Stoke beats Everton 4-3 in Premier League thriller

This is a tough game against a good Stoke team and Goodison Park should be rocking for this one.

Both Everton and Stoke would pick up important wins on Boxing Day to see their seasons handed a much-needed boost at the midway point.

And Hughes, whose men were building on the 2-0 Boxing Day win over Manchester United and moved up to eighth in the Barclays Premier League, said: “We’re delighted for Shaq”.

Bet365 makes Everton EVENS, with Stoke priced at 16/5.

Seven minutes later and it was 3-2 as Everton took the lead for the first time in the game. Whether the Everton player got contact on the ball will be debated I’m sure, but he has obviously got a lot more contact on Marko Arnautovic and impeded him, and he wasn’t able to get a shot off as a outcome.

But just before the half-time whistle, Shaqiri scored a second when he brilliantly chipped Howard with a first-time half-volley from Bojan’s crossfield pass.

Stoke’s lead lasted only six minutes, however, before Everton levelled things up through the in-form Romelu Lukaku, who was left unmarked in the area to slot past Jack Butland after being found by James McCarthy’s cleverly disguised pass.

Goalkeeper and defenders looked appealing towards the linesman, by way of explaining Lukaku’s time and space perhaps, but no offside flag was forthcoming.

Yet as the game moved into injury-time, the pulsating encounter had another twist, with referee Mark Clattenburg adjudging John Stones to have brought down Arnautovic, with the Austrian dusting himself down to fire home the victor. Bojan carved open the Everton defence with a sweeping cross that dropped behind Galloway at left-back.

45′ – GOAL! Shaqiri bags his second of the game, and what a goal it is. Or not quite see!

The play remained largely concentrated inside the Stoke half as Kone lofted comfortably over before the home side’s equaliser arrived somewhat out of the blue.

McCarthy’s comeback after a month out with a groin injury lasted just 26 minutes and he was forced off to be replaced by Tom Cleverley.

Stoke manager Mark Hughes said of the Swiss global who joined in August for 12 million pounds ($17.85 million) from Inter Milan.

Substitute Steven Naismith was introduced as Everton sought a victor, and he missed from close range having been set up by Lukaku.

Ross Barkley exchanged passes with Lukaku before sliding an inch ideal pass to the back post for Deulofeu to tap in. Substitute Joselu was the scorer – Tim Howard flapped at an Arnautovic cross and the Spaniard rifled the loose ball into the roof of the net from eight yards out.

Howard was guilty of pawing feebly at Arnautovic’s left-wing cross and when the ball sat up right of the Everon goal, there was Joselu to hook home through a minor gathering of players between him and the temporarily unguarded goal. Arnautovic is going to take it…