Everton had to come behind for the second season in a row at The Hawthorns, but once again proved a resilient side as Kevin Mirallas brought us level, and then Gareth Barry turned unlikely match victor in the second half.
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Ronald Koeman got his first Premier League victory as Everton manager as his side came from a goal down to beat West Brom 2-1 at The Hawthorns.
However, Stekelenburg was helpless to prevent the hosts taking the lead from the resulting corner, with McAuley on hand to power home a header at the back post – although the visitors were adamant there had been a foul on their keeper as the cross came in.
Fortunately for the visitors, the misses mattered little as, despite withstanding a late glut of West Brom pressure, Everton held firm to secure the spoils.
Record-signing Yannick Bolasie was introduced shortly after the goal, and his display of pace and direct running that will have both Lukaku and the Everton fans purring at the thought of things to come. The Venezuela worldwide used his strength to hold off Ramiro Funes Mori and control Craig Gardner’s long ball into the box before getting off a shot that Maarten Stekelenburg did well to come out and block.
It was the first taste of success for Everton’s new coach Ronald Koeman, whose side fell behind after Northern Ireland defender McAuley stole in at the far post to head home a Craig Gardner corner.
Striker Romelu Lukaku again started on the bench, before coming on for midfielder James McCarthy after just 38 minutes as Koeman changed tactics.
“In the second half we played good football”.
The second half began with a series of chances for either side to take the lead before Everton eventually obliged on the hour.
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Moments before, West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster had made a sublime save to deny Ramiro Funes Mori, but from the following corner delivered by Gerard Deulofeu, Mason Holgate flicked the ball on and it was steered in by Barry.
