Everton 3 West Brom 0 - Report and pictures

Two goals in six minutes just before half-time from Kevin Mirallas and Morgan Schneiderlin put the hosts in control before former loanee Romelu Lukaku wrapped the game up with a header seven minutes from time.

Lukaku now has 20 goals this season, and he grazed the outside of the post 17 minutes in after a nice passing move involving 18-year-old Tom Davies, Ross Barkley and Gareth Barry.

Hal Robson-Kanu, who was given just his second start of the season, wanted a penalty 10 minutes later when he went down under the challenge of Wales team-mate Ashley Williams with his back to goal.

But there was little in the challenge and referee Graham Scott correctly waved away his protests.

Everton took the lead six minutes before the break when Kevin Mirallas tucked home a rebound after Ben Foster had saved Ross Barkley's initial shot.

And the hosts doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time with a gorgeous goal from Schneiderlin, who lifted a deft finish around Foster and into the far post.

The second half was a non-entity until Lukaku wrapped the game up seven minutes from time with a simple header for a Barkley cross.

Analysis

When Manchester United won the League Cup, Ronald Koeman tweeted it was good news for Everton. It was presumptious at the time.

But today the Toffees extinguished any hope Albion had of leapfrogging them into seventh and qualifying for a rare European tour.

Only one place separates these two teams and yet the gulf between them was staggering.

Albion actually played well, particularly in the first half, before Everton stung them with two clinical finishes just before half-time.

Schneiderlin's finish in particular oozed class. The holding midfielder picked Everton instead of Albion in January, and it was Jake Livermore - the man Pulis turned to afterwards - who he rounded in the box.

Pulis promised to ring the changes and he did exactly that, adding more steel to midfield with Claudio Yacob and James McClean starting in favour of James Morrison and Chris Brunt.

Lone striker Salomon Rondon, who hadn't scored in his last 12 games, was dropped in favour of Hal Robson-Kanu, who was given just his second start of the season.

The idea looked obvious, sit back and frustrate an Everton team who has now won their last five league games at home and scored a whopping 18 goals along the way.

Last season the Baggies did just that, weathering 33 shots and sneaking away from Goodison with an archetypal Pulis 1-0.

But even though Albion spent the majority of the time in their own half, this wasn't the same back to the walls effort as that.

Darren Fletcher was supporting Robson-Kanu and pressing high, using his phenomenal stamina to keep Everton's back-line honest.

In the second half Jake Livermore took over those duties, while Yacob held his position and looked after Ross Barkley or Tom Davies.

But all that huffing and puffing proved fruitless in the end because Everton had far too much quality.

Romelu Lukaku has now scored nine goals in nine league games, so unsurprisingly he went closest in the first half, grazing the outside of the post and putting a header wide when he should have done better.

But Albion had their own chances. This was not as lacklustre a performance as last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Nacer Chadli was nearly slipped in after a neat passing move down the left wing and he forced Joel Robles to push a long-range drive around the post.

In the second half he stung the keeper's hands after a nice lay-off from Robson-Kanu and Craig Dawson caused concern with a couple of dangerous crosses to the back stick.

The stand-in striker was holding the ball up well but he spent the majority of the game with his back to goal and he barely got a sniff in the box.

Then, just as the visitors were growing into the game, Everton got the slice of luck needed to break through.

The ball bounced kindly to Barkley in acres of space on the edge of the box, although Foster will be disappointed he didn't push the ball out of the danger area.

The second goal gave Albion a mountain to climb, but in truth, they struggled to leave base camp in a drab second half.

The game drifted with Everton happy to hold on to their comfortable lead and the Baggies struggling to create too many chances of note.

It took until the 75th minute for Pulis to make any changes, when Brunt, Rondon and Morrison were sent on for McClean, Robson-Kanu and Yacob in the space of four minutes.

But instead of setting up a grandstand finish, Lukaku's simple goal wrapped things up.

The European dream is over, and with five of the top six still to come, Albion must now turn their attentions to those below them.

Pulis has never finished in the top half of the Premier League and the Baggies have never reached 50 points, but both of those targets are still within reach. The Baggies have 10 games left to create history.

Key moments

39 GOAL EVERTON - The ball breaks kindly to Barkley and although Foster saves his shot, he can only palm it into the path of Mirallas who lifts it over him.

45 GOAL EVERTON - Lukaku finds Schneiderlin in the box and he evades Livermore expertly before lifting a deft shot around the onrushing Foster and into the far corner.

82 GOAL EVERTON - Lukaku gets in between Nyom and Fletcher and plants a simple header past Foster from Barkley's cross.

Man of the match

Tom Davies - Everton's teenager buzzed all over the pitch and kept the ball well

Teams

Everton (4-2-3-1): Robles, Coleman, Williams, Jagielka, Baines (Funes Mori 45), Schneiderlin, Barry (Calvert-Lewin 84), Davies, Barkley, Mirallas (Gueye 71), Lukaku. Unused subs: Stekelenburg, Valencia, Holgate, Lookman.

Albion (4-1-4-1): Foster, Dawson, McAuley, Evans, Nyom, Yacob (Morrison 79), Chadli, Fletcher (c), Livermore, McClean (Brunt 75), Robson-Kanu (Rondon 76). Unused subs: Myhill, Olsson, Wilson, Field.

Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)

Attendance: 39,592 (1,800 from Albion)

Goals: Mirallas 39, Schneiderlin 45, Lukaku 82

Position in the table

8th, with 40 points from 28 games