Burnley vs. Everton: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Everton secured back-to-back wins for the first time in the Premier League this season, running out 3-1 winners against Burnley at Turf Moor.
The visitors opened the scoring through Samuel Eto'o, who ghosted into the box to head home a Leighton Baines cross in the fourth minute.
That lead was cancelled out on 20 minutes, as Danny Ings capitalised on a Romelu Lukaku mistake, only for the Belgium striker to atone for his error nine minutes later and restore the lead.
A nervy finish was then avoided as Eto'o wrapped up the points in the 86th minute, curling home a long-range effort from outside the box.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from this game.
Winner: Samuel Eto'o
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Samuel Eto'o is an obvious winner from this game.
The three-time Champions League winner scored two and provided the class needed for Everton to win this game, also hitting the post.
Starting alongside Lukaku for only the second time, Eto'o operated behind his strike partner, drifting into the box from deep.
Incidentally, the former Chelsea man has now been on the pitch 257 minutes (in all competitions) with Lukaku this season. In that time, Everton have scored seven goals, averaging one every 36 minutes.
This seems like a combination Martinez may wish to use more often.
Loser: George Boyd
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George Boyd was the fall guy in Everton's opening goal, and he never recovered.
The winger was a victim of a clever ploy from Roberto Martinez, who started with a narrow three behind the striker.
This sucked Burnley players in and allowed crucial space for Baines and Coleman to be a threat out wide.
Everton's opening goal came as a result of this, as Boyd completely lost Baines, affording the left-back ample time to pick out Eto'o for the goal.
Aside from a couple of flashes, the Scotland international failed to find much joy out of Baines in attack. He collected a booking, failed to create a chance and completed the second fewest passes (14) of any Burnley starter.
Winners: Gareth Barry and James McCarthy
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Another key to this game was the platform provided to Everton by James McCarthy and Gareth Barry in midfield.
Both players were combative and uncompromising off the ball, restricting the host's time in possession, which limited their creativity.
They also regularly recovered the ball, regaining possession an impressive 19 times between them.
Both players complement each other nicely and ensured Everton dominated possession (62 per cent) in this game, regularly taking the ball off defenders and feeding the forwards.
Loser: Sean Dyche
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It's easy to feel sorry for Sean Dyche, whose side repeatedly put everything into every Premier League game they face.
At the moment, though, it's still not resulting in any success.
Burnley remain in the relegation zone, without a win and five points from safety.
There currently seems a gulf in class between the standard of players on show, and with a quarter of the season gone, it's already looking like it'll be a return to Championship football for the Clarets next year.
If this winless run continues, Dyche will struggle to keep his job.
Winner: Roberto Martinez
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Everton seem to have recovered from a slow start to the season, securing back-to-back wins for the first time this term.
Three points propel the Toffees back into the top half of the table and just four points off a Champions League berth.
Eto'o's second strike was also the 100th for Everton under Roberto Martinez in just his 57th game in charge. Incidentally, David Moyes took 72 games to reach that mark, albeit with an inferior squad.
The Catalan seems back on course to build on the success achieved in his first season at Goodison Park.
Statistics via WhoScored.com
