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Post by Avinalaff on Feb 26, 2015 21:58:13 GMT
Good result, and no injuries to speak of.
We have to hope now for a good draw in the morning.
Are things going our way in this competition?
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Post by Everton News. on Feb 26, 2015 22:06:44 GMT
Everton will be the only English representatives in the last 16 of the Europa League when the draw is made at lunchtime after overwhelming Young Boys of Bern on an evening when Liverpool and Tottenham departed the competition. Roberto Martínez’s side found goals as easy to come by in the second leg as they did in the first to progress by an impressive margin, though the bad news for the Premier League’s only European success story of the week is that the games will get a little harder from here on in. The Swiss are only just returning to action after a winter break and once again it showed. Even though the visitors were the first to score their defence was all too easily breached and the suspicion must be that a kindly draw was the main reason Everton fans ended up enjoying themselves at Liverpool’s expense. If Everton imagined this second leg would be a complete stroll after their 4-1 victory in Switzerland they were shaken out of their complacency after 13 minutes when Young Boys pulled a goal back. Tim Howard made a fine reaction save when Raphael Nuzzolo sent in a shot from the edge of the area following a half-cleared corner, particularly as Milan Vilotic got a head to the ball to gain a close-range deflection, but the goalkeeper was able only to parry and Junior Sanogo was quickly in to sweep home the loose ball. Everton tried to hit back quickly with Kevin Mirallas finding space easily on the right and looking up to pick out Darron Gibson in the middle, only for the midfielder’s firm shot to hit a defender. It became obvious that set pieces might be a profitable line of attack for the visitors when Scott Sutter headed against Howard’s bar from Gonzalo Zárate’s next corner. With John Stones and Leighton Baines missing from their regular backline Everton were failing to give Howard enough protection though the home side’s nerves were eased by a mistake from the Young Boys goalkeeper midway through the first half to concede a penalty. A backheel flick from Lukaku sent Steven Naismith clear on goal, leaving Marco Wölfli little option but to come out and challenge. His scything attempt to win the ball was reminiscent of the Preston goalkeeper’s desperate swing at Wayne Rooney in the FA Cup this month. But this time the keeper connected with more than fresh air and, after Naismith had been brought down, Lukaku coolly scored from the spot. When Lukaku added a second with a sweetly struck left-foot volley four minutes later, he not only killed the contest before half-time he equalled Everton’s European scoring record, matching Fred Pickering’s total of six from the Harry Catterick era. The reserve left-back Luke Garbutt set up the opportunity with a strong run down the left and a precise cross, though it still needed a finish and Lukaku kept his shot so low it hit the ground before beating Wölfli. Any idea that the evening’s excitement might be over was banished in the 35th minute when all four sides of Goodison erupted in wild cheers and spontaneous applause. The 1,700 Swiss fans in the Bullens Stand must have wondered what was going on at first, though it probably did not take long to work out that Liverpool had just lost on penalties to leave Everton as the last English club standing in the Europa League. They still had this match to negotiate, of course, but that became even more of a formality when Mirallas scored before the interval, running from halfway on to a sumptuous through-ball from Gibson to put Everton 7-2 up on aggregate. Lukaku’s hopes of a second successive hat-trick to break the European scoring record were dashed early in the second half when he made way for Arouna Koné. Everton kept on going forward , with Mirallas and Koné seeing shots saved, before the unlucky Koné came closest to a fourth goal with a shot that came back off a post. Guardian
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Post by evertonfan1968 on Feb 26, 2015 22:11:41 GMT
We should start to believe we can win it now.
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Post by dorf on Feb 26, 2015 22:17:58 GMT
Can't complain about the result. We did a good job out there no injuries and no suspensions.
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Post by Everton News. on Feb 27, 2015 3:54:57 GMT
Everton 3 Young Boys 1: Player RatingsTop marks for Garbutt, Coleman, Gibson and LukakuEverton's Luke Garbutt during the Europa League match at Goodison Park against Young Boys TIM HOWARD: Had little to do on a night when his back four was rarely troubled. Nevertheless a welcome respite from recent mishaps. 6 LUKE GARBUTT: Yet another display brimming with maturity and class; both in defence and going forward. 8 PHIL JAGIELKA: Solid and composed. Largely dealt with the significant threat of towering striker Guillaume Hoarau. 7 ANTOLIN ALCARAZ: Slotted seamlessly into the side in place of John Stones and kept his distribution simple and intelligent. 7 SEAMUS COLEMAN: Much more like the swashbuckling Coleman of last term. Some electric forward bursts and faultless in defence. 8 JAMES McCARTHY: Enjoyed the chance to get forward more often with two defensively minded midfield colleagues and looked good doing it. 7 GARETH BARRY: Kept things ticking over and showed his experience to help play through the opposition midfield. 7 DARRON GIBSON: Continued where he left off on Sunday with some sumptuous long passes. His laser-guided through ball for Lukaku's second goal was a joy to behold. 8 STEVEN NAISMITH: Won the penalty which got things back on track and didn't stop harassing a jittery Young Boys defence. 7 KEVIN MIRALLAS: Bright and direct in patches and showed his undisputed class to calmly convert the third goal. His experience will be required as the Blues progress in this competition. Consistency would be nice too. 7 ROMELU LUKAKU: Now has 100 career goals before he's even 22-years-old. Still raw in many ways but he keeps scoring and showing why he commanded such a huge price tag. 8 SUBS:Arouna Kone : Will have benefited from the cameo and showed his sharpness, although might have done better in front of goal on a couple of ocassions. 7 Muhamed Besic: Bright and industrious with some fine passes which underline the variety of his play. 7 Leon Osman: Great to see the veteran back and thought he'd scored near the end to cap a satisfying night. 7 By David Prentice / Echo
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