Leighton Baines, centre, took the penalty that rebounded off the post onto Shay Given that earned Everton victory against Stoke City. Ian MacNicol / Getty Images
Leighton Baines, centre, took the penalty that rebounded off the post onto Shay Given that earned Everton victory against Stoke City. Ian MacNicol / Getty Images

Good times for Everton but for Stoke City and Mark Hughes, a growing sense of injustice



Everton 1 Stoke City

Given (51’ og)

Man of the Match: Gareth Barry (Everton)

It can be clichéd to talk of teams paying the penalty. In Stoke City's case, it is all too true. Another game brought another spot kick and another defeat.

It is no secret that the Premier League are clamping down on tugging in the 18-yard area but Stoke's defenders are deemed impervious to the new directives. In referees' eyes, they are repeating mistakes, with the same consequences. It is fuelling a perception they are being picked on.

“We are getting the thin end of the wedge,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes, complained. But when Phil Bardsley appeared to push Ashley Williams in the back, referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot and, while Shay Given got a hand to Leighton Baines’ spot kick, the ball went in via the goalkeeper and the woodwork.

Seven days earlier, Ryan Shawcross had grappled with Manchester City’s Nicolas Otamendi. That, too, produced a penalty, which led to a 4-1 loss.

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“I am more frustrated with this one than the Man City one,” Hughes said. “You can see why that was given with the new directives. The one here, there was a lot of movement in the box and Ashley Williams has gone down, whether he clipped his own heels. There was no pushing and no pulling. I thought it was very harsh.”

The sense at Stoke is that the rules are being applied differently where they are concerned.

“I feared this would happen at the start of the season that we would be penalised more readily than other teams,” Hughes said. “It has happened to me before with previous teams.”

Hughes muttered darkly about pictures of Shawcross being used by newspapers to illustrate holding in the penalty box.

He argued, too, that little separated the sides. Yet, as Everton manager Ronald Koeman said: "We had 18 shots, nine on target."

His team were denied by three goal-line clearances, two in the space of four first-half minutes. Ryan Shawcross had thwarted Romelu Lukaku either side of the interval, racing back behind Shay Given to clear the Belgian’s shot after the Everton striker had sped beyond the Stoke defence and then sliding in with a well-judged interception when he poked the ball past the goalkeeper.

In between Peter Crouch, recalled to score goals, prevented one by acrobatically hooking Williams’ header away and denying the Welshman a strike on his first league start since his £12 million (Dh57.9m) transfer from Swansea City.

Stoke had a solitary notable effort, which proved Baines’ influence was not confined to the visitors’ box. He retreated to hook the ball off his own line after Maarten Stekelenburg had pushed Marko Arnautovic’s shot on to the bar.

Stekelenburg’s performance showed why, although Koeman is looking for a new goalkeeper, it will not be Joe Hart. “He is not a third or second [choice] goalkeeper,” Koeman said.

His first home league win ensured Everton go into the international break with a healthy return of seven points from nine. Stoke have just one, a place at the foot of the table and a growing sense of injustice.

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MATCH INFO

Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')

Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')

Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

England World Cup squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

Can NRIs vote in the election?

Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad

Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency

There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas

Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas

A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians

Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.

This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India

A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians

However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed

The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas

Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online

The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online

The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

Uefa Nations League: How it Works

The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.

AUSTRALIA SQUAD

Tim Paine (captain), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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RESULT

Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Manchester United 5

Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')