Everton clinch their first Premiership win of the season with a 2-0 triumph at St Andrews ending Birmingham City's 12-month unbeaten home record.
David Moyes' men secured a well derserved victory when Roger Johnson turned the ball into his own net, before Tim Cahill's sealed all the points with a close range header in injury time.
Everton made a bright start with plenty of possession and knocked the ball around in confident style despite their current bottom of the table position.
The Midlands side had not lost at St Andrew's since a defeat by Bolton on 26 September 2009 but they did not have an answer against an Everton side showing determination and drive.
Leighton Baines found plenty of space crossing for Tim Cahill, whose header was collected by Ben Foster.
The visitors had a gilt-edged chance to punish a slip up by Birmingham centre-back Johnson, allowing under fire striker Ayegbeni Yakubu a strike at goal from 10 yards.
Birmingham did not threaten Tim Howard's goal until the 26th minute, when Cameron Jerome wasted a chance to put them ahead.
Everton were soon back on the offensive after the interval and Johnson threw himself forward to block a shot from Leon Osman.
The home fans tried to rally their team, when Everton went ahead, in the 54th minute, through an own goal by Johnson from an Leon Osman's hopeful corss.
Osman sent a low first-time cross to the near post which looked to be covered by Foster, until Johnson got to the ball ahead of him and deflected it into his own net.
Everton began to move with great fluency and were showing a neater passing play against Birmingham, with Mikel Arteta commanding in central midfield.
Phil Jagielka marshalled the Everton defence expertly and stood firm against Alex McLeish's men who failed to create any chances.
The Toffee's tried to protect their lead, when in the last minute of injury time, Tim Cahill sealed the points, making it 2-0 when he headed in a cross from Lieghton Baines.
Manager David Moyes said: "When you're at the bottom of the table and you get one win, you don't get too excited, because you know you need more than one win to be successful."
"I am really pleased because the players done great. I think that the players are good enough to win games like this."
Post a comment