A Point Plundered Keeps Blues on Course

Samuel Eto'o's late goal salvaged a point that was more important than the iffy performance it was built on

Of all of Everton's fixtures in what was a tough Group H draw, the long trip to Russia was, arguably, the most daunting. The midweek flight over 2,000+ miles, further than past visits to Belarus and Ukraine, to the unfamiliar surroundings near the Black Sea, coupled with the largely unknown quantity represented by Krasnodar, meant that this was always going to be a testing fixture.

It proved to be exactly that. A point would have been a satisfactory return and that is what the Blues will take back to Merseyside after just about coming through a stern examination at the hands of the Russian League's Bulls, at least for the first two thirds of the match. It required hard work, more than a smattering of fortune, and no small measure of patience but Roberto Martinez's men earned a precious draw thanks to Samuel Eto'o's second goal for the club.

Much will be made of the performance from a team that featured five changes from the side that started at Anfield on Saturday and which struggled for significant periods for the first hour to contain Krasnodar's rapid-fire attacking style. The Russians had scored eight goals without reply at home during the qualifying rounds and, even without the suspended Joaozinho, it was easy to see why.

The movement and quick passing interchanges between the front quartet of Marat Izmailov, the Brazlilan Ari, Mauricio Pereyra, and Ricardo Laborde were a source of regular consternation for Everton's back line, although much of it could have been avoided had Martinez's players been able to take better custody of the ball. A succession of loose passes in midfield had the Blues on the back foot on a number of occasions but a combination of last-ditch tackles and Tim Howard thwarted the home side until they eventually made the breakthrough two minutes before half time.

With James McCarthy remaining behind on Merseyside to rest a tight and fatigued quad, Darron Gibson was handed his second start of the season and charged with forming the defensive midfield pairing with Gareth Barry. The Irishman was guilty of a couple of glaringly poor passes inside the first 10 minutes, though, as Krasnodar implemented a strategy of pressing the defence high up the pitch.

Neither of those two early gifts of possession were punished, nor were subsequent giveaways by Gareth Barry, Leon Osman, Christian Atsu and the otherwise imperious John Stones over the course of the first half but it took an excellent blocking tackle from Phil Jagielka, a couple of good saves from Howard to deny Odil Ahmedov and Izmailov, and Stones recovering brilliantly from his own error to keep the score goalless heading towards the interval.

At the other end, where Atsu was lively but profligate with the ball and Aiden McGeady was proving to be Everton's best player going forward, Barry forced a diving save from Andrey Dikan, Stones looped a free header narrowly wide and McGeady tested the 'keeper with a decent low drive. But, in stark contrast to their effervescent hosts, the Toffees were generally too slow to move the ball forward, with Osman in particular wanting far too much time on the ball, and were repeatedly wasteful with the final pass.

On the balance of the first half, it was only a matter of time before Krasnodar made the breakthrough, which they did by seizing on indecision in Everton's defence. Jagielka was sucked towards a dinked ball forward that eventually dropped behind him, by which time Ari had collected it and, using Pereyra as the decoy, he advanced on Howard before firing past the American to make it 1-0 at half time.

What was known about the Russians beforehand had largely been borne out in the first period: they like to attack and move the ball quickly to the frontmen. Martinez's gameplan of biding his time was probably a sound one but it relied on better retention of the ball from his goalkeeper, defence and midfield to prevent it coming straight back.

The Catalan made what would prove to be his only substitution at the interval when he withdrew Atsu and introduced Romelu Lukaku to provide a physical presence and a greater ability to hold the ball up in the final third. There was, however – for the first 15-20 minutes of the second half, at least – a yawning chasm between the front two and the midfield that meant there was precious little link-up play in the final third for the Blues and the pattern of the match continued to favour Krasnodar.

A succession of corners were dealt with comfortably by the Everton defence but the Russians threatened to double their lead when Jagielka was caught in possession in an unforgiveably dangerous place in front of his own penalty area but the attack was snuffed out before it could trouble Howard; another effort from Ari looped just over, and substitute Wanderson's mazy dribble past four static white shirts ended with his shot coming off the crossbar with the goalkeeper helplessly rooted to the spot.

Krasnodar's high-energy pressing game had taken its toll as the match moved into its last third, though, and Everton began to come more and more into the contest from an attacking perspective. Close control from Lukaku inside the opposition area engineered enough space for a low shot that Dikan parried behind for a corner and that was followed by three more set-piece opportunities, the last of which prompted the equalising goal.

Baines got the ball back following a clearance from his own corner and when he swung the ball in, Eto'o stole into the space between two defenders to guide the ball inside the far post off his out-stretched leg. It could prove to be a priceless equaliser in the wider context of the battle to get out of Group H and it underscored the shift in momentum that had taken place over the previous quarter of an hour. Indeed, Everton would press for a winner in the closing stages but the closest they came was a downward header from Lukaku that Dikan batted away from his near post. It would have been an unjust winner but would have been welcome nonetheless.

Still, an important point keeps the Blues top of the group and on course for the next phase if they can continue to win their home fixtures and draw away from Goodison Park. The quest for a complete performance this season goes on but, under the circumstances and with so many changes, this was never going to be the match to find it. Great heart will be taken from the result, though, and that alone should be used as a platform on which Martinez and his players can build towards finding some consistency on the domestic front in the coming weeks.

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