Leighton Baines’ deflected 25-yard, 65th-minute strike earned Everton a hard-fought Europa League victory over MFK Ružomberok, on the night Wayne Rooney made his second Everton debut – 15 years after the first.
Ronald Koeman included four of his summer signings for the Blues’ return to Europe following a two-year absence.
And Rooney, Michael Keane, Cuco Martina and Davy Klaassen, in particular, all bedded smoothly into Koeman’s team in what was a decidedly tough start to this continental campaign.
Certainly, anybody expecting a Blues’ cakewalk would have swiftly realised they were in for something rather more competitive.
Everton hogged possession from the outset, albeit without being able to pick a way through the Slovaks – drilled, as Koeman had suspected would be the case – to keep their hosts at arm’s length.
Indeed, with holding midfielder Kristi Qose stationed a couple of metres in front of a deep Ruzomberok back-four, it was immediately obvious the hosts would have to move the ball at a fair lick to open up their obdurate opponents.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, operating wide on the right, had sussed this out before long, the attacker applying a deft touch to an Idrissa Gana Gueye pass to set Martina free early in the piece.
The full-back’s delivery into the heart of the box forced Matus Macik into an unconvincing punch clear.
And Macik was soon in the thick of the action again, the Ruzomberok goalkeeper turning quickly on his heels to beat away a sliced clearance from Dominik Kruzliak – the visitors’ skipper inexplicably panicking when he had oodles of time to get rid of a ball bobbling around his box.
Everton recycled possession, with Klaassen eventually picking out Gueye for a shot that flew high into the Park End stand.
And that was the best of it in terms of early openings for the Toffees. There was nonetheless plenty to like in the embryonic relationship being formed by Klaassen and Rooney, operating as the Blues’ spearhead and routinely dovetailing with his Dutch teammate.
Indeed, Klaassen’s quick, crisp passing and clever positioning caught the eye from the off. So, too, his willingness to run beyond his centre-forward.
One such instance, just shy of the half-hour mark, saw the former Ajax player trade passes with Rooney, before ploughing on to repeat the trick, in tandem with Calvert-Lewin, in the visitors’ box.
Klaassen’s finish, however, didn’t match the fluid build-up for quality, the attacker thrashing his shot the wrong side of Macik’s left-hand post.
By this time, the Toffees had injected some of the urgency Koeman had demanded pre-match into their game.
Baines, skipper on the night, ended a sparkling 20th-minute move, also featuring Klaassen and Kevin Mirallas, with an archetypal, intelligent low cut-back for Rooney, who couldn’t keep his effort low enough to trouble Macik.
Rooney had another chance to open his account on 28 minutes.
Calvert-Lewin put in the hard yards, dispossessing Simon Kupec at the byline and squaring for the forward.
Rather than overcook his shot this time, though, Rooney suffered for falling back as he attempted to strike the ball and only succeeded in directing it tamely into Macik’s mitts.
Between times, in fact, Rooney had been caught on his heels by Qose in the middle of the park. The accomplished Albanian promptly shifted play on to Dalibor Takac for a shot that sped past Maarten Stekelenburg’s right-hand post.
And, after Klassen’s exhibition of give-and-go football, Ruzomberok came again. Keane’s pass out of defence fell perfectly for Jozef Menich. Perhaps emboldened by his side’s recent sortie, the midfielder strode forward to unleash a shot that required Stekelenburg to plunge to his right and tip behind.
Indeed, the visitors’ most efficient means of attack at this point was to sit in and wait for the Blues’ passing to lose its way – likely a symptom of the 67 days that have elapsed since Koeman’s side last kicked a ball competitively.
Gueye and Ashley Williams were next to get themselves in a pickle, Gueye the chief culprit in selling his colleague short with a pass that had Williams desperately recovering his ground and ultimately getting off the hook when the closing Nermin Haskic handled the ball.
Minutes earlier, Gueye had stung Macik’s palms with a drive from distance, while Calvert-Lewin did likewise shortly before the break.
Evertonians’ hearts were back in mouths minutes after the restart. Keane climbed decisively at the near-post to head away Kupec’s cross from the left. The loose ball, however, landed perfectly for Erik Daniel, who, losing his composure at the most inopportune moment, wastefully mishit his effort off target.
The hosts sought to return fire via Morgan Schneiderlin, injecting some tempo into a hitherto ponderous attack with a pass rattled into Baines.
He found Klaassen, but the Dutch international was unable to complete the set, when his cross found Rooney swamped by orange-shirted defenders. Maritna, though, kept play alive and delivered a peach of a ball that Klaassen headed wide of goal.
Calvert-Lewin being dumped to the turf by Kupec- booked for his troubles – led to the Blues’ next opportunity.
Mirallas sent in the free-kick, which was partially cleared, but eventually picked up by Baines, high on the left.
The defender’s ball to the back-post caused all manner of bother in the away team’s rearguard, before Mirallas drilled a shot that would have finished high in the Gwladys Street net without Kruzliak’s terrifically brave intervention.
Still the underdogs, fuelled by the belief that came from having already navigated two rounds of this competition, refused to buckle.
Indeed, without a wonderful reaction Stekelenburg stop Ruzomberok would have grabbed the lead and a precious away goal on the hour mark. As it was, the veteran number one diverted Jan Maslo’s powerful close-range header onto the woodwork, after the hulking centre-half had leapt to meet a free kick from the right.
And to add insult to injury for the Slovakian side, the Blues swiftly seized the advantage. Williams got something on a MIrallas right-wing corner, before Daniel did his best to clear his lines.
Baines, though, returned the ball with interest. Daniel made to block with his right foot, changed his mind, flung out his left foot and altered the direction of the ball.
Macik was flummoxed, wrong-footed and , most importantly, beaten. Everton were celebrating their first goal of the 2017-18 campaign.
They might have been toasting a second shortly after, when Rooney’s deft flick teed up Mirallas for a fierce strike that brought a fine save from Macik.
Sandro Ramirez, too – the Spaniard on for Calvert-Lewin in the 61st-minute and the Toffees’ fifth debutant of the night – had a chance to make it two.
The striker raced into the box but, after shaping to shoot with his right boot, tried to check back onto his opposite side. Fatally as it happened, with the doughty Kruzliak using the extra second to recover and scramble the ball out of Ramirez’s path.
Ruzomberok, though, stuffed full of giant, powerhouse footballers, posed a threat every single time they served the ball into the box. And with the clock ticking down, Milos Lacny swooped onto another knockdown yards from goal.
Granted the freedom of the Park End penalty area – to the bemusement of nearest attendee Klaassen – the forward sidefooted the ball meeky into the grateful Stekelenburg’s gloves.
No matter. Everton had completed their job for the night. Koeman and his men will be keenly aware this Ruzomberok team has twice overcome first-leg deficits to reach this stage.
Nevertheless, a goal to the good and with the Slovaks unable to secure an away goal, the Blues’ hold the whip hand ahead of the resumption of hostilities in seven days’ time.
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