Everton have slipped a bit in the Premier League in the absence of Romelu Lukaku, but on the evidence of Saturday's FA Cup victory over Swansea City, they've managed to find an adequate replacement. Lacina Traore, on loan from AS Monaco, made his debut for the Toffees and scored the game's opening goal. Swansea fought back, but Steven Naismith was the best player on the pitch in the second half, scoring and drawing a penalty to help his team to a 3-1 win.
Everton vs. Swansea: Final score 3-1, Lacina Traore has a perfect debut
Everton are through to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup thanks to Lacina Traore, who scored the opener on his debut.
Stu Forster
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The game featured a couple of very unfortunate injuries. Kyle Bartley, who recently returned to Swansea after a loan spell, had to exit after picking up a hamstring injury in the first half. Everton will also be hoping they get good news on Naismith who looked like he had a potential head injury at the end of the match.
Everton got off to a fast start, scoring the opener just four minutes in off a set piece. Traore was the scorer, though not in the fashion most would expect from the 6'8" Ivorian. He got to a headed pass from Sylvain Distin that took a deflection before falling to him, then hit a backheel past Gerhard Tremmel.
The teams went into the halftime break level thanks to a goal by Jonathan De Guzman, who equalized in the 15th minute. He lost his marker on an excellent run from deep and got onto the end of a cross by Neil Taylor, hitting a powerful header into the back of the net from 10 yards.
Taylor’s gorgeous cross got Swansea back into the game, but the Welsh international would also be the goat for Swansea in the end. He helped Everton break the deadlock in the 65th minute with an inadvertent assist to Naismith on what was supposed to be a backpass. He thought he had a simple pass to Jordi Amat, but instead hit a perfect pass for Naismith, who placed his shot perfectly for the winner.
Everton's result was sealed seven minutes later through a penalty, conceded by Ashley Richards. He tripped up Naismith on the edge of the box and Leighton Baines stepped up to bury the spot kick.
Everton: Joel, Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Coleman, Barry, McCarthy, Pienaar, Barkley (Osman 61’), Mirallas (Deulofeu 87’), Traore (Naismith 61’)
Goals: Traore (4’), Naismith (65’), Baines (pen 72’)
Swansea: Tremmel, Taylor, Bartley (Williams 31’), Amat, Richards, Cañas, De Guzman, Routledge (Dyer 46’), Lamah (Lita 69’), Pablo, Vasquez
Goals: De Guzman (15’)
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