Sigma Olomouc 20 Lovasik
5 Kascak
12 Skerle
8 Daniel Rossi
6 Onofrej
3 Dreska
23 Janotka *
17 Horava
16 Bajer **
22 Petr ***
7 Ordos
On The Bench 18 Drobisz
21 Veprek
9 Otepka ** (73)
14 Stepan *** (85)
13 Ulma
27 Stetina
29 Sultes * (73)
Everton 24 Howard
4 Yobo
2 Hibbert
3 Baines
18 Neville
25 Fellaini
19 Gosling
21 Osman *
20 Pienaar **
26 Rodwell
11 Jo ***
On The Bench 1 Nash
34 Duffy
17 Cahill
38 Wallace ** (66)
37 Baxter * (66)
8 Saha
22 Yakubu *** (76)
The Toffees suffered an early shock when Tony Hibbert was sent off for a professional foul with only seven minutes on the clock, and Sigma pushed forward immediately to try and take advantage.
But having weathered the storm, Everton hit back shortly before half-time through Steven Pienaar, whose emphatic strike effectively ended the tie and rendered Pavel Sultes' late equaliser a mere consolation.
Taking a comprehensive 4-0 advantage to the Czech Republic from the first leg, it seemed all that David Moyes' side had to do to ensure victory was guard against complacency.
But within minutes of the kick-off the Merseysiders had made life unnecessarily difficult for themselves, as Leighton Baines lost possession just metres from his own area.
Jakub Petr, who had already had one shot saved by Tim Howard, latched onto the ball and was brought down heavily from behind by Hibbert on the edge of the box.
Despite protests from the Everton players, the referee was in no doubt and immediately showed Hibbert the red card to reduce the visitors to 10 men.
Sigma looked to quickly seize the initiative, and after Lukas Bajer had rattled the crossbar direct from the free-kick, Tomas Horava and Tomas Janotka fired in an effort each within the next two minutes.
The hosts continued to dominate for the rest of the half, with Janotka in particular looking lively, but they could not convert their possession into goals and were made to pay for it three minutes before the break.
In Everton's first meaningful attack, Leon Osman broke clear on the right and pulled the ball back to find Pienaar arriving in the box. He took one touch with his left foot to control the ball before smashing it past Tomas Losavik with his right.
The goal appeared to deflate Sigma, and Everton looked comfortable after the break despite being a man down.
Osman and Pienaar were replaced by 17-year-olds James Wallace and Jose Baxter midway through the second half, while Yakubu came off the bench to make his long-waited return from injury with 15 minutes to go.
It was Sigma's substitute Sultes who managed to drill home for the hosts with 10 minutes to go, but it was too little too late for the Czechs as Everton advanced to the group stages.
Thursday 27 August 2009
Sigma Olomouc v Everton preview
Everton will be looking to get back their season back on track once more when they take a 4-0 first-leg lead to Czech Republic to face Sigma Olomouc.
Louis Saha and Jack Rodwell helped themselves to two goals each at Goodison Park last week as the Toffees rid themselves of their nightmare 6-1 opening day defeat to Arsenal.
However, David Moyes' men failed to build on their Europa League success losing 1-0 to Burnley at the weekend.
Moyes must once again lift his troops, who are now without the departed Joleon Lescott, and hope his side can regain their confidence with another morale-boosting victory.
With Lescott having finally departed to Manchester City the Merseysiders can now fully focus on matters on the pitch and although Moyes is almost certain to dip into the £24million to bring in a replacement before the window shuts next week captain Phil Neville is likely to continue to partner Joseph Yobo in defence for the time being.
Despite the defeat at Turf Moor, which leaves the Toffees bottom of the Premier League, the midfield should pick itself with Tim Cahill, Leon Osman, Steven Pienaar, Marouane Fellaini and Jack Rodwell all set to start.
Comeback
Moyes has pointed out that he has no new injuries to worry about and has a fully fit Yakubu Aiyegbeni at his disposal.
The striker made his comeback from an Achilles injury for the reserves on Tuesday and took less than a minute to get on the scoresheet.
The Nigerian could be in line to start but faces competition from Saha, and Brazilian Jo, who was only a substitute at the weekend.
Youngsters Kieran Agard and Hope Akpan also travelled with the squad after impressing in the reserves and both could feature at some stage.
Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta and Victor Anichebe are all still sidelined while new £9million signing Dimiyar Bilyaletdinov is awaiting a work permit.
Despite the enormity of the task Olomouc midfielder Tomas Horava has sounded a rallying cry to his team-mates insisting the tie is not over.
"It could be the match of our lives. We still believe. But it will be decided only on the pitch," he stated
Louis Saha and Jack Rodwell helped themselves to two goals each at Goodison Park last week as the Toffees rid themselves of their nightmare 6-1 opening day defeat to Arsenal.
However, David Moyes' men failed to build on their Europa League success losing 1-0 to Burnley at the weekend.
Moyes must once again lift his troops, who are now without the departed Joleon Lescott, and hope his side can regain their confidence with another morale-boosting victory.
With Lescott having finally departed to Manchester City the Merseysiders can now fully focus on matters on the pitch and although Moyes is almost certain to dip into the £24million to bring in a replacement before the window shuts next week captain Phil Neville is likely to continue to partner Joseph Yobo in defence for the time being.
Despite the defeat at Turf Moor, which leaves the Toffees bottom of the Premier League, the midfield should pick itself with Tim Cahill, Leon Osman, Steven Pienaar, Marouane Fellaini and Jack Rodwell all set to start.
Comeback
Moyes has pointed out that he has no new injuries to worry about and has a fully fit Yakubu Aiyegbeni at his disposal.
The striker made his comeback from an Achilles injury for the reserves on Tuesday and took less than a minute to get on the scoresheet.
The Nigerian could be in line to start but faces competition from Saha, and Brazilian Jo, who was only a substitute at the weekend.
Youngsters Kieran Agard and Hope Akpan also travelled with the squad after impressing in the reserves and both could feature at some stage.
Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta and Victor Anichebe are all still sidelined while new £9million signing Dimiyar Bilyaletdinov is awaiting a work permit.
Despite the enormity of the task Olomouc midfielder Tomas Horava has sounded a rallying cry to his team-mates insisting the tie is not over.
"It could be the match of our lives. We still believe. But it will be decided only on the pitch," he stated
Everton agree a deal for Distin
Everton have agreed a deal to sign defender Sylvain Distin from Portsmouth, with the Frenchman set to undergo a medical on Thursday.
The 31-year-old moves to Goodison Park following Joleon Lescott's departure for Manchester City.
The Toffees are without Phil Jagielka until October at the earliest and have been using Phil Neville at centre-back.
"All the formalities have been completed," said Everton chief executive Robert Elstone.
"After Sylvain made it clear his preferred destination was Goodison, the chairman moved quickly to finalise the deal and Sylvain is now on his way to Merseyside to undergo a medical."
Pompey had been linked with a move for Manchester City's Richard Dunne, but he now appears set to join Aston Villa.
Everton eyeing up Celtic's Brown
Everton are preparing a £6m offer for Celtic midfielder Scott Brown.
The 24-year-old Scotland international was earlier this month linked with a £10m offer from Tottenham Hotspur.
It is understood that Everton had been approached by an agent offering Brown and Celtic defender Stephen McManus but said they were not interested.
However, having missed out on other targets, they are now poised to make a move after watching Brown facing Arsenal in the Champions League.
Brown, who was in the Celtic side that lost 3-1 at the Emirates on Wednesday, was bought by Celtic for £4.4m from Hibernian in 2007.
Everton and Spurs were thought to be interested in Brown at that time as Celtic beat a host of clubs, including Glasgow rivals Rangers, Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Reading, to the midfielder's signature.
Celtic reportedly turned down a £9m offer from Portsmouth in January.
But economic conditions have taken a downturn and the Scottish Premier League runners-up recently announced that their profits had halved.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp this month admitted that he rated Brown, who ended the season as the SPFA Players' Player of the Year.
However, he played down suggestions that he was interested in signing a player who was also named among 14 players on world governing body Fifa's "ones to watch in 2009" list.
Brown, who won his 17th cap in Scotland's World Cup qualifying defeat by Norway, had recovered from a disappointing first season with Celtic during which he had to cope with injury, suspension and the death of his sister.
Like Brown, McManus missed the start of this season through injury and the Celtic captain has just returned to training in time to be linked with a move away from the club.
Celtic are believed to be willing to sell the 26-year-old or allow the Scotland defender to leave on loan, with Ipswich Town thought to be leading the interested clubs.
Wednesday 26 August 2009
EVERTON LAND BILYALETDINOV
Marquee signing: Bilyaletdinov is an established Russia international and talented winger
It was a long time coming but with Joleon Lescott's sale to Manchester City out the way David Moyes's summer spending finally got underway today with the confirmation from Everton that the Club has signed Diniyar Bilyaletdinov from Lokomotiv Moscow.
An Everton delegation met the 24 year-old winger and officials from the Russian club in Hamburg yesterday — Bilyaletdinov does not yet have a visa to enter the UK but Russian citizens can enter Germany without one — where an undisclosed fee, believed to be £10m, was agreed.
The Russia international also agreed personal terms, passed a medical and with Everton having reportedly cleared the formality of a work permit, a visa is the last hurdle for the player to clear before he can join up with his new teammates.
That's not expected to be until the first week of September when he and his Russian teammates arrive in the UK for a World Cup qualifier against Wales. Bilyaletdinov would be ineligible for the Europa League playoff second leg against Sigma as the Uefa registration deadline has passed and it's unlikely he'll arrive on Merseyside in time to prepare for weekend trip to Wigan.
The estimated £10m outlay represents the third-highest fee that Moyes has spent on a player since becoming Everton manager, behind the £12.9m paid for Marouane Fellaini and the 11.5m it took to acquire Yakubu from Middlesbrough.
It was a long time coming but with Joleon Lescott's sale to Manchester City out the way David Moyes's summer spending finally got underway today with the confirmation from Everton that the Club has signed Diniyar Bilyaletdinov from Lokomotiv Moscow.
An Everton delegation met the 24 year-old winger and officials from the Russian club in Hamburg yesterday — Bilyaletdinov does not yet have a visa to enter the UK but Russian citizens can enter Germany without one — where an undisclosed fee, believed to be £10m, was agreed.
The Russia international also agreed personal terms, passed a medical and with Everton having reportedly cleared the formality of a work permit, a visa is the last hurdle for the player to clear before he can join up with his new teammates.
That's not expected to be until the first week of September when he and his Russian teammates arrive in the UK for a World Cup qualifier against Wales. Bilyaletdinov would be ineligible for the Europa League playoff second leg against Sigma as the Uefa registration deadline has passed and it's unlikely he'll arrive on Merseyside in time to prepare for weekend trip to Wigan.
The estimated £10m outlay represents the third-highest fee that Moyes has spent on a player since becoming Everton manager, behind the £12.9m paid for Marouane Fellaini and the 11.5m it took to acquire Yakubu from Middlesbrough.
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