Everton makes most of chances, dominates Stoke

The Everton attack looked dangerous all day and, despite only about 34 percent possession, took advantage of their opportunities to top Stoke City 3-0 at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Romelu Lukaku started the scoring by burying an 11th minute penalty. Tom Cleverley earned the penalty after being taken down by Jack Butland in the Stoke box, but Ross Barkley provided the magic. He made a beautiful backwards pass to Aaron Lennon, who played a through ball to Cleverley, releasing him on goal, where he was then fouled.

The lead was doubled by Seamus Coleman in the 28th minute. A Cleverley corner found the Irishman's head and he put it into the back of the net. Following the goal, he celebrated by sucking his thumb and miming the action of cradling a baby. If you didn't know, Coleman and his wife welcomed a baby girl this morning.

Lennon got onto the scoresheet just before the half. In the 42nd minute he intercepted a Stoke pass and then had only Butland to beat. Of course, he did so and has now scored in three straight games.

The Toffees have now won three straight games in all competitions. In that time they have scored nine goals and allowed zero. Lennon has become a threat on both offense and defense. He has to be one of the first names on the teamsheet each time out for now. And Barkley is brimming with confidence. At times he gets a tad selfish with the ball, but overall that will work out more often then it goes sour.

Of course we also have to look at who has not played in that time and wonder if this performance is a coincidence or if manager Roberto Martinez has actually found his best lineup combination.

Tim Howard has been replaced by Joel Robles, who now has three straight clean sheets. John Stones has taken a back seat to Ramiro Funes Mori. As talented as the young Englishman is, the defense looks less vulnerable without him. Bryan Oviedo has been a solid, albeit unexciting, fill-in for Leighton Baines at left back. And Gerard Deulofeu has become a bench player, with Cleverley and Lennon creating lots more chances than, I think, most would have thought they were capable of.

Maybe these results should be taken with a grain of salt. Newcastle United and Stoke City are not Champions League level competition, but they each had a lot to lose when they came up against Everton, yet the Toffees dismantled them with little issue.

Next up for Everton is a battle with West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park in the Premier League, a match that will require the exact opposite of what we saw today.

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