Moyes dodges the dreaded seven-year hitch
It is a measure of the Everton manager’s achievement that, marking the anniversary of his arrival with a comfortable win on Saturday, they did not need to be anywhere near their best to beat struggling Stoke at Goodison Park.
Moyes describes his current squad as “the best I have ever had” — all a far cry from what he inherited in 2002, and much of what he endured in the early years which followed.
Everton were cruising at the break against the Potters but then had to fight for a sixth successive home victory which means they have been beaten just once in 18 matches.
Even after losing Tim Cahill to a calf strain, they coped.
“We are still going to chase the teams above us; we are going to keep those below away from us and we are going to try to reach a cup final,” Moyes vowed.
“This is the best squad I have had at Everton, and it is being underlined by the effort the players are putting in. The quality we have is excellent — if not the quantity of players in the squad. Nevertheless, we are still getting good results.”
If only Stoke manager Tony Pulis could say the same.
He is frustrated by a side still without an away league win this term yet with the best home record of the bottom 10 clubs.
After Brazilian striker Jo and defender Joleon Lescott had put Everton on cruise control, a second-half strike from Ryan Shawcross gave Stoke belief.
They could easily have grabbed a point, and it needed an injury-time third from Marouane Fellaini — complete with a new braided hairdo — to end their comeback.
Stoke’s next four matches are against Middlesbrough, West Brom, Blackburn and Newcastle — so their fate is in their own hands against fellow relegation rivals.
Pulis said: “We keep giving ourselves a mountain to climb.
“But the important thing is we dust ourselves down and keep going. We have nine games left, and we must be right on top of our game now.
“We have started too slowly in so many away games this season, and that is causing us so much damage. Somehow we must correct this, win away from home, and then we will be able to breathe more easily.”
That is easier said than done for Stoke at the moment. “We really need to sort this out,” Andy Wilkinson, the defender, said. “We just were not at the races for the first 20 minutes, and it killed us.
“It is gutting — we are doing this to ourselves. We cannot keep giving teams 2-0 leads.
“Now we have a massive game next weekend at home to Middlesbrough, and it is one we have to win if we are going to pull ourselves away from danger.
“The only thing in our favour is that the other results down at the bottom have gone our way — none of the four teams above us won their matches.”
Lescott scored on his 100th league appearance for Everton.
“We felt we were okay with a two-goal lead, but Stoke came at us,” he said. “The way we started was a continuation of the form and euphoria we had from getting to the cup semi-final the previous weekend.
“We are playing with confidence now and there is a great momentum around our club at the moment. We have to keep going to achieve our aims of qualifying for Europe and getting to the cup final.”
EVERTON (4-4-2): Howard 6, Jagielka 6, Yobo 6, Lescott 8, Baines 6, Osman 6, Neville 6, Cahill 6 (Saha 46, 6), Pienaar 7, Fellaini 6, Jo 6 (Rodwell 85, 5).
Subs Not Used: Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace.
STOKE (4-4-2): Sorensen 5, Wilkinson 6, Abdoulaye Faye 6, Shawcross 6, Higginbotham 6, Lawrence 6 (Camara 80, 5), Whelan 6, Diao 5, Delap 5 (Etherington 68, 5), Beattie 4, Sidibe 4 (Fuller 53, 5).
Subs Not Used: Simonsen, Pugh, Amdy Faye, Sonko.
REFEREE: Andre Marriner (West Midlands) 7: Kept his cards in his pocket and allowed the game to flow as much as possible.
MATCH RATING: ** Not the most memorable way for David Moyes to mark his seventh year in charge but the points were appreciated.
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