Everton pulled off a hard fought victory against Stoke City when the two teams met in their Premiership encounter on Saturday.

After a quiet first half, Everton took the lead four minutes from the half time through Ayegbeni Yakubu and looked on course for a comfortable victory when Victor Anichebe doubled the lead in the 51st minute. However Stoke fought back to first reduce the lead through Seyi George Olofinjana while an own goal by Phil Jagielka pulled them back on level terms. But any hopes of coming away with a point were washed out in the 77th minute when Tim Cahill scored the winner to secure Everton's second win of the season.

With just one win in their opening three matches, Everton started the match on a cautious note, content to move forward on the counter attack. The visitors slowly settled down to control the possession in the middle of the park but were unable to break past the Stoke defense.

Everton finally took the lead in the 41st minute when Yakubu latched on to a poor clearance from the Stoke defense, controlled the ball with his left foot before smashing it past Thomas Sorensen to break the deadlock.

The visitors made a confident start to the second half and the match seemed all but over in the 51st minute when Anichebe headed home Mikel Arteta's free kick from the left flank. Stoke got one back three minutes later when Olofinjana volleyed home a poor clearance by Everton and were right back in the match when Jagielka turned Delap's long throw into his own net.

With time running out, it looked as if both the teams will have to settle for a point each but Cahill had other ideas when he rose high to head in Arteta's corner to collect all three points for his side.