Francesco Guidolin enjoyed a dream first Premier League match in charge of Swansea City as they defeated Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park.
The Toffees were left to rue some dreadful defending as the Jacks capitalised on a clumsy first half from the likes of John Stones, Bryan Oviedo and Ramiro Funes Mori.
A Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty and a deflected Andre Ayew strike gave Guidolin’s men all three points, while a Jack Cork own goal was all Everton could manage, despite some superb play from the dangerous Gerard Deulofeu.
The defeat leaves Roberto Martinez looking over his shoulder with his men just eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Everton were almost ahead after three minutes when Bosnian midfielder Mohamed Besic, normally more associated with tough tackling, stormed forward and, with no Swansea player close to him, sent a low drive into the base of the right-hand post.
The Toffees were dealt a huge blow early on, though, as the battling Besic was forced from the field, with Tom Cleverley replacing him after just ten minutes.
It quickly became an untidy affair on Merseyside and that was exemplified when Tim Howard hacked down Ayew in the penalty area with 17 minutes gone. Stones was far too casual on the ball and, instead of clearing his lines, opted to pass the ball to his goalkeeper who was under pressure from the Ghanaian and conceded a penalty.
Gylfi Sigurdsson wasn’t willing to give Howard a chance to redeem himself by saving the spot-kick and fired it high into the top left corner to put Swansea ahead.
The lead only lasted nine minutes as Gareth Barry, with an unmarked charge to the front post, delicately flicked on a corner, which hit Cork and flew beyond Lukasz Fabianski.
But the Toffees were then cruelly struck by another injury, with Kevin Mirallas being replaced by Steven Pienaar.
Things went from bad to worse for Martinez’s men as Andre Ayew’s shot clipped Stones, who was sliding in to block the effort, and beat Howard before crashing into the back of the net.
For all their defensive issues, though, Everton remained threatening in attack and Deulofeu and Lukaku kept the Swansea backline on their toes, while Angel Rangel received a booking for chopping down Tom Cleverley.
After the break it seemed like the same old story as Wayne Routledge capitalised on some poor positioning from Bryan Oviedo, but Howard was able to save his low effort.
Ross Barkley, Deulofeu and Pienaar looked dangerous at the opposite end of the pitch and gradually they looked to gain confidence, while the home support also began to back their men more vocally.
And Deulofeu should have added another assist to his season’s tally, but Lukaku failed to meet his wonderfully whipped in cross at the far post.
Substitute Seamus Coleman nearly equalised with four minutes left, after weaving his way into the area, only to drag his shot wide as he looked to place it into the far corner, then nudged the ball over the crossbar from just two yards out in injury time, summing up his side’s woes on the day.
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Source: TalkSport