cahill and Anichebe coming into the side.

The expected barrage of aerial throw-ins from Rory Delap bombed into the Everton area were causing consternation, but less so than when Anichebe did his falling over thing and finally came off after 20 mins, to be replaced by Magaye Gueye.

Osman caught a glimpse of goal with a snapshot on 27 mins but it was easily saved. He got another great chance on 29 mins but it was straight at Begovic.

Everton were getting good wing possession in the final third of the half but the crosses were lacking and when the ball did reach Jelavic, he wasn't expecting it and it bounced off him, harmlessly over. They should really have scored as they put the Potters under good pressure before the break, Gueye lashing the ball just past the far post. And on a smart free-kick that Pienaar played out wide to Hibbert, Cahill pressed for the ball, it bounced off Huth(?) then Crouch and into the Stoke net for a scrappy but well deserved own goal.

The war of aerial attrition continued into the second half, with Fellaini putting himself about and getting himself booked, as first Everton and then Stoke looked to craft good attacking moves that threatened goals, with the home crowd stepping things up by the decibel. It was a stough spell for teh Blues , who were forced to Keep It Tight and Hold On to What You Got. It wasn't all that pretty... but the Blues defence was effective.

For the forays forward, Osman was always trying to play in Jelavic but Upson was doing a good man-marking job on the crafty Croat. That led Tony Pulis to make a triple switch at the height of their pressure, an interesting managerial tactic that included the removal of Delap...

The substitutions worked a treat for Stoke as Jerome benefited from a poor Cahill pass to waltz through the Everton defence after being on the field less than 2 minutes and powered his shot past Howard to level the score.

Huth and Jelavic got involved in a bit of afters before Gueye was forced off, Big Denis getting a runout to try his luck in attack.

Osman got another chance to shoot Everton ahead but once again drove his shot within easy reach of Begovic.

Moyes's managerial masterstroke was to switch the largely ineffective Osman, with the man once strangely dubbed (by Moyes) as the Scottish Rooney — James McFadden, on for the final minute (plus 4 of added time...)

Some desperate defending from Everton, with Pienaar giving up the professional foul to stop a good breakaway, Stoke determined to beat Everton with a deflected free-kick that Howard stopped well. End of Game.

A draw was not too bad a result in the quest to lock up 7th place, given that Liverpool underlined their crapiness by losing at home to Fulham.

Everton: Howard; Hibbert, Distin, Heitinga, Jagielka; Anichebe (21' Gueye (78' Stracqualursi)), Pienaar, Osman (89' McFadden), Fellaini; Cahill; Jelavic.
Unused Subs: Mucha, Barkley, Coleman, Duffy.

Quotes or other material sourced from ToffeeWeb Match Report Page

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