With West Ham having no goals since the two scored in their opening fixture against Cardiff City, and Everton having their own rough start, with just three goals to their name, it seemed unlikely that this particular match would yield much more than a few shots off target. Instead, we were treated to an impressive show, with smart substitutions from Roberto Martinez, beautiful free kicks from Leighton Baines, a West Ham penalty followed by a sending off, and a come-from-behind Everton win that puts them — temporarily at least — into fourth place.
Ravel Morrison opened the scoring with his first ever Premier League goal. The West Ham midfielder got on the end of a ball from Matthew Jarvis and took a shot from distance. The ball took a deflection off Phil Jagielka, perhaps confusing Tim Howard a bit. The shot wiggled under the diving Everton keeper to end up in the back of the net.
Martinez introduced Romelu Lukaku at the start of the second half, and the Chelsea loanee looked like he was set to prove a point. The forward had 17 goals on loan with West Brom last season, and his instant attacking run and pinpoint pass made it clear he was ready to help Everton really get their campaign off the ground. The Everton manager introduced former Wigan player James McCarthy for Steven Naismith at the same time, so when Leon Osman went down with injury in the 52nd minute, Everton were forced to cross their fingers and pray that they could get through the final 35 minutes without needing to make a substitution.
Turns out the Toffees had little to worry about. By the 60th minute, Everton had cranked up the pressure, and had West Ham panicking. The Irons were throwing every body behind the ball, trying everything to preserve the lead. It was James Collins that cracked, fouling Ross Barkley and earning himself a yellow card. The foul came in that infamous “dangerous position”, and Everton made the home side pay. Leighton Baines sent in an absolutely gorgeous free kick, curling his shot and tucking it to the top left corner.
With just under 30 minutes left to play, Everton were clearly in control, and clearly intent on finding the winner. It seemed as though they’d be the ones to take all three points, but Sam Allardyce had other plans. Immediately after the Toffees equalized, the West Ham manager introduced Mladen Petric for Modibo Maiga. The forward certainly made a difference, getting the ball down the right before slotting it in to Kevin Nolan. McCarthy panicked, kicking out at Nolan and ignoring the ball completely. The referee blew the whistle and it was Mark Noble that stepped up the take the shot. The West Ham captain put his shot low and to the left, while Howard dove the other way.
But Nolan went from hero to zero in the space of five minutes. The captain made a cynical challenge, once again on Barkley, and earned a second yellow card for his troubles. Worse, he gave Everton a free kick in almost the exact same position that Baines had scored from twenty minutes earlier. It was the defender that took the kick once again, and while Jussi Jasskelainen moved himself toward the right, this time Baines went left, and Everton had their equalizer.
That wasn’t enough for the visitors, however. Just two minutes later, Lukaku had his goal, getting his head on the end of a cross from Kevin Miralles. Everton’s joy at taking the lead was tempered by Lukaku going to ground, the result of an elbow to the back of the head. It took awhile for the forward to start moving again, but fortunately for his new side, he was eventually able to shake off the spins and rejoin his team — in time to celebrate their second win of the season.
West Ham: Jaaskelainen, O’Brien, Rat, Collins, Reid, Noble, Morrison, Nolan (Taylor 80), Diame, Jarvis (Vaz Te 72), Maiga (Petric 63)
Substitutes not used: Adrian, Tomkins, McCartney, Collison
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Naismith (McCarthy 46), Mirallas, Osman (Oviedo 52), Barry, Barkley, Jelavic (Lukaku 46)
Substitutes not used: Robles, Heitinga, Deulofeu, Stones
