Two fantastic strikes from Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas were the difference at Goodison Park today as Everton saw off a troubled Norwich City side. The hosts took the lead in the 22nd minute when Gareth Barry struck a peach of a shot beyond the reach of John Ruddy and doubled their advantage on the hour mark when Kevin Mirallas stepped up to drive a inch-perfect free-kick into the corner of the net. It was the home side that got the first opportunity of the match with 12 minutes on the clock. Kevin Mirallas whipped in a perfect ball to the head of Romelu Lukaku but the Belgian headed wide, wasting the chance. A long ball from Steven Whittaker minutes later put Gary Hooper through on the Everton goal but he couldn't get his show away and Tim Howard gathered the ball. With 22 minutes on the clock Everton tok the lead. Lukaku laid the ball off to Gareth Barry who had space to drive into before unleashing a venomous shot from outside the box that flew into the back of the net. The visitors were on the back foot but Ricky Van Wolfswinkel curled an effort that forced Howard to tip the ball round the post. As the game ticked towards the interval Norwich had a chance again. Another long ball again found Gary Hopper but Howard made the decisive save once again. Everton continued the second period with the same sort of dominance that they enjoyed throughout the first 45 but the Toffees weren't creating many decent openings. With the game approaching the hour mark Kevin Mirallas placed a free-kick perfectly into the corner of the net to double the Toffees advantage. Just like the first goal, John Ruddy had absolutely no chance of getting to the ball. Five minutes later Romelu Lukaku found himself one on one with the keeper and found the net. However, the offside flag denied the Belgian his tenth goal of the season. Moments later a timely intervention from Ryan Bennett denied the same player a tap-in. The Canaries weren't creating many chances and when they did Tim Howard was there to deny them, with his latest being from an effort by Nathan Redmond. Robert Snodgrass did manage to beat the American with a header but it flicked back off the post. The win sees Roberto Martinez' side leapfrog Merseyside rivals Liverpool and move into the final Champions League place, with the Reds facing Stoke tomorrow. Meanwhile Norwich sit just three points off the bottom and in real danger.
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
