Lille 0-0 Everton: Toffees remain top of Group H after attritional stalemate in France
In the end the football was arguably less noteworthy than the off-the-pitch incidents. But Everton contained a lively Lille attack to come away with a point and remain top of Europa League Group H.
Neither side deserved to take all three points on a night when the goalkeepers were largely untroubled despite some promising attacking play in the wide areas. Aiden McGeady had Everton’s best chances but failed to truly extend Lille’s Vincent Enyeama.
The Nigerian racked up an astonishing 11 consecutive clean sheets last season and here Lille’s shot-shy but obdurate defensive nous held sway, and Everton were happy enough to come away still unbeaten in the group.
The changes made by Roberto Martínez included bringing in the veteran Tony Hibbert at right-back. The big question was whether Hibbert could cope with the pace of Divock Origi, the Belgian teenager on loan from Liverpool, who started out centrally but was soon occupying space on the outside of the Everton right-back.
With a bobbly pitch not overly conducive to patient approach play, the game began scrappily. Both teams appeared willing to press only once the opposition entered the middle third of the pitch, which led to numerous scrappy transitions in that area.
Lille’s attacking players were keen to allow Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka to step out with the ball before triggering a midield press. It worked on three occasions, discomfiting Distin and forcing him into a hurried pass.
Everton looked like a team who had made several changes. After 13 minutes Ross Barkley needed treatment for a cut after complaining of an elbow from the Lille central defender Marko Basa. He returned to the field after two minutes sporting a bandage on his head and was immediately involved in a spell of possession by Everton as they tried to get a foothold in the game.
Two minutes later Samuel Eto’o’s footwork let him down in a promising position when, after exchanging passes with Steven Pienaar, he skipped past Simon Kjaer but got the ball caught under his feet and was dispossessed before he could get a shot off.
Moments later Origi, who had been popping up menacingly all across the frontline, timed his run perfectly down the right and teased Leighton Baines before floating the ball into the box only for Jagielka to clear.
After 25 minutes Lille went closest to scoring when Barkley was dispossessed on the edge of the box while dangling a leg hopefully towards the ball. The ball fell to Idrissa Gueye, who swivelled smartly and struck a fierce, low drive that whistled past Tim Howard’s left-hand post. In between one or two nice touches in linking with Eto and Baines on the left, Barkley was also culpable for another threatening moment for Lille when he dallied in possession 10 yards outside the Everton penalty area and had to rely on Distin and Jagielka to shepherd the onrushing Sébastien Corchia away from danger.
It was not until the 32nd minute that Everton tested Enyeama for the first time. Hibbert latched on to a long, raking pass by Jagielka in the outside-right position and nudged the ball inside to the supporting Barkley. The 20-year-old showed great touch and vision to set the ball back first time to McGeady, who unleashed a drive that Enyeama gathered comfortably.
The second half began much the same as the first, with Origi providing a threat in wide areas before the perennially creative duo of Baines and Steven Pienaar came to life. A classic combinaton down the left freed the left-back only for his pulled back cross to be cut out by a Lille defender.
Sensing the shift in momentum, Martínez sent on Romelu Lukaku for Pienaar. Their optimism was rewarded instantly with a flowing attacking move involving a clever ball into Lukaku’s feet by Barkley. The striker showed good vision and patience to wait for McGeady’s run and released the Ireland international but his shot, while powerful, was straight at the well-positioned Enyeama.
Everton’s second substitute, Christian Atsu, was also quick to get involved after entering the fray with eight minutes remaining.
Linking with Lukaku on the right, he switched play to the left, allowing Baines to overlap Eto’o. Barkley and Lukaku tore into the box expecting a cross only for the ball to be blocked.
The final 15 minutes resembled a training-ground counterattack six versus four as both sides poured forward rapidly but without leaving themselves outnumbered at the back. At the end the Everton players went over to applaud the huge numbers of Everton fans in the away end. Those supporters will surely hope the rest of their stay in France is as uneventful as the match.
