Everton vs Hull City Match Report and MotM poll...

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Lukaku just for his 2 goals.

 

[Eggs]

...nobody obvious so I went for Calvert-Lewin. Out for a period after an untimely injury he's come back in and slotted. Still a lot about potential but he's now a Premier League goalscorer for Everton. Long after this game drifts into obscurity it will be in that young man's mind until his last breath.

 

[LostLegend]

Gana for me. Thought he was immense today. Some fantastic tackles/interceptions.

 

[Naval Blue]

Easily Gana today, I'm sure there is 2 of him, he literally gets everywhere and breaks up so much of the oppositions attack. Superb player

 

[Howards tipple]

Easy choice. What a quality buy. So many solid performances.

 

[Khalekan]

DCL for me.

He lifted the gloom early on and his all round performance in that first half reminds us there will be life after Rom

 

[Professor Toffee]

Tigers tamed as Blues go sixth​

Everton 4 - 0 Hull City​

Brief summary... Another three points as Everton eventually put a hard working Hull away, with maiden goal for Calvert- Lewin and a brace for Romelu Lukaku.

Ronald Koeman resisted any temptation to drop Romelu Lukaku, keeping faith with the leagues leading scorer as the Blues looked to move into sixth place even if only for 24 hours. He made changes to the eleven that began against West Brom in selecting: Robles, Baines, Williams, Jagielka (C), Coleman, Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies, Barkley, Calvert-Lewin and Lukaku.

Hull city, fighting for Premier League survival under new manager Marco Silva were without Everton loanee Oumar Niasse and they lined up: Jakupovic, Elabdellaoui, Robertson, Maguire, Ranocchia, advise, N'Diaye, Clucas, Markovic, Huddlestone and Hernandez.

The referee in charge was Paul Tierney.

A damp and breezy afternoon at the Old Lady but, the pitch looked in perfect condition for some slick attacking football and with Calvert-Lewin up alongside Lukaku, Ronald Koeman appeared to have set the team to play with two up front with Barkley and Davies to push forward too.

Everton survived an early Hull threat as Williams blocked a Hernandez effort and Calvert-Lewin (DCL) showed some good early touches from a wide left position.

The Blues opened the scoring on eight minutes as a searching through ball from Barkley found Davies in space on the right flank inside the Hull box and his inch-perfect cross was swept home confidently from seven yards by DCL.

A Lukaku flick-on gave Coleman a shooting chance and his half volley was saved at the foot of the post. Good defensive cover from Baines denied Markovic and the ex-RS skied his next effort high over the bar.

Schneiderlin was spraying balls around and setting the tone for much of the Everton play, but the next good move was starred by Jagielka as he won the ball in our box and found Lukaku on the left. The Belgian played a sweet cross field ball for DCL and he excellent turn bamboozled the Hull marker who immediately blocked his progress.

A tempting low cross from the right by Barkley unluckily evaded both Davies and DCL as the Blues continued to dominate possession.

Everton were denied a second goal on 23 minutes as a late offside flag ruled out a curling shot from Lukaku after a lovely pass from Gueye.

Disappointingly, Morgan Schneiderlin limped off on 28 minutes to be replaced by Gareth Barry and this disrupted the team somewhat, no offence to GB.

Williams got caught in two minds and that allowed Clucas to nip in and lob the onrushing Robles, thankfully the ball cleared the crossbar.

The final action of a half that Everton had dominated saw Davies burst forward on the left and push a through ball for Barkley that was a tad too strong for the recalled England international.

Half time 1-0

The first ten minutes of the second half were massively forgettable until a break saw Barkley release Lukaku away on the right. The big man cut inside and fired a shot just over the bar.

Funes-Mori came on for DCL on 55 minutes and Maguire denied Barkley with a goal saving challenge.

Everton then had Koeman fuming on the touch line as they were forced back from the Hull area all the way back to Robles.

Baines then fired a long cross field ball for Lukaku to collect, beat his man and sting the goalies fingers with a rasping drive.

Grosicki replaced Davies for Hull on 64 minutes ahead of Williams seeing yellow for a professional foul on Markovic. Some tough tackles were being made on Barkley and Davies, and one too many by Huddlestone on Gueye saw the red card brandished on 72 minutes.

Ener Valencia came on for Tom Davies two minutes later and with his second touch of the ball doubled the Blues lead, taking a sweet chip over the back line from Lukaku to round the keeper and net.

Barry saw yellow for pulling back Markovic and Hull brought Diomande on for Hernandez for the final nine minutes.

As the fourth official was preparing to signal four extra minutes, Everton made it three nil as Gueye to Barry, to Barkley saw the ball laid perfectly into the path of Romelu Lukaku and he slid home majestically.

And as the Hull defence fell apart, Lukaku added an injury time fourth to the adulation of the crowd.

Full time 4-0

Final summary.
Hull made Everton work hard for these three points, but the better quality and class of the Blues eventually earned the rewards. Barkley worked hard throughout as did Lukaku who got the goals we desperately need to retain.

I vote for Paul Tierney, thanks Paul you are a friend

 

[Canuck Darryl]

Didn't see the second half. I voted for Barkley based on that. He bossed the midfield in the first. From the sounds of it though, Gana played a blinder in the second. Will watch the full match when I get off work.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

Gana for me.

 

[whiteshadow]

Valencia effectively secured the 3 points by scoring a goal and setting up the 3rd in the space of 20 mins, yet he's not on the list ....

Ok then.

 

[ToffeeDan]

Barkley all day. Gana broke everything Hull did up but that was so minimal it scarcely mattered. Jags was solid. DCL had a good first half. Tom and Romelu were effective.. Seamus had a moderate game. Leighton had the freedom of the park.

 

[whiteshadow]

Pretty sure Valencia set up the 3rd goal, not Barkely.

Get the feeling the OP isn't a Valencia fan.

 

[LinekersLegs]

Gana my MotM as he was everywhere. Davies was kicked a lot but shrugged it off well and great to see Dominic hasn't let his injury break affect him.

Rom wasn't great for the first half being offside several times, but turned it on in the second half with 2 goals and a lovely assist - his all round game has come on in leaps and bounds this season.

 

[Zezti]

Hard to pick. Several did well but also had bad periods during the game. Hulls' manager's tactics were good and Koeman stepped up with good subs in response. We were unlucky to have Morgs go off injured but got some luck with that harsh red to make up for it.

Almost want to say Jags for MOTM. Despite our defence looking shaky after the break, Hull didn't have a single shot on target. Williams nearly gifted them an equaliser though but Jags was solid.

DMs left too much space in the middle I think, probably due to missing Schneids. Got forward plenty however.

Baines did well, got forward a lot and made a great challenge in our box early on when Hull nearly got through on goal. Good delivery on his set pieces.

Lukaku did that thing where he looks off it for large portions of the game then comes to light and settles it making it look easy. First the assist, then two goals. Gotta go with him for killing off the game.

 

[AndyC]

I wanted to have a chance to vote for Valencia.

You can do matey