Premier League: Baines keeps Everton on course

Published on 31/01/2013 00:55

LEIGHTON Baines scored two first-half goals as Everton boosted their top-four hopes with a narrow win over West Brom.

Baines opened the scoring with a strike from the edge of the box before converting a penalty after Claudio Yacob’s foul on Victor Anichebe. The deficit was halved when Shane Long headed in after John Heitinga’s poor clearance from Romelu Lukaku’s shot.

The result moved Everton within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham, while West Brom have now claimed just one point from their past five Premier League matches.

Elsewhere, Gareth Bale scored a solo goal to earn Tottenham a 1-1 draw at Norwich. The Wales winger moved to ten goals for the campaign after running with the ball from inside his own half, cutting inside and smashing a rising shot into the corner from just inside the area in the 80th minute. Wes Hoolahan had put Norwich ahead in the 32nd minute, converting Anthony Pilkington’s cutback.

Fulham enjoyed a 3-1 win over West Ham United at Craven Cottage. A header from Dimitar Berbatov saw the hosts take the lead after ten minutes despite suspicions of offside, but Kevin Nolan reacted to a quickly taken free kick to equalise for the Hammers just after half-time.

Hugo Rodallega’s header restored Fulham’s lead within a minute, and Mladen Petric’s shot from a tight angle went in off West Ham’s Joey O’Brien to secure the win in stoppage time.