I leave you with this match report from Paul Wilson at Goodison Park. Bye!
That wasn’t Everton’s worst performance of the season, but neither was it a particularly good one, and it featured an ugly moment in which the club was let down both by their captain and by a couple of their fans. They came close to a second goal a couple of times, Sigurdsson hitting the post with a cross, and had they rather than Lyon scored the third goal of the game and held on to their lead, this would have been remembered as an encouraging evening. Mirallas was good in the first half, combining particularly well with Davies, but he did little after the break and was eventually taken off. Sigurdsson’s set pieces nearly changed the game after he rose from the bench. There is quality there, they just, well, don’t seem to have been told what to do with it.
Meanwhile, this press release has just arrived from William Hill:
Everton’s defeat to Lyon at home has piled the pressure on Ronald Koeman even more than he was under before. Offered at 4/11 before the start of the game, Koeman is now 1/7 to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job.
He is just Even money to leave his role before the start of 2018.
“Given the money Everton spent in the summer you would have thought they would be battling at the top of the Premier League instead of the bottom and also attempting to get into the latter stages of the Europa League,” said William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly. “Things just haven’t worked out and it looks like a change may be coming sooner rather than later.”
Ashley Williams has spoken, which in the circumstances is quite brave of him:
It’s going to be difficult. We wanted to win tonight. I thought the lads responded well when we went one down. I thought we fought well as a team.
[Asked about the fight] It’s what happens. It’s football. It is what it is. You know, it is what it is. It’s just football. It’s high emotions. We want to win the game, they want to win the game, stuff happens. That was one of those times I think.
The pressure you put on yourself is more than anything outside. We want to show fight. I’m disappointed we didn’t get a result because I thought we showed a good attitude. I felt we had a lot of chances, more than them.
Arsenal’s a big one, especially against a top team at home. We need a win, and we need a good performance.
3 - Only three sides have progressed past the Europa League group stages after collecting one point in the first three games. Precarious. https://t.co/PtsXy7t2x0
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2017
Meanwhile the other match in Group E got a bit interesting when Schembri equalised for Lyon with a 59th-minute header, but then five minutes later Petagna headed in a corner, and a couple of minutes after that Freuler added another. It thus ended 3-1 to Atalanta, who lead the group with seven points. Lyon have five, Apollon Limassol have two, and Everton have a single point.
And boos ring out at Goodison Park, while Koeman comes onto the turf to harangue the referee about something or other. Perhaps he’s also confused about how Ashley Williams stayed on the pitch.
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Final score: Everton 1-2 Lyon
90+6 mins: Pickford hits a prodigiously long goal kick, but there’s no time for it to come to anything. Just as it comes down to earth, the whistle blows!
90+5 mins: Everton have done nothing in stoppage time. Instead, Ndombele has a shot from 20 yards – ignoring a free team-mate to his right – that’s deflected wide. They’re in no hurry to take the corner.
90+4 mins: A miffed former Everton player writes:
This a settled team v a disorganised one full stop
— Neville Southall (@NevilleSouthall) October 19, 2017
90+3 mins: Pickford saves again. Cornet controls a long ball beautifully, ghosts past Keane and then tries a shot from an acute angle, which hits the keeper.
90+2 mins: Williams is now playing as a centre-forward. Ramirez crosses low from the left, and the Welshman shoots wide.
90+1 mins: Lyon break, Traore crosses and Keane clears just over his own bar. The visitors are in no hurry to take the corner, which is then hit straight into Davies’ face.
90+1 mins: Into stoppage time we roll, and there’ll be about five minutes of it.
89 mins: Lopes stays down for a while, and then Lyon bring off Depay and bring on Tanguy Ndombele.
87 mins: A remarkable minute. First Ferri dances into the area and tries to lift the ball over the onrushing Pickford, but the keeper stops it! And then Everton pump the ball forward, Tete tries to chest the ball back to Lopes but there’s a blue shirt about. Lopes and Tete both scream ballwards and crash into each other, hurting Lopes but most importantly clearing the ball.
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87 mins: And another great save, at the other end this time! And then another at the other!
85 mins: Great save! Ramirez crosses from the right, and Calvert-Lewin’s header is low and hard and very well saves by Lopes!
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83 mins: The growl has gone from Everton’s fans now, and Lyon’s are the supporters you can hear on the TV. But neither side is playing with much precision at the moment, and another goal for either is distinctly possible.
81 mins: Lookman has had a couple of terrible shots since he came on. One, when off balance just inside the area, was ballooned high. The latest, when perfectly balance and outside the area, was also ballooned high.
80 mins: This has been, if it’s any consolation, a considerably better performance than the Atalanta game. But the answer still has be, not for very long.
@Simon_Burnton #koemanout is the 11th highest paid manager in the world. Would any truly ambitious club put up with this dross?
— Robin Cannon (@shinytoyrobots) October 19, 2017
79 mins: Williams is still over-excited. He gives away another free-kick, for leaning on Traore as both jumped for a header. “What in the wide world of sports is up with Ashley Williams?” asks JR. “He used to be good and I sort of liked him. Now he is pants and I very much dislike him. He should have been sent off before he scored. Then after he scored did you see him give a hard two-handed shove in the back to Tousart? Dude’s out of control.”
78 mins: Holgate crosses, and the ball hits Marçal in the stomach. He collapses to the ground pretending to be injured, rolling and grimacing. It wasn’t even going very fast.
77 mins: It may in fact be a Keane own goal, but Cornet deserves the credit.
GOAL! Everton 1-2 Lyon (Traore, 75 mins)
Um, typed too soon. Lovely work on the right from Cornet, who goes past Williams, pulls the ball back and Traore’s backheel flick clips Keane and dribbles in!
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74 mins: It’s amazing how an incident that happened while the ball was already dead, in which no one was injured, can totally transform a football match.
Everton fans punching Lyon players after Ashley Williams foul #EFC #COYB pic.twitter.com/8yxGhbDSwM
— TimHowardsOffHisLine (@TimsBallPhobia) October 19, 2017
73 mins: Everton hit the post! It’s a free-kick from the left and Sigurdsson bends it in towards the far post, nobody touches it, and it bounces against the upright and away!
70 mins: Lyon have brought Cornet on for Maolida. Meanwhile, among the stars of that big dust-up is the chap pictured below, who had a young child in his left hand while his right was attacking random Frenchmen.
Here's dad of the year seconds before he throws a punch at a Lyon player pic.twitter.com/1tPet4ZDeE
— Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) October 19, 2017
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Lyon – and it's only Ashley Williams!
69 mins: A lovely free-kick from the right, an emphatic header from the unmarked Williams!
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68 mins: Everton bring Mirallas off, and Ramirez on.
67 mins: The incident has got the crowd excited. They are suddenly in full voice. But the referee bottled that big time.
66 mins: Willliams is, to be clear, a total idiot and bizarrely fortunate to only be booked.
65 mins: Everyone’s annoyed about this, various Lyon players come in, Everton players join the fray, punches are thrown – some by fans – and Williams is very much at the heart of it.
65 mins: Everton have a corner, slightly overhit by Sigurdsson, and it’s headed up in the air. It bounces and Lopes comes out and catches it high above his head. Then, Williams comes in and shoulder-barges him over, with no hope of winning the ball.
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64 mins: Handbags! Serious handbags! Significant handbaggery!
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63 mins: Aouar does well to win the ball and passes to Depay, who carries it to the by-line and then, just as things are getting really interesting, falls over and scuffs the ball out of play.
60 mins: Nabil Fekir has had enough of being ignored by the referee and is off for a sit down. Jordan Ferri comes on. I wonder if he’s ever crossed the Mersey?
57 mins: Schneiderlin seems to have hurt himself in making that goal-saving challenge a few minutes ago, and has limped off. Sigurdsson is on.
56 mins: In tonight’s other Group E game, Atalanta lead Apollon 1-0, through Ilicic’s first-half goal.
55 mins: Lookman is booked, for fouling Marçal with the ball long gone.
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53 mins: Great chance for Lyon! Davies is dispossessed by Aouar in midfield, Maolida is played in, and he takes a bit too long over his shot and Schneiderlin dives in to block it!
52 mins: One of the blind hoofs finds Maolida, who carries the ball to the edge of the penalty area and, just when things looked interesting, gets tackled by Williams.
51 mins: It’s been an excellent start to the half from Everton, with Lyon resorting to blind hoofs out of defence.
50 mins: Tete goes over, gets kicked in the head by Davies (who was going for the ball) and gives Everton a free kick for his troubles. Nothing comes of it.
46 mins: And before the minute’s out they have a great chance to equalise! A cross from the left bounces off Holgate’s head, bounces over a defender and drops to Lookman, whose shot from six yards hits Lopes!
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46 mins: And within 20 seconds of the restart Holgate romps into space down the right and puts in a fine cross that Lopes pushes clear.
46 mins: And they’re off! Again!
Everton are making some changes: Ademola Lookman has come on for Klaassen at the break.
Half time: Everton 0-1 Lyon
45 mins: It is half time. There are no audible boos as Everton go in behind. It’s been a fun half, though, with plenty of helter and also some skelter.
44 mins: Shot! Lyon work the ball across the field and Traore runs inside from the left and tries to curl the ball in at the far post, but misses by a yard or two.
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44 mins: Maolida has the ball on the left, and not one single white shirt runs into the penalty area to offer a crossing option, so he has no choice but to hang about for a bit and then pass backwards.
42 mins: Another excellent challenge! It’s a pull-back from the right by-line that Mirallas sprints towards, all alone, but just as he seems about to smash it into the net, Tete sticks out a foot and pokes clear!
42 mins: Chance for Lyon! Depay runs inside from the left, exchanges passes with Maolida, hares between two defenders and to the edge of the area, but then shoots rather casually and Pickford saves and holds.
40 mins: Chance for Everton! Marcelo gives the ball away in defence and Klaassen and Mirallas are both on hand to take advantage. Klaassen takes the ball, ignores his team-mate and unleashes a low, hard shot from the edge of the area that Lopes saves!
39 mins: Fekir goes down again, on the half-way line this time. The referee ignores him again. “Seems everyone is on the Fekir bandwagon now, which is fine,” writes Ian Copestake. “But what is ‘Unstuck’? Is this youth-speak for something positive disguised as the appropriation of a word no one uses anyway except after the word ‘came’?” Perhaps they meant “unpicked”?
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37 mins: Depay hits the bar from the free-kick! Pickford was going to save it easily, but it flicks off Davies’ head, totally changes course and with the goalkeeper nowhere clips the top of the bar!
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36 mins: It’s the kind of rain that’s so dense it almost looks foggy. Schneiderlin fouls Fekir really quite nastily, 35 yards out, and also emerges unbooked. Surely too far to shoot, though Fekir may disagree.
34 mins: It is absolutely pouring. Mirallas, who is involved in everything positive for Everton at the moment, is taken out by Tousart, giving the home side the opportunity to not make anything from another free kick.
32 mins: Everton come close! It’s a nice move, which ends with Davies threading a pass through the Lyon defence to Mirallas, whose first-time shot hits Lopes and rebounds to safety!
30 mins: The ball is played to Mirallas, running into the penalty area from the left, and he jinks inside and is tackled just as he’s about to shoot. The ball rolls to Davies, whose shot is deflected behind for a corner. From which nothing arises.
29 mins: Davies very deliberately and quite aggressively blocks Traore with his shoulder, and is extremely fortunate to get away unbooked.
28 mins: Another random shot, from Lyon this time, as Tousart’s 25-yard volley floats into Pickford’s hands. “As a United fan, it’s nice to see Memphis Depay finally find a way to play decent football with a teammate named Marçal,” jokes someone who appears to be known simply as J.
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26 mins: Another shot from outside the box from Everton, and Schneiderlin’s effort isn’t on target either. Meanwhile, Rooney Jr and Snr engage in a game of completely-contrasting-facial-expression bingo.
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24 mins: Traore beats two defenders with really humiliating ease and passes to the overlapping Tete. Pickford comes out smartly to catch the cross, with nobody but a lip-licking striker beyond him.
23 mins: Fekir goes down again, in Everton’s penalty area this time. The referee, and indeed everyone else, is still ignoring him.
21 mins: Everton are properly in the game now. Davies passes to Mirallas, who runs inside from the left wing before dragging a right-foot shot wide of the near post from 20 yards.
19 mins: Fekir, whose ankle seems just fine now, controls a long pass from Aouar nicely on his chest and tries to flick the ball over Williams. It hits the defender on the chest but Fekir screams for a handball anyway. The referee pays even less attention to his whining this time than he did when Fekir said he had a sore ankle.
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17 mins: Another Everton free-kick on the right and this time they win the header, and Vlasic slams a volley well over the bar from 20 yards.
16 mins: Everton try really hard to do some attacking, but just end up stabbing the ball about randomly on the edge of the area, and it’s eventually smacked clear. Still, the home fans give a roar of approval.
12 - Nabil Fekir has been directly involved in 12 goals in 12 appearances for Lyon this season (eight goals, four assists). Unstuck. pic.twitter.com/ixRqlxOVMq
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2017
14 mins: Vlasic goes flying under challenge from Marçel and is amazed when the referee gives Lyon a free kick. Marçel makes up for it by fouling Holgate about five seconds later, so Everton have their free kick after all, out on the right wing. It’s headed clear.
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12 mins: You wouldn’t have thought Lyon have had a poor run of results, as so far they look full of confidence – and quality.
11 mins: Lyon have had 68% of possession so far.
10 mins: Goal-saving challenge from Williams! Fekir passes into the area and Depay would have got to it before Pickford had Williams to slide in and take it first!
9 mins: Fekir has gone down clutching his right ankle. He’s ignored by everyone else, so eventually he gingerly gets to his feet. It remains to be seen if he was completely faking.
7 mins: Lyon attack again, and Marçal has the entire left-hand side of the pitch to himself as the ball is played into space, but he crosses into the enarest defender.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Lyon (Fekir, 6 mins)
Fekir shoots low and hard to his right, and though Pickford goes the right way the shot is just too well placed!
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Lyon have a penalty!
5 mins: It’s been all Lyon so far, and now Depay passes to Marcal, who is taken out by Holgate just inside the area, giving the referee little choice but to point to the spot!
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3 mins: The ball rolls into the Everton area. Ashley Williams shepherds it while Pickford runs out and then, just as Pickford arrives, boots it into touch for no obvious reason.
2 mins: The early talking point is: is Houssem Aouar the only footballer whose surname sounds like someone doing an impersonation of a West Country farmer? It’s a great surname, but would be even better if it was Eric Cantona’s middle name.
1 min: They’ve kicked off!
Kick-off very much imminent.
They’re out of the tunnel, and have shaken hands and everything. Well, done brief hand-clasps.
BT Sport have finally turned their attention to Goodison, and the players are already in the tunnel.
“Wayne Rooney was born 15 years ago?” boggles Ian Copestake. “When his mum announced him to the world (in a hospital ward against a temporary background replete with sponsor logos) I am sure she would not have imagined he would both burn out so early and yet age so rapidly.” Rooney’s decline from the heroic to the humdrum makes me profoundly sad.
Elsewhere, Arsenal have just scored a beautiful goal to take the lead at Red Star Belgrade. Seek it out.
Here’s Fekir’s 94th-minute free-kick winner against Monaco on Friday, his seventh goal of the season. Without wishing ill on Everton, I’d be very happy to see him hit top form this evening (though it’s worth noting that all seven of those goals have come at home).
94th minute, no problem!
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) October 13, 2017
Nabil Fekir nets a brilliant free-kick in the dying moments to down champions Monaco. 👏 pic.twitter.com/t6rKVj43hL
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So with Everton needing to win and therefore to score, Rooney is out completely and Sigurdsson is on the bench. Kevin Mirallas and Davy Klaassen are in, and Tom Davies replaces Idrissa Gueye in midfield, which is just as well given that he’s on the front of the match programme.
The teams!
You may spot the total absence of Wayne Rooney from Everton’s matchday squad:
🔵 | Team news is in! Here's our XI and subs to face @OL in the @europaleague. #UEL #EFCmatchday pic.twitter.com/wEtEN48WMF
— Everton (@Everton) October 19, 2017
➡️ La compo !🔴 🔵#EvertonOL pic.twitter.com/gLGG7Dfpwl
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) October 19, 2017
18-year-old striker Myziane Maolida is expected to make his full debut for Lyon tonight, in the absence of groin-twanged Mariano Diaz. And yes, before you ask, his name is an anagram of “I amazed oily man”, and also “I am dozy animal, e!”
Hello world!
With two wins and five defeats in their last 11 games, these are difficult times for Everton. So far in Europe, since sneaking past Hajduk Split in the qualifiers, they have drawn at home to Apollon Limassol and lost really quite horribly at Atalanta. Lyon meanwhile have won two of their last nine games, drawing six – three of them 3-3, though Nabil Fekir’s last-minute winner against Monaco last Friday means they at least head to Merseyside in reasonably good spirits. With Ronald Koeman already unpopular and Arsenal to visit on Sunday, this is a big week for the Dutch tactician. Lyon, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals of this competition last season and host the final this season, so are under some pressure to progress and are yet to win in the Europa League this season.
In other news, precisely 15 years ago today…
⏪ | #OnThisDay in 2002... 💥😱🙌@WayneRooney introduced himself to the world 15 years ago.
— Everton (@Everton) October 19, 2017
On Sunday, it's #EFC v @Arsenal all over again... pic.twitter.com/QvHzdqyBlG
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime you can read why Ronald Koeman believes this is a must-win game …
