Everton 2 West Bromwich Albion 0: Big match analysis
Mar 2 2009 by Robert Tanner, Birmingham Post
EVERTON 2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray may be resolute in his commitment to attractive, attacking football but he had to admit his side must learn to do the simple, less eye-catching aspects better if they are to improve as a team.
Albion were given a lesson in just that by Everton who were outplayed by Mowbray’s side for large spells but had the quality in the two final thirds of the field to grind out the victory.
Again Albion’s defensive frailties came to the fore as slack marking at a set piece allowed Tim Cahill to beat three of his team-mates to head home the opener and then a poor defensive clearance from Abdoulaye Meite lead to Louis Saha hammering home the winner in the second half. The former Manchester United striker took one touch to create the space and then curled home a superb strike past Scott Carson.
Before both goals, Albion created a host of chances but could not match Saha’s clinical finishing.
Marc-Antoine Fortune had three good opportunities in the first half but was denied by Tim Howard, and Albion almost scored in the second half when Meite’s header from a Chris Brunt corner was superbly blocked on the line by Phil Jagielka, to underline the gulf in defending between the two sides.
Substitute Luke Moore had two late opportunities and even crashed a long range shot against the crossbar as Albion finished the game just as strongly as they started it.
However, the simple truth is Albion continue to shoot themselves in the foot and a lack of quality at both ends of the pitch could cost them their Premier league status, a situation Mowbray is aware of although he refuses to even acknowledge the idea of changing his team’s style to compensate.
“We showed naïvety and it is where we are as a team,” a frustrated Mowbray said. “That was a pretty typical day for us really.
“We have found it hard to actually win games and yet I sit there and enjoy watching my team play.
“Everton, like a lot of teams in this league, probably do the other side of the game better than we do. We have to get to that point where we can deal with free kicks into our box better.
“I was happy enough with the team today. We created enough chances to get something from the game and yet when you make silly decisions inside your own box you probably don’t deserve to win matches.
“I have seen some criticism this week of ‘are they up for the fight?’ You will never see a spitting, muscular football team from me. You will see a playing, passing football team and I know what I think is right.
“If we get relegated then we will take it on the chin and if we have to go back down we will play exactly the same way next year.
“I don’t think we are too many players away from coming to Everton on a pretty even keel.”
Albion are now four points adrift of safety with 11 games remaining but Mowbray has not given up on his side putting together a winning run to climb clear of the drop.
“We have shown already this season we are more than capable of going on a little run of results. We have done it twice,” he said.
“We have got to hit that sort of form.
“We have got Stoke and Bolton at home back-to-back.
“If we lose them then I can deal with questions about how difficult it is going to be. We think we are more of capable of going on a sequence of victories.”
Scorers: Cahill (36), Saha (70).
EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Howard, Hibbert (Osman 26), Yobo, Jagielka, Baines, Gosling, Neville, Fellaini (Saha, 61), Pienaar, Jo (Castillo, 75), Cahill. Substitutes: Nash, Lescott, van der Mayde, Castillo, Saha, Jacobsen.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION (4-4-2): Carson, Zuiverloon, Donk, Meite, Robinson, Morrison, Koren, Valero (Greening, 53), Brunt, Simpson (Moore, 57), Fortune (Teixeira, 89). Substitutes: Kiely, Hoefkens, Cech, Menseguez.
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent ).
Bookings: Everton - Fellaini (foul); Albion – Greening (foul).
Attendance: 33,898.
Albion man of the match: James Morrison – provided a creative spark.
