And then there were none. The end of English football’s interest in Europe arrived emphatically and shambolically as Everton were routed in the last 16 of the Europa League by Dynamo Kiev.
Roberto Martínez had targeted this competition as possible salvation from a sorry domestic season, but the journey derailed in Ukraine’s capital. Criminally, his team went down with little fight. A truly woeful defensive display holed Everton’s hopes of a place in the quarter-finals and Sergei Rebrov’s clinical side were able to take full advantage.
Andriy Yarmolenko and Vitorino Antunes started and finished the victory in stunning style, and Martínez claimed it was quality in front of goal that proved the difference on the night, but their goals book-ended an appalling collapse in the heart of the visiting defence. Antolín Alcaraz, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman chose the wrong night to allow the weakness that has undermined Everton’s Premier League season to infect their European campaign.
Romelu Lukaku’s eighth Europa League goal this term, plus a late Jagielka header, barely registered as consolations. The manner of Dynamo’s goals also turned the spotlight onto some baffling choices by Martínez.
The manager’s decision to start Alcaraz instead of the well-again John Stones, to abandon the three-man midfield that functioned well in Sunday’s win over Newcastle United, and to omit key components Leon Osman and Darron Gibson to make room for Gareth Barry, all back-fired badly.
Not that Martínez was having it afterwards. “The back four and five have been strong in the last two games,” he argued. “We conceded only one goal from a corner versus Dynamo in the first leg and kept a clean sheet versus Newcastle. I felt their experience and communication would be important. It was a case of the whole team not defending well enough.”
Martínez added: “Their second goal came from our corner. I don’t think it is the personnel but the team and the occasion. Dynamo had a lot of momentum and confidence and everything they struck hit the back of the net rather than us being to blame for not defending better. Sometimes you have to highlight the quality of the finishing. We created a lot of chances but hit the post twice, and the keeper. That was the difference.”
Dynamo first took control of the tie with a superb individual goal, when Yarmolenko roamed into space from the right, stepped inside Barry and swept a sweet left-foot finish beyond Tim Howard from 20 yards. Everton’s goalkeeper did not move.
Martínez’s men reacted well, initially. Naismith and Ross Barkley combined to almost level when the Scot released the England international clear of the Dynamo defence. Barkley’s low shot beat Olexandr Shovkovskiy in the home goal but cannoned off the base of the far post.
Everton regained a hold on qualification in fine style, however, when Lukaku showed that Yarmolenko was not the only commanding forward with a powerful left-foot on display. Lukaku won Jagielka’s free-kick on the edge of the Dynamo area, and, after Christian Atsu’s shot rebounded to him 20 yards from goal, the Belgian curled an outstanding shot into Shovkovskiy’s top corner.
Level on the night, ahead on aggregate; Everton then imploded. Jagielka and Alcaraz had already served notice of their frailty in the air before Dynamo regained the lead with an appallingly simple goal, both missing a routine clearance and allowing Yarmolenko to force Howard into a superb save.
Next time there was no reprieve. Dynamo’s second stemmed from an Everton corner that was taken by Leighton Baines, who was unable to get back into position for the counter-attack, prompting Coleman to switch to the left. Oleh Gusev’s left-wing cross caused mayhem in the Everton six-yard box. Alcaraz missed the flight of the delivery yet again, the ball struck Coleman on the thigh, and it fell perfectly for Lukasz Teodorczyk to convert from close range.
Dynamo prospered from an identical route less than two minutes later. Alcaraz was making a habit of heading thin air and lost out to Miguel Veloso while challenging for another long ball out of defence. Jagielka won the second aerial challenge but only found Veloso lurking on the edge of the area. The midfielder’s half-volley deflected off Coleman and looped in over the stranded Howard.
Everton could still have advanced with a second goal at that point, but were left needing two when more abject defending involving Alcaraz and Coleman gifted Rebrov’s team their fourth. Yarmolenko released Teodorczyk behind Everton’s back-line with a perfectly-weighted pass and when the striker crossed from the byline Alcaraz had to intercept before Gusev. Instead, the woeful Paraguayan turned the ball against Coleman on the line, yet another rebound from the Donegal defender fell to a white shirt, and Gusev gleefully put the invitation away via the inside of a post.
Antunes, the Dynamo left-back, completed his side’s scoring with an unstoppable drive from 35 yards that flew into Howard’s top corner. There was no faulting the Everton defence for that one. Barkley hit a post for a second time and Shovkovskiy saved superbly from Atsu before Jagielka glanced in Baines’s corner. The late rally strengthened Martínez’s claim that finishing was all that separated the teams on the night, but in reality, and just like Everton, he had no defence.
