[新聞] Stoke City 2-0 Everton
http://98.129.138.249/en-gb/match/48003/stoke-city-vs-everton/reportStoke
Stoke City 2-0 Everton: Kenwyne Jones header and Phil Jagielka own goal ends
dismal home run.
Toothless Toffees struggle once again despite first half control
By Nick Price at the Britannia Stadium
Stoke City earned a first home win since a November victory over Liverpool
and made it a Merseyside double by beating Everton 2-0 at the Britannia
Stadium.
A perfectly placed first-half header from Kenwyne Jones sent the home side on
their way before Phil Jagielka netted into his own goal to gift wrap victory
in a game that the Toffees long controlled.
Both managers made changes after mixed festive periods, as Tony Pulis handed
veteran utility man Danny Higginbotham a start in place of the suspended
Robert Huth, while Ricardo Fuller figured up front, replacing Jonathan
Walters. For the visitors, David Moyes elected to add a striker in Louis Saha
to a side that lacked a nominal forward in the draw at West Ham in midweek.
But it was the introduction of a striker for the home side that almost saw
the game's first goal as a Rory Delap long throw rocketed over the heads of
half the players on the pitch before being flicked on by Fuller, only for the
alertness of Tim Howard to deny the Jamaican.
Saha then saw an opportunity to give the away side the lead after connecting
with a corner with a diving header over Shawcross that only narrowly flew
over Asmir Begovic's bar.
Stoke should have opened the scoring with the first clear cut chance of the
game as a Begovic punt upfield was flicked on by Kenywne Jones and into the
path of Fuller, who rounded Sylvain Distin before, with the goal at his
mercy, stroking the ball casually wide from the edge of the box.
And the miss served to galvanise the visitors, who looked every inch the more
composed side in the opposition half, with Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta both
showing their class as Seamus Coleman offered a threat from the right flank
that saw Danny Collins go into the book for a challenge born of frustration.
But the home side were able to finally get a home goal after more than 180
minutes of fruitless huffing and puffing as Jones and Matthew Etherington
linked up with the latter dribbling past Phil Neville and Coleman before
delivering an inch-perfect cross for the club record signing to glance into
the far corner.
Yet the score was almost level just moments later as Leighton Baines stood up
an equally exquisite cross to the far corner to the loitering Cahill, who
arched his header across the face of goal and only inches away the inside of
the opposite post.
And goalkeeper Begovic was highly fortunate not to see red as he raced out to
intercept a looping ball that Saha was chasing onto, before swiping away the
Frenchman with a careless tackle that drew a yellow card from the referee's
pocket.
It was the visitors who continued to threaten from that point, with Baines
and Coleman both impressing by offering width and guile down either flank,
with the latter feeding in a terrific ball that should have been turned in by
one of a host of blue shirts, but the only real opportunity prior to the
break fell to Steven Pienaar, only for the South African's effort to be
deflected over by Higginbotham.
That effort summed up the travelling side's frustrations as they trundled
down the tunnel having largely dominated the game but failing to get on to
the scoresheet.
Neither manager made a change for the restart, from which Dean Whitehead went
into the book within seconds for a lunge on Arteta.
And the second half continued in the vein of the first, with Everton
retaining possession but failing to create much, and when a gift was
presented to them as Jones headed into the path of the unmarked Pienaar, the
South African could only volley spectacularly wide.
But the home side soon got into things as Everton were pegged back for long
periods, with the tired Pennant replaced for Tuncay Sanli, offering more
invention and pace to keep Baines detained in his own half.
As the Potters pushed forwards, Toffees boss Moyes made a double swap with 20
minutes remaining as Neville and Cahill made way for Leon Osman and Victor
Anichebe.
But those changes did little to help the away side, who conceded a soft own
goal moments later as a Higginbotham punt into the area was nodded on by
Jones and bundled into his own net by Jagielka under pressure from Fuller.
And it should have been worse for Everton not long after as Fuller latched
onto a bouncing ball but struggled to get his feet together as Howard rushed
off his line to block the Jamaican one-on-one.
That flurry of activity prompted Moyes to throw on Jermaine Beckford for the
dreadfully disappointing Saha, but it was the home side who continuted to
threaten, with Fuller and Jones both combining well to create opportunities,
while Dean Whitehead saw a volley fly wide from the edge of the area.
Substitute Tuncay then came close to netting a superb left-footed half-volley
after beating Baines in the air, only for his strike to creep narrowly wide
of Tim Howard's goal, while for Everton, a half-hearted flick from Anichebe
struggled to test Begovic.
That chance was the last of a game that Everton fans may feel was there for
the taking, especially after a solid first half display, but Stoke supporters
will relish a first home win in nearly two months, and though the second goal
owed much to fortune, there was little luck in a second half in which the
Potters were distinctly better than their opponents.
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