Everton have claimed back-to-back wins in the Premier League after cruising to a 3-0 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Romelu Lukaku scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions by slotting home from the penalty spot, while Seamus Coleman and Aaron Lennon also contributed to the scoresheet.
It was a disappointing day all round for Stoke as they have now suffered their fifth consecutive defeat.
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The home side were under some pressure in the early stages of the game when Ramiro Funes Mori managed to get a header on target while unmarked, but Erik Pieters deflected the ball behind.
It took a few minutes for the Toffees to find their stride but from a counter-attack they managed to win a penalty in the 11th minute.
Ross Barkley, who scored two penalties in midweek, showed skill with a back-heel to Bryan Oviedo, who spotted the run of midfielder Tom Cleverley.
The former Manchester United man continued his run into the box and fooled Jack Butland with his first touch, which caused the goalkeeper to clip Cleverley's foot with his hand once the ball had run on.
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Referee Andre Mariner pointed to the spot and Lukaku coolly slotted it home, scoring his 16th Premier League goal of the campaign so far.
Stoke left too much space in central areas and despite having large spells of possession in the first half, they were unable to break down Everton, who were more than happy to drop deep and play on the counter.
Just before the half-hour mark the visitors doubled their lead when Coleman latched on to the end of Cleverley's corner kick to head the ball past Butland from the six-yard box.
The goal highlighted Stoke's defensive errors as Coleman ran across the area unmarked in order to connect with the ball.
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The scoreline turned to 3-0 when a poor lofted pass across the back from Philipp Wollscheid was picked up by Lennon, who used his pace to storm into the area and slot the ball into the bottom right corner with ease.
The first time that Joel Robles was tested slightly was towards the end of the first half when Marko Arnautovic, who received the ball from a short pass off Mame Biram Diouf, sent his shot right into the hands of the keeper.
After the break, Stoke came out with some purpose as Ibrahim Afellay drilled a shot from an acute angle towards goal and Oviedo intercepted before the rebound was smothered by the keeper.
Stoke's dominance did not last long, though, as Barkley upped the tempo with a driving run from the left-hand side of the area. The midfielder played a one-two with Lukaku before thumping a shot at goal, but it nestled into the side-netting.
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As the second half progressed, Butland had work to do as the England shot-stopper made two decent saves in quick succession - the first came from a close-range header from Lukaku, and the other was a stop with his legs after Lukaku tried to stab the ball through after a surging run to the byline from Lennon.
At the other end, Glen Johnson tried to take things into his own hands by cutting inside and hitting a strike on target, but Everton's keeper managed to punch away the danger.
It became clear as the half went on that a revival was not on the cards for the Potters as Everton dominated the ball, and they should have been four goals to the good 10 minutes from time when Funes Mori received the ball from the corner while unmarked at the back post, but the Argentine fluffed his chance and sent it wide.
Like in midweek, it was a comfortable win for Everton, who move up to seventh in the league table while Stoke drop to 11th.
Danielle Joynson
