Everton 3-0 Lille

Everton 3-0 Lille OSC

(Osman 27, Jagielka 42, Naismith 61)

Goodison Park

Cant say I expected as much when I saw the lineup without any Coleman, Barkley or Eto'o to create things, but turns out we didnt need them! A completely dominant performance to put us on the brink of qualification, and still an excellent chance of winning the group. We flew at Lille straight from the kick off, and only a great save from Enyeama denied Lukaku a goal from a tight angle inside the opening 30 seconds. And that was a sign of things to come, as we created a succession of chances that Lille were always scrambling to clear. Naismith was finding good space in the box, and Baines and Osman were making runs in all over the place. The opener finally came just before the half hour though. McGeady's cross was too deep, but retrieved by Osman on the far post. He took a touch to control it before volleying a lovely strike right across goal into the corner. And we kept on going, which is always good, Lukaku had a goal disallowed for offside, Naismith had a chance cleared after a one on one, then forced another save from a tight angle from Enyeama. And then a miracle happened. Everton scored a header direct from a corner! The resulting corner after that Naismith chance as swung in by McGeady, and there was Jagielka stooping to head in unmarked in the middle of the goal. Lille had showed nothing but one headed chance, and that looked pretty much game over. Second half was a bit more reserved, but we were still attacking and making chances, just taking it a bit easier with another game coming up on Sunday. Naismith finally got the goal he deserved, Lukaku sending Baines clear down the left to put in a low cross for Naismith. Defender in front of him and still plenty to do, he made it look easy, tricking past the defender, and smashing it into the roof of the net. Lukaku had another goal disallowed for offside so unfortunately couldnt get the goal he deserved, but it didnt really matter. The only real downside of the night was having Barry go off injured with a cut on his leg after a 50-50 tackle. Played every game for us so far this season, so that will be a problem if he has to miss out this weekend.

Everton Man of the Match

Everyone played well all over the pitch, but a special mention for Lukaku, who had by far his best game this season, his touch and physicality were a level above anything he's done this season, and he was unlucky not to walk off with two goals, and James McCarthy, who you just take for granted sometimes that he's winning that tackle so why worry. His consistency and judgement are amazing.