Stevenage 0-4 Everton: Toffees Cruise To FA Cup Win

Young John Stones blocked Lucas Akins's goalbound effort early on as hosts Stevenage flew out of the traps and got in Everton faces. The tide quickly turned, however. Chris Day spilled a Kevin Mirallas shot to full Toffees debutant Aiden McGeady and he pulled back for Naismith to tap in on five minutes. Costa Rica's left-sided player Bryan Oviedo suffered a suspected broken leg after a quarter of an hour. This prompted a lengthy stoppage whilst he received treatment on the pitch. Everton stalwart Leon Osman replaced Oviedo when he was stretchered off and taken to hospital. Joel Robles in the Toffees goal turned Luke Freeman's free kick behind following a training ground routine from Stevenage. Filipe Morais also worked the Everton with another dead ball and Darius Charles almost back-heeled the rebound in from a tight angle. Naismith nipped in to punish Stevenage skipper Jon Ashton's error before slotting through the legs of Day and making it 2-0 after half an hour. Roberto Martinez made a second Toffees change at the break with Heitinga replacing captain Phil Jagielka as a precaution. Ten minutes into the second half Everton's Dutch defender Heitinga headed in off Charles when a Mirallas overhead kick came over to him and made it three. Stevenage failed to clear their lines properly from a corner here. Naismith went down under Peter Hartley's challenge in the box late on looking for a hat-trick, but he was never really in control of the ball. Another Toffees sub Gueye rounded off the win with five minutes left as he slotted in off-balance. A Stevenage consolation amid the mud of the visitors' box looked on the cards when Robles failed to properly stop another Charles effort. The hosts failed to profit from the resultant goalmouth scramble. Yet another Everton clean sheet was the result. Martinez's men laid down another marker here in what could easily have been a potential banana skin. The Toffees march on and have still only lost three games all season. Graham Westley meanwhile has his work cut out trying to keep Stevenage from dropping into League Two.
Contributor
Contributor

Jamie Clark is a qualified Web Journalist after undergoing professional training at the University of Sheffield. A prolific and accredited sports writer, he also enjoys classic comedy, historic fiction, 80s music and heritage.