It was a lively first half...for Everton, at least. By the end of the first 45 minutes, the home side no undoubtedly were hoping for one of those infamous Ben Foster howlers, but the West Brom defense was determined to stand strong. That was about all the Baggies were able to do, however. With Everton controlling the majority of the possession and remaining patient in the build up, West Brom were unable to really threaten Tim Howard’s goal.
Everton were probably also wishing Nikica Jelavic had been properly taught the offside rule, as the forward found himself repeatedly the subject of the whistle as he went toward goal. In the dying minutes of the first half, Jelavic very nearly put his header in the back of the net, but found himself denied by Foster, just seconds after West Brom kept out another header by Leon Osman. The Baggies stayed strong, though, and went into the second half tied 0-0.
Nothing changed in the second half, except perhaps the expression on Roberto Martinez’s face. The new Everton boss was visibly frustrated as his side tried in vain to put the ball in the back of the net. In total the Toffees had 22 shots, including 8 on target, but some sort of voodoo magic had been cast on the West Brom goal -- or perhaps the Baggies were simply putting forth a solid defense.
Even Martinez’s double switch, bringing on Steven Naismith and Arouna Kone for Kevin Mirallas and Jelavic for the final 20 minutes, couldn’t rescue a win for his side. Naismith almost immediately set up a shot for Steven Pinaar, but again, West Brom was up to the challenge.
With more than ten minutes left to play, the Baggies suffered a setback when man of the match Ben Foster went down with injury, forcing substitute keeper Luke Daniels to come on in his place. That gave Marouane Fellaini his best chance of the match, with the Belgian beating Daniels in the 82nd minute, but Fellaini’s shot hit the post rather than the back of the net. Again, that voodoo.
Everton have picked up two points from their first two matches, while this goalless draw gives West Brom their first point of the campaign.
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Fellaini, Mirallas (Naismith 73), Barkley, Pienaar, Jelavic (Kone 72)
Subs not used: Robles, Heitinga, Deulofeu, Stones, Anichebe
West Brom: Foster (Daniels 78), Billy Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Morrison, Mulumbu, Yacob, Dorrans, Long (Brunt 81), Rosenberg (Vydra 67)
Subs not used: Sinclair, Popov, Lugano, Berahino
Goals: none
