ROBERTO Martinez praised strike duo Samuel Eto’o and Romelu Lukaku after they fired Everton to a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Eto’o showed his class with very good finishes at both ends of the game, while Romelu Lukaku put Everton back in front in the 29th minute after Burnley had equalised through Danny Ings.

It was Lukaku’s mistake that set up the hosts’ goal, with the striker inexplicably passing the ball to Lukas Jutkiewicz midway inside the Everton half.

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Lukaku has not yet had the impact he did while on loan at the club last season and there has been criticism from some fans, but Martinez was delighted with the Belgian’s performance.

The Toffees boss said: “Football is a game of errors and they’re going to happen. Moments where the ball bounces wrongly or you make a wrong decision, and it happened in the goal we gave away.

“You can imagine he was disappointed but that happens.

“What pleases me more is that from that moment on he would have never stopped until he got us back in the lead.

“He got a knock on his toe and he wasn’t fully fit but he wanted to stay on the pitch as long as he could.

“The opposition always marks him well but the way he’s growing at such a young age, he’s going to be an exceptional footballer.”

Eto’o, 33, is at a very different stage of his career to 21-year-old Lukaku.

“As a striker, it’s not about how many goals you score, it’s how many chances you need to score,” said Martinez of Eto’o. “The first chance he showed the mentality is to be ready. I was extremely proud of his performance.”