So we progress to the Quarter Final stage of the FA Cup, where we will face Chelsea. This is not unusual as we more often than not reach the QF stage, what is unusual is the manner in which we won the game.

Make no mistake this was, in my opinion one of our worst attacking performances of the season. The passing was dreadful, the runs were non-existent and the build up was slow and lethargic. Luckily the other end of the pitch was generally much better.

The Turning Point

The point at which this game turned was the point where it could have gone very very differently. James McCarthy handled in the box, for reasons only he knows and a stone wall penalty was given.

Up stepped Charlie Daniels who hit a hard shot to the left of Robles, albeit at a good height. Joel guessed right and pushed the ball away. The Bournemouth players fell over themselves in trying to put in the rebound but got in each others way.

At that point I was 100% sure we were going to win.

The Midfield

The passing from the midfield (and attack) was shocking on Saturday. So many misplaced passes, passes direct to the opposition, passes out of play, particularly in the first half.

Now the wind may have had something to do with this but it was a very un-Martinez-style-Everton performance. Lukaku looked visibly frustrated for most of the match – strangely even after he had scored, whilst Barkley resorted to hitting shots from anywhere.

The Goals

For the first goal Ross Barkley hit a speculative, if very Barkley like attempt from outside the box. His shot which was on target, but probably not troubling the ‘keeper hit the boot of Dan Gosling and looped into the net. 1-0.

The second. Well for a minute it looked like a poor corner, and if you take it as one event it looks a bit ‘fluky’. However we have scored the exact same goal twice in recent weeks now. The corner fizzed low to Barry at the near post who flicks in back into ‘the mixer’ where anything can happen. There was Lukaku to moodily slam the ball home.

Lukaku

Rom scored his 21st goal of the season, but looked like he’d just been slapped in the face. OK the service to him was poor, but on the whole so was his forward play. Save for one driving run down the left he was static, or worse, offside when the ball broke forward. If he wants better balls he needs to make better runs.

His recent scoring drought has coincided with Gerard Deulofeu sitting on the bench, but so has our recent upturn in form. Rom needs to find a way of playing with the current personnel, much in the same way the current team needs to find a way of serving him better.

All in all this was a good result and we can now look forward to a few weeks off, where hopefully the players can come back fresh and ready for the next few weeks where we have two winnable games followed by the FA Cup Quarter Final at home to Chelsea.

Come on You Blues!