A game of two halves
Neither of them good for Stoke
By the time referee Moss blew for the interval, we were four up and the three points were as secure as Harry’s third matchball of 2017.
The Potters were of the opinion that they should sit back and let us have a go at them. Oh dear. Our recent mini slump has come against sides who press and attempt to take advantage of the hesitancy of Davies, not the ones who think that they can keep Dembélé, Harry, Alli and Eriksen at bay by giving them the ball to do what they want with.
Three Season Wonder
Kane’s first was a beautiful low thump across Grant after Eriksen’s pass had rebounded off Shawcross, the second an absolutely tip top, edge of the area, left footed volley from an Eriksen corner the quality of which will rarely be beaten. The third was far more fortunate, Alli was tripped by the execrable Adam, Eriksen tapped sideways to Kane whose shot was heavily deflected past Grant and the fourth came after Eriksen put Kane clear as Martins Indi sold himself. He slid a cross in front of Dele who smashed it in the roof of the goal. This was a surprisingly tentative Alli, the goal will have done him good.
1 – Eriksen Kane.
2 – Eriksen Kane.
3 – Alli Eriksen Kane.
4 – Eriksen Kane Alli.
We should take note of how lucky we are.
Enjoy the good times baby
We were superb of course, the scoreline shows that. Dembélé was dominant against the cloggers in the Stoke midfield, Adam and Whelan, and Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Dier absolutely thrive in the three at the back formation, Vertonghen especially was haring forward at every opportunity but it was Dier who forced the corner for our second goal by chasing a through ball to the byeline.
Zzzzecond Half
On the right Walker provided Erik Pieters with an afternoon to remember and was unlucky not to finish with a goal given the number of efforts he made.
The majority of them came during a mostly torpor inducing second half that was notable mainly for Toby disappearing early with an injury and Vertonghen also being given a rest having being a whack in the first half. The Stoke fans that remained (many departed at three and four nil) participated in some underneath the gallows singing but everyone was happy when referee Moss signalled a remarkable one minute of injury time. He too had clearly had enough.
Tough toffees
A terrific display of power, finesse and finishing.
Everton next weekend and the threat of a much tougher task.
COYS.
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