Everton 0 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Date: Saturday 13th February 2016 
Competition: Barclays Premier League
Everton:
6.7
WBA:
7.3
(4-4-2) Foster 7.4, Dawson 7.1, Olsson 8.6, Evans 8.3, Chester 7.1, Sessegnon 6.8, Yacob 8.3, Fletcher 6.8, McClean 6.5 (Brunt, 57 6.6), Rondón 6.5 (Anichebe, 72 5.4), Berahino 6.8 (Sandro, 92 6.0)
Unused subs: Myhill, Gardner, Pocognoli, Pritchard
Manager: Tony Pulis 6.6
Scorers: Rondón (14)
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) 7.4
Attendance: 38,103   Home Fans 5.1   Away Fans 8.5

Summary:

Albion regained 13th place in the table thanks to an unexpected win over in-form Everton at Goodison. Jonny Evans was fit enough to return at centre half and Saido Berahino was given a start with Chris Brunt sufficiently recovered to take a place on the bench.

Despite dominating most of the game (with 76% possession and 34 shots compared to Albion's five), Everton fell behind to a looping header that met Salomon Rondon's chest just in front of the net. Or just inside - nobody seems to be entirely sure.

Albion held out for the win after seeing both Darren Fletcher and Ben Foster booked for timewasting. Chris Brunt was called into action for James McClean after the latter came close to getting a second yellow and Sandro got a few minutes of action after replacing Berahino in the second minute of added time.

With 32 points and twelve games yet to play, survival to cash in on next year's lucrative TV income now looks much more likely.

oshawabaggie:

This was a courageous defensive effort, allied to a huge slice of luck, which brought us three vital points. Given the recent performances, I don't think many, me included, gave us much of a shot at getting anything out of this game. I would have gladly taken a point, so three is massive. In the context of the growing gloom shrouding the club, the team showed tremendous character to hold a rampant Everton at bay. It's hard to pick out individuals, but Olsson, Evans, Foster and Yacob deserve special mention in my opinion.

Having said all that, our weaknesses were on display for all to see. No creative midfield, inability to hold the ball in forward positions and wayward passing, so consequently few chances. All the usual stuff.

It's hard to be too negative after such an important win, but looking at the bigger picture, I don't see us getting much further with this style of football. It's hard on the players and the fans.

Brendan Clegg:

Not a lot to say - this was the classic Pulis away performance. We worked hard defensively, rode our luck massively and nicked an early goal to hold on to. If all of the conditions of the game were replicated 10 times we'd probably lose 5, draw 4 and win 1 but it was our lucky day and we earned a lot of it.

Positives were that we probably got our best available 11 on the pitch, and particularly in attacking areas the extra notch in quality made a difference. Sess and Saido both did sound jobs for us without the ball but when they got it in rare moments they were miles better than everyone else. Saido effectively played the role Gardner has been but was so much better in terms of touch, movement and passing that we were able to get out sometimes.

I thought Evans' inclusion in the centre also made a huge difference for us on the ball - certainly in the first 20 minutes we did genuinely try to keep it without hoofing it - Fletcher and Yacob in particular were more patient.

After that we reverted to type more but still had moments of creativity. Brunt should probably have done better with his chance and there were several other breaks where if Rondon or McClean had made even half-decent decisions we'd have been in on goal.

A huge result for us - I don't think it changes any of our longer term issues. At the moment I'm hoping for a swift climb to safety in plenty of time so that we can address some big player retention issues we have before we even consider new signings.

  • Foster - 7 Can be unorthodox but a clean sheet and generally sound.
  • Daws - 7 Pretty good in all aspects.
  • Evans - 8 I think if he was 2 or 3 inches taller we'd be talking about one of the best in the league. Quick, brave, terrific with his feet and reads it well.
  • Olsson - 8 Keeps churning out the performances and clean sheets for us. Heroic really. At his best when he's expected to focus on defending only.
  • Chester - 6 Kept at it although Lennon had him on toast.
  • Fletcher - 6 Probably played to his limit but still looks injured to me. Did the job.
  • Yacob- 7 Was always there when we needed him and, as we've seen many times before, is a decent instigator of breaks when we have the attacking options to use.
  • Sess - 7 In fleeting moments going forward he was fantastic but also but a shift in.
  • Saido - 7 Did everything expected of him well, shame we couldn't get him into dangerous positions more. Such a good natural footballer.
  • McClean - 6 Understandably did a job protecting Chester and kept it simple.
  • Rondon - 5 Off the ball and defensively his effort, chasing and movement were all pretty good. On the ball his touch was heavy, his passes were often too rushed and it still didn't really happen for him.
  • Brunt - 6 Did OK apart from one pretty disgusting tackle.
  • Anichebe - 4 Looks to be playing at 40% again. Where has the bully in him gone? Where is the fight?

Philip Cole (RSABaggie):

I watched the Everton match on TV and I agree with Oshawabaggie that it was a defensive masterclass and you had to admire the discipline, organization and the commitment of all the players to come away with a result like that in the face of continuous waves of Everton attacks. A couple of points:

  1. This sort of defensive doggedness will only win you at best one match in five against opponents. It was also our day and we had a large slice of luck with the post saving us twice. It will also not get you anything (except once in a blue moon) against the top sides. Long term its a recipe to only, at best, keep you just outside the relegation places.
  2. If we have an off-day, which will always happen, like we did against Newcastle, then we'll lose to even the worst teams. If we played like we did against Newcastle with any of the top teams we'd have been thrashed.
  3. This was the first time in quite a while that Pulis had played more than 3 attackers. Not that it made any difference given how we sat back. All four attackers put in a great defensive shift, which illustrates the problem.
  4. We badly miss one key player, Morrison, who seems to be our only creative central midfielder who can carry the ball forward in pick out a pass. If he's injured we really need to play someone in this role, such as Sessegnon or Pritchard, in every match otherwise we simply won't get out of defence.
  5. Playing four centre halves at the back is antediluvian tactics. Modern premier league football needs fast full backs or wing backs who can get forward and support and overlap with the wingers. There's no point playing wingers if you can't support them, again it just means they'll be forced back into defence. And IMHO we have two such full backs in Pocognoli and Gamboa if we ever played them. Certainly inexcusable that we don't at home against the likes of Villa.

Like many who post, I also feel its now quite clear that Pulis has taken us as far as we can go with him. If we have any ambition we need to say: "Thanks for keeping us up and goodbye" as soon as the season ends with a plan in place to bring in a better coach (Moyes?, Rodgers?) backed by sufficient funds to build the obvious deficiencies of the squad.