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They will have to play better than they did against Reading, but Everton are becoming adept at winning when not at their best, a trait of all the top teams. It was by sheer persistence that they inflicted a record-equalling seventh straight defeat on Reading, whose prospects of staying in the division appear to be receding with every passing week... Given that perseverance was the theme of the day, it seemed fitting that Jagielka’s goal should decide a match that turned in Everton’s favour with the half-time introduction of the lively James Vaughan. Jagielka, the former Sheffield United player, had a difficult start to his Everton career but is starting to flourish. An hour had elapsed when he looped a header over Marcus Hahnemann, then, with six minutes to go, he denied Jimmy Kebe a goal with a terrific last-ditch block. “You know what you are going to get with Everton, but they do it very well,” Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, said. “They don’t give much away. They are strong physically and mentally and that is important.”
James Ducker, The Times