22:10
That’s a very fine victory in what was in truth a game of fine margins.
Everton attacked well down the middle, and with pace, where the visitors tended to get stuck 30 yards out, but if Wolfsburg had a striker of sufficient guile and physicality to throw himself onto the end of any of Ricardo Rodriguez’s infinite stream of tasty crosses, or if they’d benefited from a bit of luck rather than suffered from the lack of it as Everton scored their first two – never mind the penalty award that handed the home side their third – it could all have been very different.
Or, for that matter, had Everton’s goalkeeper not forever been in the right place at the right time, while Wolfsburg’s never was. Anyway, that’s all for me. Thanks for everything. Bye!
22:08
Leighton Baines says:
Steven Naismith says:
22:01
Final score: Everton 4-1 Wolfsburg
As in the first half, the final action is a goal. Everton have a splendid win, and they’re also allowed to play Grand Old Team at the end of the game, as is traditional. Enjoy it, it’s only a matter of time before Uefa force them to play their official Europa League match-closing anthem.
21:59
GOAL! Everton 4-1 Wolfsburg (Rodriguez, 90+4 mins)
That was a beauty! Howard doesn’t even try to stop the ball as it curls over the wall, clips the post and nestles in the net. Rodriguez thoroughly deserved that; Howard didn’t.
21:58
90+4 mins: Darron Gibson concedes a free-kick, and Wolfsburg have one more chance to test Howard …
21:57
90+2 mins: De Bruyne passes to Hunt, who’s about to shoot when McCarthy slides in to clear out the ball. Howard was close enough that any effort would surely have cannoned right into him but still, lovely challenge.
I don’t see why not.
21:55
90+1 mins: There will be four minutes of match-ending bonustime.
21:55
90 mins: Coleman will sit out stoppage time, after being replaced by Leon Osman.
21:54
GOAL! Everton 4-0 Wolfsburg (Mirallas, 89 mins)
And that’s a rout! Eto’o’s pass sends Mirallas clear, and he beats the keeper at his near post. Nice pass, nice run, nice finish, nice scoreline.
21:52
87 mins: Coleman is on the ground, clutching his face, having been back-headed by Olic.
21:49
85 mins: This picture sums up Tim Howard’s evening pretty well. Meanwhile at the other end, McCarthy blazes over from 25 yards.
Everton's Tim Howard makes a save against Wolfsburg.
21:49
84 mins: Gibson has a decent low shot from the edge of the area that Benaglio flops upon.
21:47
81 mins: Sub! Naismith is off, and Darron Gibson comes on. It’s Gibson’s first appearance for Everton since last October, and he gets an extra-loud cheer for it.
21:45
80 mins: Are you allowed to be man of the match if you’re a defender in a side which loses 3-0? I suppose Howard will get the bubbly, but the young Swiss full-back has a decent claim, I think.
21:44
79 mins: Another fine cross from Rodriguez, standing it up to the back stick, but Bendtner’s header is weak.
21:44
78 mins: Another chance for the Germans. Rodriguez slides a lovely ball in to Olic, who takes the ball past Howard but in so doing goes so wide he can’t then shoot on target. For all that he may end up with nothing to show for his night but an own goal, Rodriguez has been excellent.
21:41
76 mins: Wolfsburg make their final change, bringing off Luiz Gustavo and bringing on Joshua Guilavogui. They haven’t created many chances in the penalty area, but they’ve certainly taken lots of shots from outside it, and some of them have been very good.
21:39
75 mins: Another excellent save from Howard, to deny De Bruyne, whose shot was sneaking in at the far post. His 11th of the night, then…
21:38
73 mins: Moment of the match! Eto’o gets the ball in his own half, under all sorts of pressure, but beats three men with a succession of tiny shuffles before passing perfectly to set Naismith running into space.
21:35
70 mins: Another save from Howard, but a pretty routine one. Bendtner crosses from the right, Olic heads at goal, Howard pats down and then catches.
21:33
69 mins: Everton make their first change, taking Lukaku off and bringing Eto’o on.
21:33
68 mins: And then Naldo spears a 30-yard free-kick a yard wide with Howard static. It’s been an all-but totally one-sided second half.
21:32
67 mins: Hunt taps the ball back to Arnold, who hammers a shot straight at Howard. He’s been a busy lad this half, has Howard.
21:30
65 mins: And then Jagielka hits a 50-yard back-pass straight out of play for a corner.
21:29
65 mins: McGeady hits a left-footed shot, from the right corner of the penalty area, that goes out for a throw-in, 15 yards from the corner flag.
21:25
61 mins: Wolfsburg make their substitution, bringing off Caligiuri and bringing on Bendtner.
21:25
60 mins: Cometh the hour, cometh Nicklas Bendtner. Olic ends a Wolfsburg attack by running the ball out of play for a goal-kick, and the German side ready a second substitute.
21:24
59 mins: Everton’s post-third-goal rocky period appears to be over, and they’ve controlled the last couple of minutes.
21:20
55 mins: Best save yet! Rodriguez curls the ball towards the far post, and Howard dives to save one-handed. In truth I’m not sure how far from the keeper the ball was heading, but it looked great. One for the highlights reel, that.
Tim Howard makes the dramatic save.
21:19
54 mins: Naismith flies into Gustavo just outside the penalty area, and this time it’s definitely a foul. And a booking.
21:18
53 mins: Now a double-save! Caligiuri’s shot hits Howard’s legs and falls to Luiz Gustavo, who would surely have won a penalty had he gone down when Naismith made contact from behind, but instead shot feebly at Howard, who catches.
21:17
51 mins: And now Howard’s in action again, pushing a shot wide for a corner, which is cleared, speared back into the area, blocked (by Jagielka’s face), worked back in, cleared again and finally a shot flies wide.
21:15
50 mins: One of Wolfsburg’s better moves has Caligiuri backheeling into the path of Rodriguez, whose low cross-shot is pushed clear by Howard, and then booted clear by someone else.
21:14
50 mins: The build-up to the penalty was a catalogue of errors, starting with Wolfsburg in possession in their own half. But some damn fool sent a terrible pass running across their penalty area – a hideous foul-up at least as bad as the referee’s – Knoche couldn’t reach it, McGeady pounced and the rest is history.
21:12
GOAL! Everton 3-0 Wolfsburg (Baines, 47 mins)
Baines sends the goalkeeper the wrong way, and Everton are three goal to the good!
Leighton Baines celebrates after scoring a penalty to make it 3-0.
21:11
Penalty! About 25 seconds into the second half!
Ludicrous decision. Knoche brought McGeady down, but they were a yard outside the area when he did.
21:10
Peeeeeeeeep!
46 mins: They’re off! Again!
21:10
Substitution! Aaron Hunt comes on, and Junior Malanda goes off. Hunt’s grandfather went to the same school as Sir Bobby Charlton (it says on Wikipedia).
21:08
Although, to be fair, you’d expect being a couple of goals up at half-time to be a decent omen. Still.
20:59
According to our stats, Everton had four shots in the first half: the first goal, the Lukaku free-kick, the Mirallas effort in the build-up to the second, and the second (though I thought Baines also had one to set up Coleman’s second). Still, very good economy of effort.
20:54
Half time: Everton 2-0 Wolfsburg
45+3 mins: Peeeeep! That’s the end of the first half, and it has been quite good fun (unless you’re Diego Benaglio, who lost is contact lens in conceding the first goal, and played as if missing both contact lenses in conceding the second).
20:53
GOAL! Everton 2-0 Wolfsburg (Coleman, 45+1 mins)
Another slightly fortunate goal for Everton! Mirallas slams a stinging shot at the goalkeeper from just inside the penalty area, Benaglio limply pushes it out, and Baines’ mishit follow-up is headed in at the far post by Coleman!
Seamus Coleman celebrates scoring the second with Leighton Baines.
20:51
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there will be at least two minutes.
Gareth Barry in action with Wolfsburg's Maximilian Arnold.
20:50
45 mins: Everton do well to work the ball out of defence despite some committed closing-down (down-closing?) from Wolfsburg, but then Naismith’s pass to Lukaku is a bit bobbins, and is intercepted.
20:48
42 mins: Everton take a full minute and more readying themselves, and then Lukaku hits over the wall and on target. It never looked likely to go in, and indeed Benaglio pushed the ball clear, but it was certainly worth an ooh.
20:46
40 mins: Another foul from dirty, dirty Wolfsburg. Howard hoofs upfield, Lukaku flicks on to Mirallas but is pulled back as he tried to spin onto the return.
20:43
37 mins: A couple of relatively dry minutes, enlivened mainly by Daniel Caligiuri’s foul on Baines which wasn’t particularly filthy but seemed to inspire some very angry shouting from the stands.
20:39
34 mins: De Bruyne has yet another 25-yarder, and Howard saves his low left-footed effort easily.
20:39
33 mins: Even while writing that, Luiz Gustavo fouls Aiden McGeady, and Wolfsburg’s foul-free record is no more.
20:38
32 mins: An entertaining if error-packed match, this, between two sides both attempting to score. Wolfsburg’s commitment to letting the game flow is evident from the following stat:
20:36
30 mins: Whooosh! Another lovely cross from Rodriguez, this time speeding only a foot or two beyond Olic on its way to Howard.
20:34
28 mins: Olic controls a long pass on his chest, smacking Baines in the face in the process, then works the ball into the penalty area and blasts a shot wide.
James McCarthy and John Stones close down the dangerous Ivica Olic.
20:33
27 mins: Lovely cross from Rodriguez on the left, full of pace and dip and menace. Nobody anywhere near getting on the end of it, but still.
20:30
24 mins: Apparently Rodriguez has been credited with an own goal by Uefa, but their website continues to name Naismith. More on this exciting breaking story as I get it.
20:27
21 mins: Chance for Everton! McGeady passes to Mirallas, takes the return and for a moment the penalty area opens up for him. And then it closes down again, and his shot is blocked.
20:26
20 mins: Rodriguez pops an excellent lofted pass perfectly into the right-to-left run of Daniel Caliguri, who improvises some kind of first-time shot, but not a very scary one.
20:25
19 mins: Everton work the ball quickly to Lukaku, who squares up Rodriguez, shuffles the ball past him and then falls over.
Romelu Lukaku tries to find a way through Wolfsburg’s Naldo and Luiz Gustavo.
20:24
19 mins: Wolfsburg, down the other end, test Howard’s saving abilities and his cross-punching abilities in the space of about 10 seconds, and the goalkeeper is not found wanting.
20:23
17 mins: After the goal there’s an extended delay while the Wolfsburg keeper, Diego Benaglio, looks for a new contact lens.
20:22
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Wolfsburg (Naismith, 15 mins)
There’s a bit of luck in the build-up, and in the execution, but amid that there’s a lovely run from Baines, who passes to Naismith and sprints forward, and takes McCarthy’s excellent flicked pass. That’s where the clean build-up ends. Baines’ pull-back is deflected to Naismith, whose shot deflects off the keeper and Rodriguez and into the corner of the net.
Steven Naismith celebrates the first goal for Everton.
20:19
20:18
13 mins: Everton win a corner, and their fans get enormously excited about it.
20:16
10 mins: Wolfsburg’s good spell continues, though if they can do nothing more than tee up De Bruyne for optimistic and off-target long-range efforts I suppose Everton will be happy enough.
20:14
8 mins: De Bruyne ends a spell of pressure from the German side with a shot from about five yards outside the area which smacked his nearest team-mate in the arse.
20:12
6 mins: It’s been a scrappy affair thus far, with Kevin Mirallas, inexplicably surrendering possession in his own half, the latest to catch cantkeeptheballitis.
20:11
5 mins: Lukaku robs Ricardo Rodriguez on the halfway line but the referee isn’t impressed and peeps his whistle.
20:08
3 mins: Another micro-attack from the Germans, which ends with Ivica Olic blasting over from an offside position.
20:06
Peeeeeeeeeeeep!
1 min: Wolfsburg kick off, and immediately toss a long ball downfield which runs out of play.
20:06
Wolfsburg, in white shirts and green shorts, have a huddle and then go over to the corner of the pitch to applaud their fans, which I guess saves them a bit of time later on. And there is now nothing left to delay kick-off. Ready, steady …
20:02
It’s already happened, apparently.
The players are in the tunnel. Have they played Z-Cars yet? Will they play it later? What, precisely, has happened to Z-Cars?
Wolfsburg's players seemingly try and make off with a goal at Goodison Park.
19:32
Report from the Guardian