This was the kind of result Stoke supporters envisaged and David Moyes feared when the money flowed from the Britannia Stadium in the summer. Robert Huth's predatory strike and the defensive power he embodies capped a fine week for Tony Pulis's men as they remembered how to follow European duty with an away win. The only hangover in evidence was nursed by an Everton side that has now lost as many home games as bottom club Wigan and is discovering the true cost of selling its most creative and potent talents.
"We need scorers of goals and creators of goals, but we know that," lamented Moyes after a game in which Everton dominated possession but crafted nothing. Not a good way to sign off a weekend when Yakubu Ayegbeni and Mikel Arteta produced five goals between them for Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal respectively.
Goodison was sombre irrespective of the performance. There was no 'Z Cars' theme to accompany the teams on to the field for once. Instead, the players walked out to 'Land of My Fathers' as the Welsh national anthem marked the start of an emotional tribute to the late Gary Speed. His distraught father, Roger, followed several former team-mates of the ex-Everton captain and boyhood fan to the centre circle and embraced every member of the current team before kick off. Jonathan Woodgate broke from the Stoke ranks to console the bereaved father.
Play began with Everton reinforcing the sense that Stoke have yet to adjust to the duel demands of European and domestic football although, as Pulis's selection confirmed, they are a club that now has the resources to cope. The Stoke manager made nine changes from the side that qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League against Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday night and was still able to leave the strikers Kenwyne Jones and Cameron Jerome on the bench. By contrast, a slight thigh strain to Louis Saha forced his Everton counterpart to ask the promising but raw Greek teenager, Apostolos Vellios, to lead the home attack.
Moyes added: "We are short, undeniably we are short. The expectations are that we should be winning these sorts of games but Stoke have spent well in the market and improved their team. We've not at this moment in time but that is not what this result is about. We didn't score and credit to Stoke for that. They are hard to break down."
Stoke had lost their last four away games following Europa League duty and were immediately on the back foot as Peter Crouch started the game in isolation. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov miscued the home side's clearest opening when Tony Hibbert's cross fell to the Russia international and Thomas Sorensen was the only goalkeeper employed in the early stages, albeit only to deal with a procession of crosses. And then, as so often is the case, the visitors took the lead with their first attack.
Huth, one of the two players retained from the Kyiv game, was perfectly placed when Dean Whitehead volleyed down the mouth of Tim Howard's goal after Bilyaletdinov headed clear a Matthew Etherington corner. From four yards out, the German defender diverted the ball over Howard and Stoke had a lead that, for all their possession, Everton threatened rarely.
Another Stoke corner should have produced a second goal for Pulis's side before the interval. Jonathan Walters flicked on at the near post, Ryan Shotton arrived at the rear but, from two yards out and ahead of his marker, the midfielder failed to apply the necessary touch.
The referee, Lee Mason, dismissed Everton's appeals for a second half penalty when Tim Cahill beat Sorensen to a 50-50 challenge, created by Huth's hesitancy, and was sent tumbling by the Danish keeper. Sorensen, who got a fist to the ball as Cahill closed in, was eventually carried off on a stretcher suffering from mild concussion. It would have taken a lot more to knock Pulis's satisfaction.
"It has been a great week for the football club," the Stoke manager said. "We've had a dip in form as most Premier League clubs do but to get six points and qualify for Europe is very pleasing. We have shown a lot of character and this was a real battling performance against an Everton team that is formidable at home." This season would suggest otherwise.
Man of the match Glenn Whelan (Stoke City)
