Everton 0 Stoke City 1:THIS WAS the kind of result Stoke supporters envisaged and David Moyes feared when the money flowed from the Britannia Stadium in the summer.
Robert Huth’s predatory strike and the defensive power he embodies capped a fine week for Tony Pulis’s men as they remembered how to follow European duty with an away win. The only hangover in evidence was nursed by an Everton side that has now lost as many home games as bottom club Wigan and is discovering the true cost of selling its most potent talents.
“We need scorers of goals and creators of goals, but we know that,” lamented Moyes after a game in which Everton dominated possession but crafted nothing. Not a good way to sign off a weekend when Yakubu Ayegbeni and Mikel Arteta produced five goals between them for Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal respectively.
Goodison was sombre irrespective of the performance. There was no Z Carstheme to accompany the teams on to the field for once. Instead, the players walked out to Land of My Fathersas the Welsh national anthem marked the start of an emotional tribute to the late Gary Speed. His distraught father, Roger, followed several former team-mates of the ex-Everton captain and boyhood fan to the centre circle and embraced every member of the current team before kick-off. Jonathan Woodgate broke from the Stoke ranks to console the bereaved father.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov miscued the home side’s clearest opening when Tony Hibbert’s cross fell to the Russia international and Thomas Sorensen was the only goalkeeper employed in the early stages, albeit only to deal with a procession of crosses. And then, as so often is the case, the visitors took the lead with their first attack. Huth, one of the two players retained from the Kyiv game, was perfectly placed when Dean Whitehead volleyed down the mouth of Tim Howard’s goal after Bilyaletdinov headed clear a Matthew Etherington corner. From four yards out, the German defender diverted the ball over Howard and Stoke had a lead that, for all their possession, Everton threatened rarely.
“It has been a great week for the football club,” said Pulis. “We’ve had a dip in form, as most Premier League clubs do, but to get six points and qualify for Europe is very pleasing. We have shown a lot of character and this was a real battling performance against an Everton team that is formidable at home.”
Guardian Service
