Everton wear down Stoke

Ayegbeni Yakubu's 67th minute strike was enough for Everton to see off a resilient Stoke City side 1-0 in the Premier League at Goodison Park.

The ball fell to the Nigerian striker after a 20-yard Tim Cahill strike smacked the foot of Asmir Begovic's left post. Showing a good level of composure, Yakubu proceeded to cut inside before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from six yards out.

The game itself was a largely scrappy affair, with Stoke seeking to stifle the progress of their opponents at every given opportunity.

Robert Huth, Abdoulaye Faye and Ryan Shawcross were pillars at the back for Tony Pulis' men. So much so, in fact, that the relief around Goodison was clear for all to see following Yakubu's strike.

Up until then, The Toffees' midfield trio of Cahill, Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta had been restricted to tame long-range efforts at the Stoke goal. This, despite the fact that Leighton Baines and Phil Neville had been given license to roam and attack deep down both flanks, as Stoke looked to pack players into the middle of the pitch.

First, Pienaar striked from a central position in the 25th minute, which Asmir Begovic was able to gather cleanly while moving to his right. Then, eight minutes later, Cahill attempted something similar from around 35 yards out with his drive flying high and wide of goal.

It was testament to Stoke's resilience, as Tony Pulis' men - particularly in the first half - restricted The Toffees by congesting the midfield and getting, at times, nine men behind the ball with Kenwyne Jones positioned as the lone target man, designed to latch onto any long balls from the back.

As the frustration of Everton, and the Goodison Park faithful, began to grow, Stoke slowly gathered momentum and arguably had the better of the chances before half-time.

A mix-up in The Toffees defence inside the first ten minutes presented Jones with a turn and strike on goal. However, the Trinidad and Tobagan didn't catch the ball cleanly and sliced his effort beyond Tim Howard's posts.

Then, moments before half-time, a whipped Matthew Etherington delivery came through a host of Everton players to Abdoulaye Faye arriving at the back post. However, the Senegalese defender's surprise at being presented with the opportunity was clear for all to see as he dragged his shot wide of goal.

Into the second-half, and it was again Everton who looked the more nervous of the two teams, with Sanli Tuncay having a goal harshly disallowed on the hour-mark, after being accused of pushing Baines when converting a Huth knock-down.

That, however, seemed to spur Everton into life and, following Yakubu's moment of glory, David Moyes' men initially began to get into their stride.