Saturday 30 March 2013

Mirallas magic

           
   Ryan Shotton's long throw into the box was met by Huth's head with Howard palming it away as he threw himself to his left, with Jon Walters, who lined up in midfield in Tony Pulis' 4-4-2 formation, scrambling his follow-up effort against the underside of the bar.Stoke, meanwhile, have now lost eight times in their last 11 Premier League outings and have slipped to 13th in the table, only four points above the increasingly congested battle against the drop.Leighton Baines had come close to providing Jelavic with the ammunition to test Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic on more than one occasion before Everton took the lead courtesy of a majestic solo effort from Mirallas.Everton welcomed goalkeeper Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka back into their starting line-up and they were joined in the team by Nikica Jelavic as Moyes made three changes and opted for a 3-5-2 formation with Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar suspended.The Belgian collected possession deep inside his own half as Howard fisted away a Stoke free-kick, wriggling away from the attentions of Steven N'Zonzi before switching on the after-burners and embarrassing Geoff Cameron as he turned the last defender inside and out before slotting under Begovic.Everton could have extended their lead in the 63rd minute when Jelavic's far post header from Darron Gibson's cross went straight at Begovic, before the Croatia striker brought a finger-tip save out of the Potters keeper with a free-kick from the edge of the box.Howard had to be alert again as the interval approached, plunging away to his left to push away a stinging effort from Walters from outside the box with Stoke remaining a threat to Everton's back three.

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