Premier League: Stoke 2 Everton 0

Stoke City began 2011 with a 2-0 win at the Britannia Stadium against an Everton side which had not lost on the road since August.

The opening ten minutes of the game saw chances for Everton’s Louis Saha and Steven Pienaar, but the best opportunity fell to Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller.

Fuller received the ball from Kenwyne Jones, who had headed on goalkeeper Asmir Begovic’s long kick out of goal, but blew his chance as he dragged his shot wide.

Mid-way through the first half, another long ball through to Jones did pay off, though, as the home side took the lead.

Fuller’s header this time found Matthew Etherington wide on the left and he held up his cross long enough for Jones to get into the box and score with his head.Everton’s best chance of the half came from their leading scorer Tim Cahill.

Unmarked at the far post, the Australian’s connected with Leighton Baines’ cross, but he could only manage to send the ball back across goal and eventually wide.Saha then found himself bearing down on Stoke’s goal with Begovic racing out to meet him.

The goalkeeper brought down the Frenchman just outside the area but, with defenders tracking back, referee Anthony Taylor decided merely to show the Bosnian a yellow card.There were fewer chances for both sides in the second half, but Stoke still managed to double their lead, albeit with an element of luck.

Attempting to clear with a header and under pressure from Jones, Phil Jagielka kicked into his own net from just five yards in the 69th minute.The victory means Stoke are now back in the top half of the table, while Everton are in 13th with 22 points, just four point clear of bottom side Wolves.