A good result, a poor game. Well, maybe ‘poor’ is a harsh word. We were very good, controlling the game extremely well and attacking with intent. But beyond that, it was a dull affair. Pulis was insistent on destroying the soul of the game and making sure to stamp on its remains.
And that was only by half time.
But before we gave Tony the chance to do just that, we shocked West Brom with two quickfire goals after some tremendous work from Mirallas and Schneiderlin. The team functioned very well as a unit today with some well oiled moves, and this showed with how much Rom became involved in the game as it went on.
Speaking of our record Premier League scorer, he netted again late on in the second half to wrap up the 3 points with goal number three following a brilliant Ross Barkley assist. Ross was brilliant throughout the game today, and we can safely say he’s finally found his place in this Everton side after losing his way under Martínez.
So, we’re safely clear of West Brom now, with sights fully focused on catching United, who sit apprehensive 2 points ahead of us.
Ratings then.
Joel Robles 6
Not much at all to do for the Spaniard today but made sure to deal with the sporadic Albion threat very well. A clean sheet will do his confidence the world of good after last week’s far from impressive display.
Séamus Coleman 6
Satisfactorily mediocre. Not much harm caused by Coleman’s defensive insecurities but not much inspiration from his attacking work.
Phil Jagielka 6
I, like many, questioned this. I’m still questioning it to be honest. He didn’t do much to annoy me so there’s that at least.
Ashley Williams 7
Very solid today and neutered any threat West Brom’s physicality would have provided. He also improved his distribution, which to be fair, wasn’t hard.
Leighton Baines 5
He went off at half time in what is hopefully not a bad injury seeing as we have no other left backs.
Good first half though. Why is it anyway that he seems to be completely invisible to any of his teammates when it comes to a pass?
Morgan Schneiderlin 7
A much improved second half after what was a strangely sloppy first 45 – besides the goal.
He was a major annoyance to West Brom’s midfield as the game went on and made some crucial tackles, although his passing was oddly lethargic.
Tom Davies 7
Not a phenomenal attacking performance but Tom made sure to hassle the opposition and made some great passes.
Gareth Barry 4
Spurs should have been the end for him. He is slow, uninspiring and defensively absent.
Ross Barkley 9
Another fantastic performance by Ross as he bossed the game from start to finish and was very unlucky not to get his goal late on.
He is once again feeling comfortable at Goodison and that benefits all of us tremendously.
Kevin Mirallas 8
A much better performance from our enigmatic superstar. He was involved in every attack and even scored a 2 yard screamer.
Romelu Lukaku 8
His desire to drag the team up with him is animalistic at times. Nothing could stop him today and he, like Ross, was simply too much for an apathetic West Brom to bother with.
Subs -
Idrissa Gueye 7
The amount of ground he covers in so little time is astounding.
Ramiro Funes Mori 5
He’s not a full back so it’s incredibly unfair to judge him on this.