West Brom 2-3 EvertonHome team scorers
Saido Berahino 41
Craig Dawson 54
Away team scorers
Romelu Lukaku 55
Arouna Kone 75
Romelu Lukaku 84
The Hawthorns greeted Romelu Lukaku with warm applause before kick off in recognition of his prolific service while on loan from Chelsea. He returned the compliment by devastating West Bromwich Albion’s hopes of a first home league win of the season and inspiring Everton to a stunning comeback.
Roberto Martínez’s team trailed by two goals after 54 minutes but a brace from their Belgium international, both from superb Gerard Deulofeu crosses, and one from substitute Arouna Koné sealed a fine victory. Saido Berahino and Craig Dawson had given Tony Pulis’s side a merited lead and a comfortable cushion. But they were dismantled by Lukaku, who took his tally for the season to six goals in all competitions. Albion’s confidence was high following last weekend’s cherished win at Aston Villa, where Berahino had reintegrated himself in the best way possible with the win, and they could draw encouragement from an inexperienced Everton defence. John Stones’ failure to recover from a knee injury sustained at Reading in the Capital One Cup meant a full Premier League debut for Ramiro Funes Mori, the £9.5m signing from River Plate.
It was the first time Martínez had started without his dependable axis of Stones and Phil Jagielka since a 5-2 defeat at Dynamo Kiev in March and, with Seamus Coleman also failing to recover from a hamstring problem in time, Tyias Browning made only the second league start of his Everton career.
Dreadful defending would ultimately result in Everton conceding away from home for the first time in the Premier League this season. Pulis’ side made the brighter start against a passive visiting team that sat deep, neglected to bring Gerard Deulofeu into play until late in the first half and lost possession cheaply through Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley and Steven Naismith in the final third. Albion were quicker to the ball and controlled the opening exchanges without seriously troubling Tim Howard in the Everton goal until Berahino struck for the second successive league game.
James Morrison’s shot straight at the USA international was all the hosts had to show for their superior opening. Their rhythm was disrupted when Jonas Olsson limped off injured after an innocuous challenge on Lukaku. Everton came into the game gradually and were notably more threatening once Deulofeu, their summer signing from Barcelona, began to get at Chris Brunt down the Albion left. Barkley flashed an inviting free-kick across the face of Boaz Myhill’s goal without any Everton player gambling on the opportunity.
The England international also squandered the first clear chance of a flat game when Everton broke against a home defence in the process of reorganising after Olsson’s departure. Deulofeu’s first-time cross from the right fell perfectly for Barkley but he made a complete hash of the shot and scuffed wide. It proved a costly miss.
Funes Mori started well alongside Jagielka only for his composure to desert him during an ill-disciplined spell on the ball late in the first half. The Argentina international almost let in Salomón Rondón with a careless backpass that Howard cleared just in time.
Shortly afterwards he collected a routine throw from his goalkeeper, embarked on a mazy run down the left and gifted possession to Craig Dawson with an overhit touch. Gareth Barry could have addressed Funes Mori’s mistake but played a poor pass straight to Morrison, who threaded a superb ball into Berahino’s darting run into the Everton area. Howard was powerless to prevent Berahino’s first-time shot finding the net.
The end of their clean sheet record on the road finally sparked Everton into life. Myhill saved from James McCarthy’s low drive, Browning headed over from Deulofeu’s corner and the Spaniard almost found Barkley with another dangerous cross into the six yard box.
More slack defending interrupted Everton’s momentum and presented Albion with a second goal shortly after the restart. Both Jonny Evans and Darren Fletcher were granted free headers from a Berahino corner and, though the latter’s diving effort was heading harmlessly wide, the visitors’ defence cleared for another corner from the right. This time Chris Brunt delivered an inswinger, Craig Dawson lost the over-employed Jagielka at the back post and steered a textbook header down and beyond Howard.
Albion celebrations were still in full flow when Lukaku hauled Everton back into the game with a towering header. The centre-forward had been on the margins on his return to the club where he scored 17 goals while on loan from Chelsea in 2012-13, save for several loose first touches, but rose above substitute James Chester to steer another excellent Deulofeu delivery past Myhill.
Lukaku created what should have been a decent opening for McCarthy when he threaded a pass into the midfielder’s run into the box. The Republic of Ireland international took possession but embarrassed himself with a pathetic dive over a non-existent challenge from Craig Gardner to earn a booking. The thoughts of the watching Ireland management team of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane would have been illuminating.
By now, however, Lukaku had developed into the game’s dominant figure. Shrugging aside two Albion defenders, the Belgium international picked out substitute Koné with another perfectly-weighted pass into the penalty area. This time the Everton player elected to stay on his feet and he gave Myhill no chance with a powerful finish from close range.
With six minutes remaining Deulofeu delivered yet another tempting cross from the right and Lukaku stoke in ahead of Chester again to beat Myhill at the second attempt. Former Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert should have levelled in the dying moments but shot wide from 12 yards.
Guardian