Ross Barkley finds therapy in football as tough week ends on a high with Everton victory

Richard Jolly reports from Goodison Park where Everton secured victory over Burnley in the Premier League.

Ross Barkley celebrates in front of Everton fans after his deflected shot resulted in his side's second goal in the 3-1 Premier League win over Burnley. Jan Kruger / Getty Images

LIVERPOOL // While Ross Barkley lives in the present, Romelu Lukaku has his place in history.

They are redefining a bit of R ‘n’ R, replacing rest and recuperation with Ross and Rom and, as ever, a game at Goodison Park saw them finish off more visitors.

Everton chalked up an eighth straight home win to go fifth, but this was about more than simply extending a statistical sequence.

For Barkley, it was about an emotional release. Everton’s second goal took a telling touch off Ben Mee, but prompted a cathartic celebration nonetheless.

“What happened last week had really a big impact for him,” said his manager, Ronald Koeman.

Wronged by outsiders, cherished by his own, Barkley leapt on the advertising hoardings at the Gwladys Street End to get closer to the crowd. He was duly booked.

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But a man who found himself in the eye of two storms, firstly for being punched on a night out in Merseyside last Sunday and then being the target of a controversial newspaper article that led Everton to ban a British newspaper over the offending piece, offered the sort of contribution that offers evidence of character.

“The best way is to play football,” Koeman said.

Barkley had cleared off the line twice, denying the Everton target Michael Keane a goal against the club he may join in the summer, and Stephen Ward a consolation strike.

He had also shown a delectable touch to set up a chance for Kevin Mirallas. He departed to a standing ovation.

Slightly inconveniently, his strike may be deemed a Mee own goal; it had already taken a touch off Keane, leaving Burnley lamenting two deflections.

There were fewer doubts about Lukaku’s 11th goal in six home games, a display of pace and power as he held off Keane, spun away from him and sprinted clear to prod the ball past Tom Heaton.

It was the ninth successive match at Goodison Park where he found the net, a feat no one had achieved since Dixie Dean in 1934. “A big achievement,” Koeman said.

Dean’s statue stands outside Goodison now. He scored 395 goals for Everton. Lukaku is unlikely to emulate him in either respect.

Everton should savour their potent double act. With both yet to commit to new contracts, there is no guarantee either will be on Merseyside next season.

If their excellence is a regular sight, this was a familiar script.

Everton tend to turn close games into emphatic wins in the closing stages. Burnley tend to lose away from home, where only they and Rotherham United, the latter a Championship side, in English football are yet to record a victory this season.

This was another hard-luck story, a game when they contributed much and departed with nothing.

“They have three minutes where they turn up the heat,” lamented the Burnley manager Sean Dyche. “For big patches of the game we certainly knocked them out of their stride.”

“They were the better team,” admitted Koeman of the start, and Burnley should have scored when Phil Jagielka miscued a back-pass to Sam Vokes, whose effort was tame.

They showed the spirit to respond within three minutes of first trailing, Vokes converting a penalty after Joel Robles illustrated why Everton need a new goalkeeper with a rash challenge on the striker.

Yet Everton were much improved after the break. The influential Mirallas also hit the post, while Lukaku is not the only Everton player to go on a scoring spree.

Phil Jagielka had failed to find the net in 51 consecutive league games. He now has three in as many outings. The veteran marked his reinvention with a cartwheel.

“My goal celebrations are always horrific,” said the captain.

Barkley’s was more therapeutic.

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