Everton vs Swansea match report: 10-man Swans survive Jonjo Shelvey sending-off to escape Goodison Park with a point

Everton 0 Swansea 0: Shelvey picked up his second yellow card with 18 minutes left but both sides were guilty of squandering their chances

Lukasz Fabianski claims a high ball as Steven Naismith lurks dangerously (Getty Images)

This was like a game of noughts and crosses between best friends. Garry Monk was Roberto Martinez’s captain when the Spaniard launched his managerial career in south Wales and, when Monk met his mentor, he knew precisely how to cancel Everton out.

Swansea forced no corners, had no shots on target, wasted time when they were reduced to 10 men and drew comfortably.

“It was strange to see a Swansea performance like that,” Martinez commented, although the Everton manager conceded his former club deserved their point.

For Monk, who received no punishment when calling Stoke’s Victor Moses a cheat last month, this might be further evidence that the refereeing cards are stacked against Swansea, straight after his meeting with Howard Webb and Mike Riley of the Referees‘ Association.

They were reduced to 10 men when Jonjo Shelvey was, quite properly, shown a second yellow card for blocking off James McCarthy as he ran through on the edge of the area.

However, Swansea had been denied what seemed a clear penalty earlier when Antolin Alcaraz, who later went off with a serious shoulder injury, appeared to handle Shelvey’s shot inside the area. “It was a great save with strong wrists,” said Monk, eyebrows arched. “I will be showing that to my goalkeepers as an example of how to stop a shot.

Steven Naismith claims he is being fouled by Sung Yueng Ki (Getty Images)

“We have had a lot of wrong decisions that have affected us and I wanted some clarification from Howard and Mike. I made the comments at Stoke for a reason but I am not going to let it linger because Swansea are not that kind of club.”

He had no complaints about Shelvey’s dismissal, the club’s fourth of the season, although one was rescinded. “What disappoints me is that the first yellow card was for kicking the ball away,” he said. “You cannot do that.”

Everton, who have lost once in seven matches since Swansea knocked them out of the League Cup in September, rarely looked like they would exploit their one-man advantage for the 18 minutes they possessed it.

The last move of the game saw Samuel Eto’o drive his low cross inches from the onrushing Romelu Lukaku. That was as close as Everton came.

Members of the armed forces honour the minute's silence ahead of kick-off (Getty Images)

There was a lack of sharpness around Goodison Park. Leighton Baines has rarely used the dead ball as poorly as he did here. Had Wilfried Bony not squandered his opportunity when 10 yards out, it might have been a very different afternoon.

As it is, Swansea have still never beaten Everton in a league match.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard; Coleman, Alcaraz (Besic, 31), Jagielka, Baines; McCarthy, Barry; McGeady (Lukaku, 68), Naismith (Pienaar, 68), Barkley; Eto’o.

Swansea City (4-4-1-1): Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Routledge, Ki, Shelvey, Montero (Dyer, 79); Sigurdsson (Carroll, 76); Bony (Gomis, 60).

Referee: Kevin Friend.

Man of the match: Jagielka (Everton)

Match rating: 5/10