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Everton 0 West Brom 1 - Report and pictures

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West Brom took a big leap clear of the danger zone today thanks to an archetypal Tony Pulis 1-0 win at Goodison Park.

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Salomon Rondon's 14th minute goal was enough to separate the teams, although Everton peppered the Baggies goal after that, hitting the woodwork twice in the first half before flooding forward in the second.

Camped on their penalty area throughout the match, the Baggies had ten men behind the ball for most of it, but having started the day with no win in five and falling perilously close to the bottom three, today, the result was all that mattered.

No team in the Premier League has scored more goals from set-pieces this season and Rondon's winner from just an inch out came after Jonas Olsson had flicked on a Stephane Sessegnon's corner.

After that, it was a case of holding on for dear life, as an Everton team with nine goals in their last three games threw everything at Ben Foster's goal.

Although Pulis admitted Saido Berahino was 'nowhere near' as fit as he wanted him to be, he handed the striker his first Premier League start since October in an unusually attacking line-up.

Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson both recovered from their injuries in time to start, Chris Brunt made the bench, but Gareth McAuley was ruled out.#

Salomon Rondon of West Bromwich Albion and Gareth Barry of Everton.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Robles, Oviedo, Jagielka (c), Funes Mori, Coleman, Barry, McCarthy (Osman 80), Lennon (74 Deulofeu), Barkley, Cleverley (Kone 58), Lukaku.

Unused subs: Howard (gk), Baines, Mirallas, Pienaar.

Albion (4-4-1-1): Foster, Dawson, Olsson, Evans, Chester, Sessegnon, Yacob, Fletcher (c), McClean (Brunt 57), Berahino (Sandro 90+1), Rondon (Anichebe 72).

Unused subs: Myhill (gk), Gardner, Pocognoli, Pritchard.[/breakout]

Joel Robles kept his place in the Everton goal after three consecutive clean sheets and defender John Stones didn't recover in time to feature.

Albion came to Goodison Park having won just one game out of the last 10 meetings between the two clubs and the team in blue started on the front foot.

Darren Fletcher's early miscontrol presented Seamus Coleman the first opportunity of the match, but Olsson came across to block the right-back's shot.

Despite confirming this week that James Chester looks more comfortable at centre-back, Pulis started him at left-back where he was worried early on by both the sun in his eyes and Aaron Lennon in his face.

But this goliath Albion team are a menace from set pieces, and 14 minutes in they scored from a corner.

James McClean did well to win it in the first place, chasing down an overhit Evans cross, and his endeavour paid off when Olsson flicked on Sessegnon's near post corner to the far stick.

As the ball looped over Robles and the other Everton players, Rondon was the only person who reacted, chesting the ball in right on the line to dubiously claim his third goal in seven games.

For the first time this season the Baggies scored in the opening 15 minutes.

Albion's gameplan was obvious, press the home team on the ball and try to capitalise on mistakes and dead balls.

But at the start of the day nobody had scored more first-half goals in the league than Everton and the Toffees came back at the Baggies with venom.

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Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley both fired warning shots before Ramiro Funes Mori had a header from a corner cleared off the line.

Lennon's shot nearly looped over Foster off Chester's boot before Barkley hit the post with a slow-motion curling effort from the edge of the box that rooted the Albion keeper to the spot.

Two minutes later Cleverley smacked the woodwork too, hitting the bar with a deep cross that had Foster scrambling.

Albion's goal was living a charmed life and the home crowd wanted a penalty when the ball popped up onto McClean's arm under pressure from Coleman but referee Michael Oliver correctly waved away the appeals.

Just before half-time the Baggies defence crowded out Lukaku at the back post as their backs-to-the-wall defending nearly ripped out the Goodison Park goal from the pitch.

The second half was just as one-sided as the final minutes of the first, as Albion tried to shut up shop.

McClean picked up a silly yellow card for scything down Lennon, and after the Everton winger fell over the Irish international's foot a few minutes later, Pulis decided not to risk his fiery winger for any longer, substituting him for Brunt.

Both Coleman and James McCarthy shot straight at Foster from the edge of the area as the blue tide tried to break through the red wall.

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In a rare counter-attack Claudio Yacob won the ball back before feeding Rondon down the left channel.

The striker found Brunt's bursting run with a clever nutmeg on Funes Mori, but the substitute's shot whistled past the far post.

Martinez's team continued to pepper the Albion goal, but shot after shot was blocked.

Ten minutes before the end substitute Gerard Deulofeu's cross fell to Barry seven yards out, but his effort was somehow deflected wide by Evans.

No matter what the Toffees tried, the ball wouldn't go in.

Romelu Lukaku scored 17 goals for Albion in his season with the Baggies, and started the day searching for his 17th goal of this season, but a colossal performance from Olsson and Evans kept him quiet.

He wes part of a well-worked one-two with Barkley late on, but when the midfielder fired over, it became obvious this just wasn't Everton's day.

Barkley went over in the box during the five minutes of added time under a challenge from Sessegnon but once again Oliver said no to the appeals.

With that, went the game, and the euphoric scenes in the away end were drastically different to the ones at St James's Park a week ago.