And there you have it. Everton are the only British side left in the hat, and they stayed in said hat with some aplomb, wrapping things up just before half-time with some terrific goals. They’ll go into the draw tomorrow lunchtime.
That’s yer lot. Cheers for reading.
Oh, and I got 3/12 on that quiz. Shameful.
Full-time: Everton 3-1 Young Boys - Everton win 7-2 on aggregate
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins + 1: GOA....oh, no, it’s disallowed. Coleman dinks the ball over from the right which finds Osman on the edge of the six yard box to head home, but he did so with the help of a Shearer-style shove in a defender’s back as the ball was in the air.
90 mins: Aside from the first ten minutes or so, and assuming Young Boys don’t score five goals in stoppage time, this has been a job well done by Everton. Comfortable win, nobody really hurst (well, maybe Lukaku, but we’re not sure about that one yet), and a few minutes to some players returning from injury.
88 mins: Delicious flick between the two centre-backs by Osman puts Kone through to the right of goal, but rather than opting for the sensible low shot across goal, he tries a high effort towards the near post, which inevitably goes wide.
86 mins: More nice play from Everton on the right of the box sets Coleman away, who has time, time, time to burn, but instead uses it to cut a pass back to Barry, only for the midfielder to scuff a right-footed first-time shot straight at the keeper.
85 mins: Everton attack down the right, but Kone delays his pass just long enough for Coleman to run into an offside position. Only just, mind. But long enough.
82 mins: Young Boys win a free-kick on the left corner of the box, Sutter decides ‘What the hey, I’m going to take a shot from here’, aims it towards the near post but in the end it floats over.
80 mins: Well, this is nice...
Hats off to the BSC Young Boys traveling support. All 1,700 have been singing non-stop tonight. #EFCvBSC
— Everton (@Everton) February 26, 2015
Meanwhile, Leon Osman replaces Naismith. The midfielder is returning from a nasty-sounding split tendon in his foot. Eesh.
79 mins: More threat from the left, as it’s Mirallas cutting in from the flank and shooting this time. Wolfli for some reason punches the thing almost straight up in the air, but the flag goes up as Kone was offside when the initial shot was taken.
77 mins: Update from elsewhere...
Players back out! #FeyenoordRoma
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) February 26, 2015
76 mins: Close! Kone gets the ball on the edge of the box from Garbutt, he takes his time lining up the shot, but can only strike it against the base of the post. Meanwhile, Young Boys make their final change, with Samuel Afum coming on for Kubo.
Updated
74 mins: Naismith cuts in from the left and shoots, but Wolfli gets behind it, gathering at the second attempt.
Meanwhile, JR in Illinois has been keeping an eye on the Feyenoord v Roma match: “Both teams have been taken off the pitch and play is suspended at Feyenoord. Not quite sure what’s going on but I think some fans are angry. Te Vrede had just gotten a straight red card for Feyenoord for a not great tackle (it was nowhere near as bad as De Rossi’s brutal elbow assault on Kazim-Richards in the 22nd minute on which no foul was called).”
Sounds lively.
72 mins: Everton counter through the middle with Mirallas, who has options left and right, or he could shoot, but instead he chooses mystery option No.4, which is to step on the ball and leave it behind, making himself look rather foolish.
70 mins: Lovely attack from Everton, as Naismith and Besic exchange passes, before the latter splits the centre-back and right-back with a beautiful ball to Garbutt, who whips in a cracking low cross that is maybe a foot too far in front of the sliding Mirallas in the middle.
69 mins: Coleman tries to liven life up by collecting the ball in roughly the right-back position, then running with it across his own defence, around 12 yards from his own goal. Gets away with it, mind.
68 mins: Sub for the visitors - Nuzzolo goes off, with Alexander Gerndt on instead.
67 mins: This Young Boys kit is identical to Borussia Dortmund’s. Not much else is happening.
66 mins: Kubo and Bertone attempt identical shots in quick succession from the edge of the box, but they are blocked identically by Naismith and Coleman.
64 mins: Kone is set through on goal in sort of the left channel, but he looks terribly hesitant and can only hit a fairly weak shot straight into Wolfli’s chest.
63 mins: The Young Boys fans seem to be keeping themselves warm/amused by cuddling and doing a sort of half-hearted Poznan thing. Well, anything that passes the time, chaps.
Updated
62 mins: Lovely bit of neat play on the edge of the box between Besic, Kone and Naismith damn near creates a chance for the latter, but it’s intercepted and cleared.
61 mins: Another change now, as Muhamed Besic enters the fray, replacing McCarthy.
60 mins: Gibson gets a bit ambitious with a long, quarter-backy cross from deep, deep, deep, but it floats right through to the keeper.
57 mins: Change for Young Boys - Lecjaks is off, Marco Bürki is on.
56 mins: All calmed down a bit now. One imagines everyone will be happy to just go home from this point with no further damage done. Physically and spiritually.
53 mins: Oy vey, Everton go close. Mirallas cuts in from the left, then does keeper Wolfli with the eyes, shooting towards the near post as the goalie dives towards the far, but he sticks out enough of a leg to somehow skew the thing over the bar.
Updated
51 mins: Gibson very nearly adds to the already impressive array of delicious passes in this game by clipping one over the top for Kone, but it’s just headed clear before it can reach the striker.
48 mins: OK, so here is that sub. Lukaku goes off and he’s limping a little bit. Arouna Kone comes on, but if those three minutes have caused the striker to either suffer or exacerbate a strain, then Martinez should go sit in the corner and think about what he’s done for a long, long time.
Updated
47 mins: Lukaku tries to make room for a shot and his hat-trick, but his effort is blocked. From the subsequent corner, Lukaku cranes his neck to head a cross behind him, but can only direct it wide.
46 mins: The teams are out again. No changes though. Sake, Roberto...
“And if...you know....your history...”
Only Brian Russell has been brave enough to submit his score for this well hard quiz so far. “I got a measly 4/10. Surprised I got that much, to be honest.”
At least you tried, Brian.
Half-time: Everton 3-1 Young Boys - Everton lead 7-2 on aggregate
Well, our fears that nowt would happen haven been thankfully unfounded. Now, time to make some well-placed substitutions, Roberto.
45 mins: Llama update: the llama chase appears to have ended, so we can assume that the black llama was either also apprehended, or met an unfortunate end. Make your own politically-charged jokes about the LAPD there.
44 mins: Garbutt flings over an absolute beaut of a cross from the left, but Coleman can’t quite take it first-time. He does eventually recover and runs into the box, eventually crossing to back to Garbutt, who can’t quite get his shot directed at goal properly.
42 mins: Everton counter again, and Gibson plays an utterly superb through ball, clefting the Young Boys defence in twain and setting Mirallas clean through on goal, and the Belgian saunters up to Wolfli and rather insouciantly strokes it into the net.
GOAL! Everton 3-1 Young Boys (Mirallas 42) - Everton lead 7-2 on aggregate
Another lovely one, there.
Updated
40 mins: Sinister stuff from UEFA...
That Europa League ident, where the giant trophy inserts its tentacles into a city and feeds off the people's thoughts, is a bit weird.
— Andrew Thomas (@andi_thomas) February 26, 2015
39 mins: From the resultant free-kick, Alcaraz rises at the back stick but heads wide, with Barry waiting just behind him with a better chance of a clear header.
38 mins: Naismith wins the ball from Sanogo, but the Young Boys midfielder then trips him from behind, then as the Scot falls he sort of clambers over his back, studs going everywhere. Naismith eventually gets to his feet and, like a man not sure who he’s swinging at in a bar fight, aims a kick at the nearest person to him. Surprisingly, neither men are given anything stronger than a ticking off from the ref.
Updated
37 mins: The atmosphere has genuinely improved dramatically since the word came through from Turkey. Schadenfreude, eh?
36 mins: Over in Istanbul, Liverpool are out after Dejan Lovren’s penalty is belted over. Besiktas win 5-4 on pens, and word has reached Goodison. Fair to say the locals are bloody delighted.
Updated
34 mins: ...but it’s poor and headed clear at the near post. “Good job!” shouts Tim Howard. Everton counter and set up a shot for Barry, which he takes but it skims over. Sanogo appears to have taken a bang on the head, which is being rubbed with ice.
33 mins: Everton are theoretically comfortable here, but Alcaraz is doing his best to change that. He concedes a free-kick in a dangerous position out on the left...
31 mins: Llama update: white llama is now firmly in police custody, not sure what’s happened to black llama.
29 mins: Darron Gibson spreads the ball splendidly out to Garbutt on the left, who finds himself in space and sticks his head down to run into it, then crosses at about thigh-height into the box, where Lukaku arrives perfectly to volley into the ground, and subsequently into the corner of the net. Lovely, lovely goal.
GOAL! Everton 2-1 Young Boys (Lukaku 29) - Everton lead 6-2 on aggregate
Ooooh, special, that.
Updated
28 mins: I say nerves have been calmed, but Everton are still defending rather skittishly. Sutter has another effort which isn’t too far away. At least they’re all trying to make it interesting for us.
27 mins: The Liverpool game has gone to penalties. Follow them with Paul Doyle. When ITV fix their feed to the game, of course.
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Young Boys (Lukaku 25) - Everton lead 5-2 on aggregate
And Lukaku slots it right into the bottom corner. Nerves, calmed.
Updated
PENALTY TO EVERTON!
Lukaku backheels through to Naismith, who gets there a milisecond before Wolfli in nets, who takes the forward down.
Updated
22 mins: Llama update: the white llama appears to have been captured.
21 mins: A definite rumble of discontent at Goodison now, and rightly so. Everton are in danger of somehow throwing this away.
20 mins: Eeek, Everton are living dangerously here. The ball finds Hoarau in the box with both centre-backs absent without leave, and Coleman has to dash across to get a block in. From the subsequent corner Sutter gets up at the near post and hammers a header against the bar.
18 mins: Lukaku crosses into the box and, in one of those classic ‘why weren’t the roles reversed’ moments, Naismith is in the middle to meet it, but he fouls Sutter at the back stick.
17 mins: We’ll get back to the football in a moment.
16 mins: No, wait, someone has just tried to lasso one of the llamas, unsuccessfully.
15 mins: Llama update: there are actually two llamas, one black and one white, and it looks like they’re being cornered.
13 mins: A Young Boys corner breaks to the edge of the box, Nuzzolo volleys towards goal but it goes into the ground, it takes a deflection and Howard paws it away, but Sanogo Junior is there to stick away the rebound. At first it looked like he was offside, and the entire Everton defence seemed to stop, but the goal stands.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Young Boys (Sanogo 13)
Well...this is interesting.
Updated
12 mins: Indirectly, from that corner, the ball reaches Naismith beyond the last defender and at first glance he looks offside, a view taken by the linesman as well, but replays indicate he was roughly level.
11 mins: Mirallas gets down the right and sort of reaches the byline, cutting back looking for Lukaku but his ball is cut out. Everton eventually win a corner.
9 mins: If this game gets too boring, there’s a llama on the loose in Los Angeles and ABC news have a helicopter on the scene. This is more dramatic than the OJ chase, never mind Everton v Young Boys in the Europa League.
7 mins: Seamy Coleman barrels don the left, looking to create an attack, but is felled by possibly the clumsiest challenge you’ll see this month, Bertone himself falling behind and into Coleman causing them both to hit the turf like a pair of dominoes.
5 mins: Another Young Boys effort from outside the box, this time from Sutter, but while that’s slightly closer than the earlier effort, it still flies o’er the bar. Meanwhile, one of the visiting fans lets out a scream reminiscent of the Celt mercenaries from ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.’
4 mins: Kubo tries a shot from range that troubles one of those quaint-if-you-don’t-actually-have-to-sit-behind-them pillars in the Gwladys Street end.
3 mins: Coleman slips the ball through for Lukaku, but the big Belgian is flagged for looking like he’s about to fall asleep. Sorry, no, scratch that - offside, he’s flagged for offside. Meanwhile, the pitchside effects mic appears to pick up Roberto Martinez referring to his right-back as ‘Seamy’.
1 min: And we’re away, at a patchily-attended Goodison. Which, incidentally, is not a dig - there is quite frankly too much football as it is, without any of this hoopla to factor in as well.
Suddenly, like Obi Wan Kenobi to Princess Leia, Everton look like Britain’s only hope in the Europa League. Celtic have been knocked out by Inter, while Spurs have contrived to lose to Fiorentina.
Liverpool are currently in the midst of extra-time against Besiktas, which you can follow with Paul Doyle here.
Quiz time
This quiz, friends, is what you might call absolutely rock solid. If you’re brave enough to take it, do share your score and we’ll rustle up some sort of leaderboard.
And remember - I’ll know if you’re lying.
Hard to disagree with yer man here...
Should be resting Lukaku tonight. #EFC
— James Irwin (@nornirontoffee) February 26, 2015
Meanwhile, over in St Petersburg, Hulk is having a...mixed night.
Team news
Everton
Howard; Garbutt, Alcaraz, Jagielka (c), Coleman; Gibson, Barry, McCarthy; Mirallas, Naismith, Lukaku. Subs: Joel, Baines, Kone, Besic, Osman, Barkley, Browning.
Young Boys
Wölfli (c); Sutter, Vilotić, Rochat, Lecjaks; Zárate, Bertone, Sanogo Junior, Nuzzolo; Kubo, Hoarau. Subs: Mvogo, Hadergjonaj, Bürki, Steffen, Sulejmanov, Afum, Gerndt.
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)
Preamble
Weird season this, for Everton. On the one hand they have been hugely disappointing in the league, not progressing after a first season under Roberto Martinez that promised so much, only a few weeks ago going eight games without a win, in which time they were also eliminated from the FA Cup. The defensive frailties that most Toffees feared when Martinez arrived have come, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin struggling with the ravages of time, John Stones struggling with his own fitness and the expectation placed upon him and Antolin Alcaraz struggling with not being very good. The midfield has been a problem too, with James McCarthy spending more time on the sidelines than is ideal (that is to say: some), Ross Barkley not living up to last season’s promise and Aiden McGeady being Aiden McGeady. And then there’s Romelu Lukaku, who cops a huge amount of stick for a 21 - twenty-one - year-old who’s already played 33 games this season and is probably absolutely knackered.
On the other, they’re currently on the verge of progressing to the last 16 of the Europa League, a competition so gapingly wide open it might as well be sponsored by the Grand Canyon. If American national parks went in for sponsoring European football competitions, which wouldn’t make a massive amount of sense. Would they, for example, be excessively fussed about boosting awareness in Austria? ‘Praps not. Anyway, the point is they’ve got a live chance of winning this one.
And yet, and yet, and yet. How do they approach this one? Do they rest a load of players with Sunday’s game at Arsenal in mind, safe in the knowledge that it would take a pretty spectacular balls up to throw away a three-goal lead, with four away goals, to a solid but not sensationally good Swiss team? Or do they take seriously, putting out the best XI possible to ensure progression but risk running their better players right into the ground?
One reason Everton might be doing pretty well in this tournament is that it could have given them some levity, some light relief from the drudgery of the Premier League, allowing them to relax a little bit and enjoy themselves. That’s the impression that Gareth Barry, who of course is all about the fun, gives anyway:
Realistically the best hope we’ve got for a successful end to the season is to try to win the Europa competition because that would bring a Champions League place. That is a massive target to aim at. There’s no reason why we can’t go all the way because we seem to be able to play without pressure in Europe.
“It is hard to put a finger on why that is the case but for whatever reason we have not been able to put a run of results together in the league – our points total is not where we want it to be. That creates a sense of anxiety that can creep into your play, but it is down to us to put it right. We scored the first goal at home against Leicester and we should have been strong enough to see the match out from there.”
So if all goes to plan for Everton and Martinez this should be relatively uneventful. But, of course, you never do know...
Kick-off: 20.05 GMT
Nick will be here shortly...
