Martinez switches keep Toffees ticking

Everton 3 Swansea 1

Steven Naismith, brought on as a replacement on the hour, scored one goal and won a penalty which Leighton Baines converted as Everton broke open a tie that had been evenly balanced at 1-1 from the 15th minute after debutant Lacina Traore and Jonathan de Guzman had traded early goals.

And, on a weekend in which a number of Premier League managers had come under scrutiny for fielding weakened line-ups — something which Swansea’s Gary Monk chose to do to the tune of eight changes — Martinez’s decision to avoid such a temptation was vindicated. Swansea’s team selection and general attitude was one which angered ITV pundit Roy Keane who was moved to comment: “I feel very strongly, shame on them really. The fact is, even when they were 3-1 down, they didn’t really give it a go.”

But, while Keane’s observations had validity, they could not detract from what is becoming an excellent first season in charge at Goodison for Martinez.

“Obviously we are strong in numbers now,” said Martinez, explaining his team selection. “It’s that moment in the season when we have a couple of players back and I’m really excited and pleased about that. The numbers we have in this squad, I feel everyone is capable of coming in and making a big contribution like Steven and Leon Osman did today.”

Ironically, Naismith’s afternoon was, quite literally, forgettable for the player himself as he suffered a delayed concussion following a blatant and painful body check from Jordi Amat — an injury which left Martinez to joke: “He didn’t remember scoring so I told him he scored from 40 yards!”

Earlier, Traore, the 6’8” January loan transfer signing from Monaco, had also shown the wisdom of Martinez’s management by taking just three minutes of his Everton debut to bring his team the lead. Kevin Mirallas’ free-kick was headed goalwards by Sylvain Distin who did well to latch onto the blocked effort and thread a pass to Traore who scored via an audacious backheel from six yards that passed through the legs of Pablo Hernandez.

It was an ideal start for Everton, and a fortunate one as they could have gone a goal behind after 30 seconds when Hernandez’s through ball was chased down by Alvaro Vazquez who rounded the goalkeeper but, from a difficult angle, opted to pass to Roland Lamah whose shot was blocked.

However, Everton were not so fortunate after 14 minutes when the visitors equalised with a routine goal that exposed some poor defending.

The unmarked de Guzman raced in between the stationary Baines and Distin to connect with left-back Neil Taylor’s far-post cross and head powerfully past Joel Robles.

While Swansea looked dangerous on the counter-attack, the better goal scoring opportunities fell to the home side, with Steven Pienaar striking the crossbar with an intelligent 21st minute chip from a Baines cross and Traore’s follow-up header being well held by Gerhard Tremmel.

Kevin Mirallas also threatened from a direct free-kick which drew a decent, diving save out of Tremmel.

The second half opened with Everton again carving out the better chances and Pienaar wasted a glorious chance by heading wide from six yards from James McCarthy’s touch.

By that stage, Martinez had brought on Naismith and Leon Osman as 60th minute substitutes and it was to be the former who made an almost immediate impact by shooting Everton into the lead five minutes later.

The goal required a considerable helping hand from Swansea, however, as Neil Taylor succumbed to pressure from Mirallas and hit a poor backpass in the direction of his goalkeeper. Naismith showed lighting reactions to intercept the ball and calmly beat the advancing Tremmel. A further six minutes on and Naismith was again involved as Everton effectively killed off the tie. The substitute was on the receiving end of a rash challenge from Richards and referee Kevin Friend instantly awarded the penalty kick from which Baines convincingly handed Everton a 3-1 lead.

EVERTON: Robles 5; Coleman 9, Distin 6, Jagielka 6, Baines 7; McCarthy 6, Barry 6; Mirallas 7 (Deulofeu 89), Barkley 6 (Osman 60, 6), Pienaar 6; Traore 6 (Naismith 60, 8).

SWANSEA: Tremmel 7; Richards 5, Bartley 5 (Williams 30, 6), Amat 5, Taylor 5; Canas 6, De Guzman 7; Hernandez 6, Routledge 6 (Dyer 45, 6), Lamah 6 (Lita 68, 6); Vazquez 5.

Referee: K Friend 7.