The numbers say that it was an impressive performance by Everton, despite the scoreline. The numbers are probably lying. Despite having almost all of the ball against a defensively-minded Norwich City, the Toffees had approximately zero clue what to do with it and were more or less kept at bay by resolute defending from their guests and some decent goalkeeping until David Moyes finally bit the bullet and brought on Royston Drenthe in the second half.
Everton Vs. Norwich City, 2011 Premier League: Everton Huff And Puff To 1-1 Home Draw
By then, Norwich had already gone 1-0 up with basically their first attack of the match, Grant Holt doing a fine Sergio Aguero impression to control, swivel, and poke in off Tim Howard's far post, and Everton were being forced to chase the match. The hosts were finding it tough to break down the Canaries' collective defence, and whenever they did they were being hurt by poor finishing too. Drenthe's introduction gave the Toffees more of a direct threat, and although the Dutch winger made some questionable decisions at times, he was able to provide the spark for the equaliser, his low shot from range allowing Leon Osman to guide the ball past a stranded John Ruddy.
Norwich regained their composure to see out the rest of the match and continued to look reasonably dangerous on the counterattack, but the real question was whether Everton would be able to grab another before Lee Probert blew for halftime. The answer, as it turned out, was no, and the hosts ended with a solitary point against a newly promoted team at home. Not ideal, really.
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