David Moyes named a fairly strong side, as promised, with only Fernandes rested, merited by his poor displays since rejoining the Blues.
Everton's initial plays were cautious and defensive, with Brann having most of the possession and actually getting some shots off, while Everton sat back and soaked up the pressure. There was a call for handball against Lescott in the area but it was really more a case of ball-to-hand.
Bakke was the first name in the book for a late tackle on Pienaar
The first goal, when it finally came, was well worth waiting for. Some excellent work by Valente and Pienaar maintained Everton possession down the left channel and there was some exquisite interchange passing and excellent positional play before a lovely side-flick from Cahill laid it on a plate for a superb curing shot from Yakubu bulged the net.
Although it actually made little difference to the task Brann had before them — they still needed to score 3 goals — the strike was the perfect tonic for a cautious Blues side that now settled down and it was not long before the second goal came, Johnson pulling wide right and then hitting a shot across the keeper and just strong enough to spin in at the far post off his fingertips.
With Everton sitting pretty, David Moyes took early action, swapping Cahill and Carsley for Fernandes and Hibbert, with Neville moving into midfield. And it was only a matter of seconds before Johnson scampered after a great ball from Neville, but his placed strike smacked off the far post. At the other end Helstad headed over when he could have threatened the Everton goal.
Everton swept forward again for the third goal, Pienaar picking out Yakubu as Johnson pulled three defenders off to the left, opening up space from which Yakubu could convert with class. Nice!
The gloss was taken off somewhat by a really silly goal given up by really poor shot-stopping from Howard, who watched a daisy-cutter off a distant free-kick from Vaagan Moen bounce its way harmlessly into the net over his arm. Why didn't he get his body behind the line of the strike???
Fenandes picked up a stupid yellow card, throwing the ball to/at Bakke, who turned his back. Helstad got free and ran at the Everton goal after Fernandes gave the ball away cheaply, but the shot was just wide of the post. But more good passing outside the area saw Yakubu then Pienaar set up Arteta whose shot was deflected wickedly into the opposite side of the net. They all count!
The icing on the cake was still to come, with more brilliant set-up work from Arteta and Pienaar setting up Yakubu who could not miss from 3 yards out. HAT-TRICK!!! Just as his number came up on the subs board!!! A rapturous celebration as Anichebe came on in his place. Only the third Everton hat-trick in Europe, following in the great footsteps of Alan Ball and Andy Gray.
More good play in the last 10 mins gave Pienaar the chance to shoot from distance but a slight bobble meant it went just over instead of under the bar. Pienaar then hit the post after great work by Anichebe down the right. At the other end, what looked a certain second goal for Brann was blasted onto the post by Vaagan Moen.
In injury time, an unbelievable strike by Johnson was the best of the night, his fierce shot from distance off a pass from Pienaar curling away wickedly and into the roof of the net. A splendid finish to a splendid European night at Goodison: 8-1 on aggregate, and Fiorentina to look forward to in the Round of 16...
Michael Kenrick
Everton strolled to a handsome 6-1 victory and underlined their dominance over SK Brann by racking up an 8-1 aggregate margin in the second leg at Goodison Park. Yakubu helped himself to a hat-trick, Andy Johnson scored two terrific goals and there was also one for Mikel Arteta, albeit thanks to a heavy deflection, as the Blues took advantage of slack marking and the ample space to systematically dismantle the Norwegian side and march emphatically into the last 16.
There was precious little evidence of the goal feast to come in a turgid opening in which David Moyes's side seemed disinterested and disjointed. As they did in the first game eight days ago, Yakubu and Johnson led the line but Leon Osman, Manuel Fernandes and Joseph Yobo made way for the returning Steven Pienaar, Mikel Arteta and Nuno Valente but it wasn't until 15 minutes had elapsed that the home side started to show some purpose and fluidity going forward, and another a quarter of an hour before the first goal arrived.
Up until that point, Brann had, somewhat predictably, shown more initiative. A low shot in the 11th minute by Vaagen Moen, their star performer on the night, forced Tim Howard into making the first save of the match before the Norwegians had a reasonable shout for a penalty turned down when Joleon Lescott inadvertantly handled in the area. Then Thorstein Helstad almost stunned Everton by ghosting in at the far post to connect with Vaagen Moen's lofted free kick but Howard got in the way.
The floodgates opened nine minutes from half time, though, when Pienaar, lively as ever found Tim Cahill but his attempted knock through to Yakubu came back off a defender. His second attempt was stellar, though, as he smartly flicked it through his legs to the striker and Yakubu had all the invitation he needed to curl an expert shot around Opdal and bulge the net.
1-0 quickly became 2-0 five minutes later when Johnson collected a pass from Arteta, took the ball wide of his marker and screwed a powerful low shot across the 'keeper and into the far corner. A superb finish that was no more than he deserved for more tireless work up front.
Already dead and buried, Brann didn't give up, though, and Vaagen Moen sounded a warning for Howard with a stinging free kick from distance that the American 'keeper seemed initially to want to catch but ended up pushing it somewhat awkwardly over the bar for a corner.
The half-time break yielded two changes from Moyes, Fernandes replaced Cahill and Lee Carsley made way for Tony Hibbert, but the chances kept coming immediately as Johnson was released by Neville, now playing in central midfield, but his celebrations were cut short by a crucial touch by Opdal which pushed his shot onto the face of the post and out to safety from Brann's perspective.
10 minutes later, though, Everton made it 5-0 on aggregate when Yakubu ended a quick break with another fine goal. Howard bowled the ball out to Pienaar who raced out of his own half before finding Yakubu on the edge of the area with a nicely-weighted pass. The Nigerian shaped to shoot before cutting the ball back onto his left foot and driving home.
Five minutes later, though, Howard lost the chance to record a fifth successive clean sheet when Vaagan Moen rifled a low free kick under the wall, through two more sets of legs and into the net with the 'keeper reacting very late. The ball appeared to bobble slightly in front of him at the last second but whether he was unsighted or simply blundered, he may not have stopped it anyway.
Undeterred by another Vaagen Moen free kick four minutes later that drifted narrowly over and Helstad taking advantage of lazy play by Fernandes before firing into the side-netting, the Blues resumed their scoring rout with 20 minutes to go.
Johnson and Yakubu combined nicely to feed Pienaar who then laid it into the path of Arteta but, unfortunately for Brann, his shot took a heavy deflection off a defender, bounced off the post and in to make it 4-1 on the night and 6-1 on aggregate.
Just two minutes later it was 5-1. Arteta played Pienaar in on the left side of the box and the South African jinked his way to the byline before eventually crossing across the face of goal. The ball ricocheted off two hapless Brann defenders before sitting up right in front of Yakubu who had the simplest of tasks to stab it past the stranded Opdal and complete his hat-trick.
It was his last involvement in proceedings as Moyes gave Victor Anichebe a chance to extend his terrific run of Uefa Cup goals but it was Pienaar who almost scored next. First, he unloaded from the edge of the box but shot just over the bar and then, after good work by Anichebe at the byline and touch on by Arteta near the penalty spot, the South African fired off the outside of the upright.
Back down the other end, the woodwork intervened for a third time when Vaagen Moen popped up unmarked at the back post but, with the goal at his mercy, he could only put his first time shot onto the post with three minutes left of regulation time.
Three more minutes were added and that was enough time for Johnson to score perhaps the pick of the bunch. Pienaar found him in acres of space with another pin-point pass and he had time to look up and crash an unstoppable, swerving 25 yarder into the Gwladys Street net and cap a fabulous evening.
As seems to be the case lately, the Blues took a while to get going but once they did it seemed like they had a good chance of scoring almost every time they attacked. In truth, the score could have been higher and not only because they hit the post twice; a few promising attacks were let down by wayward passing and the side could be as sloppy as they could be penetrating.
As a statements of intent go, though, an 8-1 aggregate win over the Norwegian Champions is a pretty good one as the Blues prepare for a two-legged test against Fiorentina.
Player Ratings
Howard: Good aerial command of his area when needed but he'll be kicking himself over the goal. 7
Neville: Fine to middling for the most part but still managed to revert to type with poor passing and needless free kicks conceded outside his own area. 6
Valente: Had a pretty decent game overall. 7
Jagielka/Lescott: More of the same from Jags and Joleon. Solid and reliable. 8
Carsley: Much improved on reccent performances in the 45 minutes he played. 7
Cahill: Also only played the first 45 minutes but his crucial role in the opening goal was a standout moment. 7
Arteta: Along with Pienaar, the only one willing to try and entertain in the opening stages and continued in that vein throughout, pulling some of his usual tricks out the bag. Perhaps his only downside was his crossing which rarely found a Blue shirt. 8
Pienaar: Looked a little lacking in sharpness in the early going but by the end was the buzzing ball of energy we have come to known and love. 8
Johnson: Lots of the usual effort and two cracking goals. 8
Yakubu: Feed the Yak and he will score. It's that simple. Terrific play all around, really. 9
Hibbert (on for Carsley): Didn't really get into the game from an attacking perspective where poor distribution again let him down but was fine when defending. 6
Fernandes (on for Cahill): A performance that sums up his contribution so far since returning to Goodison: annoying lapses in concentration one minute, a mesmerising shimmy, brilliant flash of skill or perfect pass the next. On the whole, though, there were signs that he is settling back into life in England... but slowly! 7
Anichebe (on for Yakubu): A decent run out but no goal this time for Big Vic. 7
Lyndon Lloyd
With one foot in the Round of 16 thanks to a handsome 2-0 win in the first leg in Norway, Everton take on SK Brann for the second time in 8 days hoping to keep it tight and secure that passage to the next round and a likely date with Fiorentina.
And David Moyes will be buouyed by the fact that he has a virtually fully-fit squad from which to choose, Anthony Gardner being the only player still on the treatment table.
Steven Pienaar is available again for the first time since 5th January following Africa Cup of Nations duty and the ankle injury he picked up in Ghana, and Mikel Arteta has also shaken off the knock that prevented him from travelling to Bergen last week.
That gives the manager plenty of selection options, both in terms of the starting line-up and also to whom he can give a run out in the second half if the aggregate score remains as comfortable as it is going into the second game.
Facing elimination from the tournament, Brann will need to come out and play but while they did cause the Blues a few problems at times in the first leg, there was little to suggest that they have what it takes to overturn a two-goal deficit at Goodison Park.
With the first leg won by a comfortable 2:0 margin, Everton go into their UEFA Cup 3rd round, 2nd leg match as favourites to move into the 4th round (or round of 16 to use UEFA parlance).
Everton's record in Europe:
P
W
D
L
F
A
European Cup
10
2
5
3
14
Cup Winners’ Cup
17
11
4
25
9
UEFA Cup
29
16
Fairs Cup
12
7
22
15
TOTALS:
56
30
13
90
50
Our home record in Europe:
1
6
8
0
27
18
51
19
The last home match in Europe was the group stage match against Zenit St. Petersburg, which saw a Tim Cahill goal securing a 1:0 victory, which guaranteed that Everton would progress to this stage of the competition.
This will be Everton’s fourth match against Norwegian opposition in Europe. The third match was, obviously, the 2:0 victory at SK Brann last week, whilst the pervious two matches in European competition where when they beat Valarengen 9:4 on aggregate in the 1964 Fairs Cup. The first leg, which was played away saw a 5:2 victory with goals from Alex Scott, Colin Harvey, Derek Temple and a brace from Fred Pickering. This was followed up with a 4:2 victory at Goodison Park with the goals coming from an Alex Young brace, Roy Vernon and an Arne Jacobsen own goal (one of only 2 own goals Everton have benefited from in European competition).
The only other time Everton have gone into the 2nd leg of a European match with a 2-goal advantage was way back in 1964, when a 2:0 win at Kilmarnock in the Fairs Cup (thanks to goals from Derek Temple and Johnny Morrisey) was followed up with a 4:1 victory at Goodison Park, with the goals coming from Alex Young, Colin Harvey and another Fred Pickering brace.
Of the 5 European ties that have seen a 1st leg lead taken back to Goodison Park, Everton have won all 5 of the 2nd legs as well (including the 4:1 win against Kilmarnock). This will be Everton’s 18th match on 21 February:
Premier League
Division One
Division Two
FA Cup
23
Everton’s overall record on this date looks a bit shaky, however, they have only lost 2 home matches on this date from 9 games. The last match on this date saw a home defeat when David Moyes’ was slated for his substitutions in a 1:2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur last year. The only other defeat at home on this date was 0:1 to Liverpool in the FA Cup 5th round in 1988.
Milestones that can be reached this game:
Steve Flanagan
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* Everton deducted 8 pts; †Forest deducted 4 pts for PSR breachView full table
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