EPL News - Half time report: Everton Vs Stoke City 0-0
Starting XI for Everton: Tim Howard, Phill Neville, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin, Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman, Mikel Arteta, Johnny Heitinga, Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill, Ayegbeni Yakubu. Subs: Jan Mucha, Tony Hibbert, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov,
Louis Saha, Jermaine Beckford, Magaye Gueye, Jack Rodwell.
Starting XI for Stoke Cityu: Asmir Begovic, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Danny Collins, Jonathan Walters, Dean Whitehead, Marc Wilson, Mathew Etherington, Tuncay Sanli, Kenwyne Jones. Subs: Carlo Nash, Danny Higginbotham,
Glenn Whelan, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Jermaine Pennant, Rory Delap, Andy Wilkinson. Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Everton were held to a 0-0 stalemate at Goodison Park by in form Stoke City in the opening 45 minutes.
Everton were delighted to have Mikel Arteta back in the squad, as the player missed two fixtures owing to ankle concerns. David Moyes employed Yakubu as the sole striker for this fixture, with a strong support in midfield by Arteta, Pienaar
and Cahill.
The hosts had to really dig in to find the first opportunity at goal. in the 10 minute, Pienaar found Yakubu beautifully with the long ball but the African couldn’t finish off the opportunity. Stoke came off of a brilliant performance
against Manchester United last week, where despite losing, had a lot of positives to pick up on. Tuncay was given his first start of the season owing to his superb goal against the Red Devils a week ago.
It was the Turk yet again who tested Tim Howard in the 15 minute. The player used his quick feet to get past Jagielka on the right and then unleashed a superb curling effort, only to be saved by some good reflexes from Howard. Kenwyne
Jones also came close to ending his 5 match goal drought when he found himself one on one with Begovic. The Serbian shot stopper came forward well to stop the attack and made the ball his before Jones could strike the ball.
Apart from these opportunities, there wasn’t much to cheer in the opening 45 minutes of the encounter. Most of the game was played in the midfield owing to strong defensive displays by both sides. David Moyes should think of bringing in
Louis Saha to change the outlook of the game. Cahill and Pienaar can provide perfect opportunities for the Frenchman to capitalize on as Saha remains one of the best finisher in the game.
At half time, there was nothing to choose between two sides and it would take a moment of brilliance from either side to break this dead lock.
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