Everton have defeated Juventus 6-5 on penalties after their International Champions Cup clash finished 1-1 at full-time.
Veteran
midfielder Andrea Pirlo uncharacteristically missed a penalty in San
Francisco, which would have clinched victory for Juventus in the
shootout, and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard saved Federico Peluso's
spot-kick soon after to hand Roberto Martinez's team the win.
After
a goalless first half at AT&T Park, Everton took a deserved lead in
the 61st minute when Victor Anichebe and Darron Gibson's good work in
midfield allowed Kevin Mirallas to burst in from the right wing and
score.
Juventus equalised with 10 minutes remaining as Kwadwo
Asamoah brilliantly thrashed Mirko Vucinic's cut-back into the top
corner but Everton eventually triumphed in the shootout.
Everton
looked to have opened the scoring in just the fifth minute when Steven
Pienaar's free-kick curled into the far corner of Marco Storari's net
but Martinez's team were denied the goal because Phil Jagielka was
judged offside, despite not quite touching the ball as he ran across
Juventus' goalkeeper.
The English Premier League club had the
better of the first half in terms of possession but had to wait until
the final two minutes for their next big chance.
Mirallas'
free-kick was deflected by a Juventus defender straight to John Stones
and the 19-year-old defender's header struck the post.
Having held
out to half-time without conceding, Juventus started the second half
brightly with Carlos Tevez getting into the game and linking well with
Fernando Llorente and Arturo Vidal on a couple of occasions.
Llorente
teed up Mauricio Isla but the Chilean hit the side netting, before
Vidal's fine free-kick was pushed away from the bottom corner by Everton
goalkeeper Tim Howard.
But just after the hour mark, Everton took
the lead with Anichebe, who was one of his side's best, winning the
ball in the centre circle off Luca Marrone and starting an attack that
finished with Mirallas scoring at the near post.
Everton's goal
seemed to spark Juventus with Llorente having a shot blocked on the line
eight minutes later and Howard smothering Vidal's follow-up effort,
while Tevez thrashed a shot just wide of the post.
The
introduction of Vucinic and Andrea Pirlo in the 71st minute made a
significant difference for the Serie A club with the former setting up
Juventus' equaliser nine minutes later.
In the 90th minute,
Everton had the best chance to win the match with Ross Barkley's
swerving strike from long range forcing Storari into an unorthodox save
with his knees.
Storari saved Everton's opening penalty to give
Juventus the advantage in the shootout but after a string of successful
spot-kicks, Pirlo pulled his wide to ensure sudden-death penalties.
After
successful penalties from Stones, Marco Motta and Bryan Oviedo, Howard
got two hands to Peluso's effort and Everton claimed the win.
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