Everton4 Rodriguez 15′ (og) Coleman 45′ Baines 47′ (pen) Mirallas 89′ VfL Wolfsburg1 Rodriguez 90′ Everton marked their Europa League return with a dominant victory over Germans Wolfsburg at Goodison Park. The Toffees, back in the tournament for the first time since 2010, controlled much of the game as a Ricardo Rodriguez own goal and a Seamus Coleman header gave them a 2-0 half-time lead.Leighton Baines put the game beyond Wolfsburg with a second-half penalty. Kevin Mirallas drilled in a late fourth for Everton before Rodriguez grabbed a consolation with a curled free-kick. The win puts Everton top of Group H and was just reward for manager Roberto Martinez, who underlined his intention to take the competition seriously by naming a strong side, after calling it the perfect next step for the club. The Toffees narrowly missed out on the Champions League last season as they finished fifth in the Premier League, but with their participation in this seasons Europa League ending a four-year absence, Martinez has expressed a determination to go as far as possible. Evertons attacking display on Thursday will certainly give him confidence of progressing from a group that also contains Lille and FK Krasnodar. The Spaniard had opted not to rest any of his first-team regulars for the visit of Wolfsburg, naming the same side that defeated West Brom 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday. Romelu Lukaku got his first of the campaign in that game and the striker spearheaded an exciting, attacking quartet that also included Aiden McGeady, Naismith and Mirallas.They have all contributed to Evertons impressive statistic of having scored at least two goals in every game this season, and it was of little surprise they each played significant roles in the goals against Wolfsburg.Naismith was the first to make a telling contribution, forcing the opener with Evertons first attack. After winning possession, Naismith ran into the area to receive a Baines pass before stabbing a shot at goal. His shot hit goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, with the ball cannoning off Rodriguez and ending up in his own net.That was Evertons first goal in Europe at Goodison Park since beating Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in February, and it had the buoyant home crowd hungry for more.Everton duly attempted to deliver, with full-backs Baines and Coleman becoming more adventurous as Wolfsburg offered little going forward, and their attacking instincts resulted in the home sides second goal on the stroke of half-time. Mirallass drive was weakly pushed into the path of Baines, who had followed the shot into the area, and he knocked the ball across goal for Coleman to nod in. Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking introduced Germany midfielder Aaron Hunt for the start of the second half, but within seconds of the restart Everton went further ahead. This time, Robin Koches foul on McGeady was deemed to have occurred inside the area, and Baines confidently despatched the resulting penalty. The goal effectively ended Wolfsburgs hopes of returning to Germany with anything to show but, with nothing to lose, they embarked on a spell of dominance. For a good 30 minutes they enjoyed the lions share of possession and attempts on goal, as Tim Howard produced saves from Luiz Gustavos opportunistic shot and Rodriguezs well-struck free-kick. Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner was introduced in the closing stages, with Wolfsburg boss Hecking sensing a possible goal, but instead it was Everton who grabbed a fourth. Mirallas peeled away from defenders to run on to substitute Samuel Etoos through ball and he coolly slotted in at Benaglios near post.There was still time for Wolfsburg to get the consolation their 27 shots on target deserved, Rodriguez making some amends for his early own goal with a curling free-kick. LINEUP, BOOKINGS (3) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6) Everton 24 Howard 26 Stones 06 Jagielka 03 Baines 23 Coleman (Osman - 91 ) 18 Barry 07 McGeady 14 Naismith Booked (Gibson - 82 ) 11 Mirallas Booked 16 McCarthy 10 Lukaku (Etoo - 69 ) Substitutes 01 Robles 04 Gibson 05 Etoo 17 Besic 19 Atsu 21 Osman 30 Alcaraz VfL Wolfsburg 01 Benaglio 34 Rodriguez 24 Jung 25 Aparecido Rodrigues 31 Knoche Booked 07 Caligiuri (Bendtner - 61 ) 14 De Bruyne 22 Luiz Gustavo (Guilavogui - 77 ) 27 Arnold 19 Malanda-Adje (Hunt - 45 ) 11 Olic Substitutes 03 Bendtner 04 Schäfer 05 Klose 10 Hunt 20 Grün 23 Guilavogui 28 Klich Ref: Luca Banti
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 21:38:28 +0000
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