Everton 2 Burnley 0:THE TALE of James Vaughan's emergence at Everton is now sepia-tinted, the rich promise of his arrival as the Premier League's youngest goalscorer in 2005 long since diminished by an injury record that would have shattered a lesser man's spirit. Four knee operations, a dislocated shoulder and a severed artery in a foot have befallen the forward who once threatened to replace Wayne Rooney in Everton affections. At least his eye for goal is intact.
The 21-year-old brought salvation to Everton. The home fans were growing restless as their side struggled to break 10-man Burnley. A ninth consecutive home game without a win beckoned until Vaughan converted Marouane Fellaini’s cross within seconds of his introduction as an 82nd-minute substitute.
Owen Coyle, the Burnley manager, was less enamoured with Vaughan’s return from the ashes, insisting the breakthrough should never have stood.
“Yakubu was clearly offside on the goalline,” he said. “He blocked Brian Jensen’s view and he has influenced the goal. We feel unjustly treated. Howard Webb is a top referee but he didn’t receive any help from his assistant.”
Coyle’s offside claim was valid, as was the assertion that David Nugent should have deepened the anxieties of his boyhood club by converting a gilt-edged chance just before Stephen Jordan foolishly invited a second booking.
The Burnley manager’s argument that his team “were in the ascendancy in parts of the game” was, however, claret-tinted.
Everton impressed until they reached the final third, where basic errors and a reluctance to take responsibility on the edge of the area frequently brought promising moves to an abrupt end.
As in their previous home game against Birmingham City, Everton made a vibrant, dominant start that bore no relation to the frustrations to come, with Yakubu prominent in place of the injured Louis Saha and Jo. With the exception of a brief purple patch that required Tim Howard to save well from Steven Fletcher and Wade Elliott, the visitors were encamped on their 18-yard line throughout the first half.
That the retreat was most self-inflicted, with Burnley consistently careless in possession and easily beaten down the flanks, merely intensified the audible agitation of the home crowd.
The visitors had a strong penalty claim rejected after a handball by Lucas Neill and played the final 29 minutes with 10 men after Jordan, booked in the first half for a foul on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, pulled down Steven Pienaar.
The pressure eventually told. A slick exchange between Pienaar and Fellaini resulted in Vaughan converting his first Everton goal in two years and releasing the tension. In stoppage time, after good work from Yakubu, Pienaar rifled his first home league goal for two years inside Jensen’s near post.
EVERTON: Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Heitinga, Neill, Bilyaletdinov (Vaughan 81) Cahill (Neville 60), Pienaar, Osman, Fellaini, Yakubu. Subs not used: Nash, Coleman, Duffy, Agard, Baxter. Booked: Pienaar.
BURNLEY: Jensen, Alexander, Duff, Mears, Bikey, Jordan, McDonald, Elliot (Blake 85), Eagles, Fletcher (Thompson 81), Nugent (Kalvenes 63). Subs not used: Penny, Edgar, Gudjonsson, Guerrero. Booked: Duff, Mears, Bikey, Jordan, Elliot. Sent-off: Jordan.
Referee: H Webb.
