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Baines and Lukaku light up stunning win over West Ham

West Ham United 2 - 3 Everton

An unchanged side began the game, and soon looked stale in terms of ideas, made worse by a simple deflection a that allowed Morrison's shot to get past Howard. Martinez rightly rang the changes at half-time, Lukaku and McCarthy making a huge difference but the Blues had to wait for a Baines special to equalize brilliantly on the hour. But dominance was insufficient for the lead which swung back to West Ham when McCarthy gave away a penalty. Then up stepped Baines again after Noble was dismissed (fouling Barkley from behind for his second yellow) to curl another brilliant free-kick in the other side of the West Ham goal. More great work from Mirallas set up Lukaku for a powerful winning header that made him an instant (if wounded) hero in a fantastic result for Roberto Martinez.

Match Summary

Despite Darron Gibson and Arouna Kone supposedly being declared fit, neither even make the bench, where Romelu Lukaku is eligible to make his debut, as Roberto Martinez sticks with an unchanged line-up from the side that started in the win against Chelsea. Steven Pienaar and Antolin Alcaraz are out injured, while Gibson and Kone do not make the bench.

The contrast in styles was clear from the off with plenty of hoofballs from Big Sam's side while Everton built steadily with their patient passing game... neither initially looking particularly effective against two teams classed as 'hard to beat' until Barkley picked out Mirallas who cut inside and took a decent shot that forced an early save from Jaaskelainen.

Jarvis sprinted rather easily past Jagielk and it needed an amazingly fast run from Distin to dispossess him before he pulled the trigger. Everton looked a little at odds defending the corner through a number of scrappy phases. West Ham thankfully squandered a couple of free-kicks while pushing Everton back with their high pressing game.

Neat passing across the back was all well and god, but the lack of cohesion moving the ball forward was increasingly obvious, while West Ham's more direct approach was winning set pieces that put the Blues defence under pressure. Barkley did try a clever jink forward to Jelavic but it did not come off. A midfield free-kick won by Mirallas was wastefully scooped over the attack to Jaaskelainen.

Then a simple shot deflected from Morrison past a hapless Howard and a goal to West Ham.

Barkley appeared to be on a break but he showed too much of the ball to O'Brien, then Morrison got the first card for a challenge on Naismith. Barkley then got himself booked for the fourth time this season, for stumbling into his opponent a a largely ineffective Everton side trooped off at the break with a massive hill to climb.

Martinez acted at half-time, hauling off the ex-Rangers pair to be replaced by Romelu Lukaku and James McCarthy. And it was a thousand times better form Everton as the big Belgian looked to make an instant impact, playing a great ball forward for Mirallas, who took it wide and his return ball was poor. His strength in the tussle was immense, which could not quite be said for Osman, who was bundled over... and then came off with a groin injury. Oviedo replaced him on 52 mins.

Barkley finally felt he was positioned well enough to shoot but it was an awful attempt. Lee Mason was blowing up for every contact that ended in a tumble, but none that didn't much to the annoyance of Mirallas who was clearly barged off the ball.

Some ferocious attacking developed from Everton with juicy attacking moves threatening the West Ham goal, but Barkley was still seeking the perfect shot, he did draw a foul from Collins and the free-kick looked perfect for a strike on goal... and that's just exactly what Leighton Baines did, curling it inch perfect, high over the wall, just beyond Jaaskelainen and high into the net.

But, with Everton dominant, McCarthy's first real contribution was to clip Petric in the Everton area and Noble slotted home with ease and all the good work for nought.

As Barkley strode forward, Noble cut him down from behind and Mason had no option but to show him a second yellow. Baines then nonchalantly curled hos free-kick the other side of Jaaskelainen's goal, smacking in off the post this time as the keeper stared at it bounced in behind him, and the Everton fans behind him went bananas.

Then some great work from Mirallas set up Lukaku for a powerful header that he drove hone despite some afters from O'Brein that floored the new Everton hero on his debut for a good 5 minutes, getting attention for a smack on the head.

With 7 added minutes, Lukaku looked to score again but allowed Reid to steal the ball off his toe as he readied to shoot. Everton kept pressing all thee way to the final whistle, and registered a tremendous win in the end that looked a long long way off before half time. Excellent decision-making in the end by Martinez, to make up for placing too much faith in his poorer players (Jelavic and Naismith), given much stringer forces on the bench.

West Ham: Jaaskelainen, Reid, Nolan (80' Taylor), Jarvis (72' Vaz Te), Rat, Maiga, Morrison Y:37', Noble Y:68' YR:81', O'Brien, Collins, Diame.
Subs not Used: McCartney, Tomkins, Collison, Adrian, Petric

Everton: Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Naismith (46' McCarthy), Osman (52' Oviedo), Barry, Mirallas; Barkley Y:38'; Jelavic (46' Lukaku).
Subs not Used: Robles, Heitinga, Stones, Deulofeu. Referee: Lee Mason

 

• Full Match Report
• Memory Lane - Game 5

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