Saturday 28th February 2009, Barclays Premiership, Goodison Park, Kick-Off 12.45pm

 

Everton	2 - 0	Albion
Cahill 36	33,898
Saha 70
1	Half-Time Score	0
57%	Possession	43%
6	Shots On Target	9
5	Shots Off Target	9
3	Corners	6
9	Fouls Against	15
2	Offsides	0
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0

Everton: Howard, Jagielka, Yobo, Hibbert (Osman 26), Baines, Neville, Gosling, Pienaar, Fellaini (Saha 61), Cahill, Jo (Castillo 75). Subs not used: Nash, Lescott, Van der Meyde, Jacobsen .

Fellaini 54 (foul)

Albion: Carson, Zuiverloon, Donk, Meite, Robinson (C), Brunt, Koren, Valero (Greening 53 ), Morrison, Simpson (Moore 57), Fortune (Teixeira 89). Subs not used: Kiely, Hoefkens, Cech, Menseguez. 

Greening 84 (foul)

Referee:  Steve Bennett (Kent)
Assistant Referees: Dave Bryan (Lincolnshire), Martin Yerby (Kent)
Fourth Official: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)

Conditions: Overcast but dry and mild

ALBION TEAM NEWS: Jonas Olsson is still out with a knee injury but club captain Jonathan Greening does return and is named on the bench after five weeks out. Ryan Donk returns after his recent groin strain taking the place of Leon Barnett who didn’t make the trip to Merseyside. Chris Brunt starting in place of Filipe Teixeira is the only other change from the game against Fulham.

EVERTON TEAM NEWS: Everton are without Mikel Arteta who damaged his knee against Newcastle whilst Victor Anichebe is also missing following the dangerous challenge by Kevin Nolan in the same game. Nuno Valente (knee) and Yakubu Aiyegbeni (calf) are not available but Steven Pienaar does start after recovering from a hamstring injury. Leon Osman makes the bench along with Louis Saha who is pushing for a recall to the starting line-up. Tim Cahill and Tony Hibbert are also welcomed back from suspension.

ERRORS SPOIL DECENT BAGGIES PERFORMANCE

When Albion travelled to Merseyside to play Everton on Saturday morning a willingness to put the Fulham game behind them would have been on their mind. The game, their second away from The Hawthorns in a week, did produce an improved performance however actions in both boxes cost the Baggies dearly. Two goals were enough to see Everton seal a game which they would of been glad to get out of the way considering their injury problems. The first goal came about simply due to bad defending but the second, a Louis Saha effort, gave the fans a glimpse of the raw talent that once commanded a £13million move to Manchester United.

It was Albion who had the better of the first 30 minutes of the game. On-loan striker Marc-Antoine Fortune had three decent efforts however the first two were straight at Tim Howard in the Everton goal, the second of which resulted in a corner from which James Morrison struck the side netting. Robert Koren also tried his luck with a 20 yard effort which went wide. Fortune had his third opportunity when Morrision fed the ball through to him providing him with a clean run at goal, however the French Guyana found the hands of Howard again.

All Albion’s good work was destroyed with successive errors culminating in a throw in, a free kick and finally a goal. A mistimed pass, poor judgment by Ryan Donk in giving away a foul and then sloppy marking led to the Albion defence allowing three Everton players a free header at goal. From Leighton Baines’ free kick Tim Cahill rose the highest out of the three and powered the header past Scott Carson in the Baggies' goal. The goal woke Everton up and they swiftly moved up into a higher gear, Steven Pieneaar creating an opportunity after neat play with Marouane Fellani. By the end of first half it was visible why Everton had conceded only three goals in 11 games (all of them being against top four sides). It was also clear to see the cutting edge that they possessed at the other end of the pitch, It’s a combination that has seen them defeated only once in 15 games.

Half Time

The second half saw an energetic spirit exuding from the Baggies’ camp, coming flying out of the traps, taking the game to Everton. Lively second half substitute Luke Moore looked the likeliest to score, having a shot deflected wide and then from the resulting corner a header that Phil Jagielka hooked off the line. The defenders’ contribution was not his first in the game and illustrated why he had recently been called up into the England squad. His defending at the back had stopped Jay Simpson in his tracks; the combating of Simpson’s speed with ease was the highlight of a quality performance. Simpson struggled badly against the Toffees' defence and was eventually substituted.

Saha came on for Everton hoping to stop the Baggies impetus but to no avail as Brunt hit another low drive that failed to test Howard. This didn’t last long though as the game was put to bed on 70 minutes with Saha producing a neat turn and sublime left foot curling finish which we so badly needed at the other end. Everton were lifted now and Leon Osman tested Carson with an angled drive before Pieneaar linked up with Baines - who had worked well in unison down the left hand side all game - only to fail to find an end product. It was clearly not going to be Albion’s day, shown when another cracking shot by Moore from 25 yards hit the bar and bounced to safety.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

With two away games in a six days both ending in 2-0 defeats, it is clearly a lack of quality in both of the two boxes that is costing us dearly. Positives to take away - Moore looked lively when coming on and Greening’s return from injury. If Albion have any chance of staying up, home games will have to yield maximum points however it’s Arsenal on Tuesday… Come on you Baggies!!!!!!!

ALBION MAN OF THE MATCH:: Luke Moore
EVERTON MAN OF THE MATCH:  Phil Jagielka

PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN

ALBION: Carson (6), Zuiverloon (6), Donk (6), Meite (6), Robinson (7), Brunt (7), Koren (8), Valero (7), Morrison (8), Simpson (6), Fortune (7) Subs: Greening (7), Moore (8) ,Filipe Teixeira (6).

EVERTON: Howard (7), Jagielka (9), Yobo (7), Hibbert (6), Baines (8), Neville (7), Gosling (7), Pienaar (7), Fellaini (6), Cahill (8), Jo (6). Subs: Saha (8) Osman (7) Segundo (6)

REF WATCH

Steve Bennett - Nothing of note, can only be a good thing.

Sam Bradley

Birmingham Mail:  “It was a 2-0 defeat. But not as we know it. The Baggies were dynamic, positive and, frankly, worthy of far more.”

Express and Star: “‘Effin’ hell lads,” said Everton captain Phil Neville as he emerged from his team’s dressing room to face the media, “We’ve just been battered out there.” Despite his team’s 2-0 victory, Neville wasn’t being facetious or attempting to be funny in any way. Everton had, indeed, been “battered.” Out-passed, out-played and out-manoeuvred all over the pitch. They were everything Albion were not. Efficient, effective, pragmatic, frankly a little dull."

Toffeeweb.com: "The two-goal margin didn't tell the whole story of a game West Bromwich Albion may feel aggrieved to have lost, three points for the Blues is all that matters at the end of the day.”

Tony Mowbray: "When you make silly decisions in your own box you do not deserve to get the three points.

"There aren't many teams who ask as many questions as us going forward, but we're not as good as others at the muck and nettles stuff, you might call it.

"There is naivety in our defending, but I enjoyed watching my team play."

David Moyes: "It wasn't a comfortable win at all because of the way West Brom played, they passed it very well and created some chances.

"But we were solid at the back, we took our opportunities and people did their jobs well. We didn't play as well as we would have liked, but that can happen.

"Louis Saha's goal was fabulous, but everyone knows about his ability."

The game is the 150th meeting of the two sides in league and cup competition.

Robert Koren makes his 100th Albion appearance.