Tosun has the knack, roars Sam
favour then he has a big part in the future of this club.”
Tosun’s finishing quality was there to see as he showed determination to bundle his first goal home from a few yards and then, when Maxim Choupo-Moting had given 10man Stoke hope of snatching a draw, struck again with a superb header.
It was cruel on Paul Lambert’s team who had battled through blizzard conditions for more than an hour after Charlie Adam was sent off for a late lunge on Wayne Rooney.
The Scot, brought back by Lambert as he searches for a way out of trouble, had been pinging passes around but then overran the ball and stretched too far, catching Rooney with six studs. “I can understand why Martin Atkinson has given the red card,” admitted Lambert.
“If you go with your studs and you mistime a challenge you put yourself in a position to be red carded. The way the weather was, the ball becomes slippery, the pitch becomes slippery, that can have an effect, but I understand why he gave it.
“It was a big blow as we started well and looked really good – Charlie is as disappointed as anybody but you can’t change it now.”
Stoke were already having t o deal with the self-inflicted absence of defender Erik Pieters. The Dutchman was axed after breaking a club curfew on Friday night. Despite that Stoke started well, with Jordan Pickford struggling to hold on to shots from Badou Ndiaye and Peter Crouch. Former England striker Crouch also headed a Glen Johnson cross over the bar. But once Adam went off, Rooney began to take control in midfield and relished the extra space as he started playing passes both short and long, prompting a series of attacks.
Stoke were probably helped by the snow swirling across the Bet365 Stadium and laying across more than half the pitch.
But that also made it a bigger test of the home side’s stamina to hold out, and Everton’s goal arrived after 69 minutes.
Yannick Bolasie’s curling cross set up a Tosun header, and though Butland scrambled his first chance away – and then Kostas Stafylidis somehow kept out Dominic Calvert-Lewin – the ball fell again for Tosun to scoop it home.
That should have been that, but Everton’s run of five consecutive away defeats had eaten at their confidence and they handed Stoke a lifeline on 77 minutes. Joe Allen’s free-kick should have been cleared, but instead landed for ChoupoMoting to stab home.
But Everton picked themselves up, and Theo Walcott’s cross was perfectly weighted for Tosun to dive bravely across Johnson’s challenge to divert it beyond Butland’s grasp.