Everton v Sporting Lisbon Europa league

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K.O 5.45
Setanta Ireland (17:15-19:40 )

Everton will hope Sporting Lisbon prove to be more favourable Portuguese opponents than Benfica in the Europa League.

David Moyes' side resume their European quest following the winter recess and will hope to take their domestic form into the first leg of the last 32 tie at Goodison Park.

Since the group phase of the Europa League concluded, Everton have lost only once in the Premier League - a 1-0 defeat at local rivals Liverpool earlier this month.

The Toffees have subsequently beaten leaders Chelsea 2-1 and will be out to end a run of two successive home defeats in Europe.

The group phase campaign concluded with a 1-0 loss to BATE Borisov and they had also lost 2-0 to Benfica on their own patch.

Benfica trounced Everton 5-0 in Portugal, so Moyes and his squad will be determined to experience a more positive result in the club's first meeting with Sporting.
Team news

Moyes has received a boost on the injury front ahead of the game as Joseph Yobo returns to the squad after a hamstring problem.

Yobo has not played for Everton since early December, although his return could be offset by the absence of Philippe Senderos, who is doubtful due to a back injury.

Steven Pienaar is available after he sat out the game against Chelsea due to suspension after being sent off against Liverpool.

USA ace Landon Donovan is also eligible to play, but Marouane Fellaini is out as Moyes awaits a confirmed diagnosis of the injury suffered by the Belgian midfielder against Liverpool.

Joining Fellaini on the sidelines are Tony Hibbert, Victor Anichebe and long-term absentee Phil Jagielka.

Sporting finished top of their group and have regularly played English opposition in recent seasons, knocking out the likes of Bolton, Middlesbrough and Newcastle in the Uefa Cup.

Pedro Mendes is in line to make his European debut after the midfielder joined Sporting from Rangers during the January transfer window.

The winners of the two-legged tie will meet either Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray in the last 16 of the competition.

Columbia

We should win this, Sporting are no great shakes in their domestic league. They're about 20 points behind Benfica, and they've taken a fair few bad beatings already this year against, to be fair, inferior opposition to what you'd get in the PL.

Im going to say 3-0 to the good guys tonight.

The Volt

Crucial we don't concede tonight. Yobo only back tonight for the first time so big performance from Distin needed.

The Volt

We need to take the initiative, attack, score first half and continue attacking. I really hope we take the game to them and all but end the tie this leg, but we will wait and see.

Team:

Howard

Baines
Yobo
Distin
Neville

Pienaar
Arteta
Osman
Donovan

Cahill
Saha

Columbia

Yobo and Distin. Man alive, we need a miracle.

Night of the long balls and panicky clearances, here we come.

Columbia

Damn, great double save from their keeper!

Neville, Yobo and Distin kicking the ball straight to Sporting's defense at every opportunity, as expected.

Bukman13

Great link up play from Everton. Superb double save though.

Columbia

Dreadful free kick from Arteta.

Corner. Good header from Cahill, goes wide though.

Though it would have been easier for Saha to flick the ball over the goalkeeper for his chance. He was way too close and always gonig to get that block in.

The Volt

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/moyes-confirms-felli-blow.html

Fellaini out for six months

Bukman13

What a pass from matais.

SDTimeout

because this is on setanta does it mean i can't watch it on my ESPN ?

Bukman13

SDTimeout wrote: »

because this is on setanta does it mean i can't watch it on my ESPN ?

What?

It's on both channels for me.

Columbia

Voltwad wrote: »

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/moyes-confirms-felli-blow.html

Fellaini out for six months

Unbelievable isn't it? The very moment we get Arteta back after 11 months, Fellaini is out for 6.

Saha tripped in the D, can't really tell how bad it was from this stream, but the commentators seem to think Sporting were lucky.

redout

SSN: Fellaini out for six months

Headshot

SDTimeout wrote: »

because this is on setanta does it mean i can't watch it on my ESPN ?

bingo

Columbia

Jeez, great shot from Abel (sp?), thought that was going in for a moment. Not sure Howard had it covered.

Columbia

GOAL PIENAAR!

Bukman13

1-0

Very good play by saha... lovely backheel form Cahill.

Columbia

What a brilliant run by Baines! Unlucky with the shot, but took it past 3 or 4 there.

Third_Echelon

get in there!!!! pienaar and cahill linking up!

Columbia

Sporting hit the post.

The Volt

We've looked solid overall, they look dodgy at the back but have a few bright players up front. Neville needs to be more aware of his limitations and just play the ball to the midfield. Happy enough to go in at 1-0, always a worry when you miss a few chances early on but great work for the goal.

Columbia

There can be more goals in this for us, but we absolutely can't afford to concede one at the other end. They gave us some nervy moments in the first half, let's hope we keep it tight for the next 45 minutes.

Columbia

2-0. Distin

Bukman13

Distin...with a strikers finish;)

Paulw

Flukey 2nd goal, but they made the effort. Can't blame them at all.

I've no idea why the keeper was complaining.

The Volt

Bukman13 wrote: »

Distin...with a strikers finish;)

Lovely. Lets finish this tonight so we don't have to worry about next week.

everdead.ie

I had to mute setanta whoever is commentating is brutal unbeileably brutal

Columbia

Baines has looked great tonight. Playing for his England spot

Bukman13

Baines has been very good tonight.

Another for everton and they can look forward to either Atlético Madrid or Galatasaray

The Volt

Bukman13 wrote: »

Baines has been very good tonight.

Another for everton and they can look forward to either Atlético Madrid or Galatasaray

Bad selection there. Bad stories about British clubs in Hell as it's called.

Columbia

Great run by Ossie, takes it past 3 and wins a free-kick.

Yak on for Tiny Tim.

Columbia

Penalty to Sporting, daft from Distin. Sent off.

Bukman13

Goal... Disaster

Columbia

Scored. A night's good work undone.

flahavaj

Everton show their European inexperience. That goal will put them out of Europe.

Columbia

Don't think it'll put us out, mate. We've only failed to score in a few games this season, we'll get one over there.

4 minutes stoppage time added.

Johner

flahavaj wrote: »

Everton show their European inexperience. That goal will put them out of Europe.

With good odds think I'll put a bit on Sporting to go through.

Columbia

Deserved better than that. Then again it's Everton, so they're never just going to do anything the easy way, are they?

The Volt

We could've and should'e been 3 or 4 up. Fellaini sorely missed. Don't see why we can't beat them at their place at all.

Just made it alot harder. Typical Everton.

Howard 8 - solid when called upon with a couple of great saves. Could do nothing about pen.

Baines 8 - driving forward and link up play superb with Pienaar

Distin 6 - solid throughout and was pushing a 9 and then gave a penalty, confident in possession and very important tackles right up to that point. Rodwell has to take some blame for basically blasting it towards him though!

Yobo 7 - a reassuringly solid return.

Neville 5 - the weak link tonight. Improved second half but too often long ball and long throw the only option.

Pienaar 8 - great take for the goal, excellent link up play.

Arteta 6 - tidy enough but terrible set pieces. Still (understandably) a little off the pace.

Osman 8 - more energetic than Arteta and good running. Harried well in defence too which earned him extra points for me..

Donovan 7 - did well with the meagre pickings he seemed to get. Positive running.

Cahill - 8 all over the pitch and some great vision which showed more to his game than many of us give him credit for.

Saha - 8 good energy and unlucky not to get a goal.

Subs:

Yak - 7 looked really bright. Great link up play with Saha at one point and good shot.

Rodwell - 5 slow and partially at fault for the pen.

Bily - 6 no time to shine.

Overall a disappointing game in which we played really well at times but should have put them away. One mistake ruined what would have been a good performance and the right result.

Moyes: 7

The right team selection and nothing I would have had him do really. Good decision to bring Yak on.

Diabhal Beag

Sporting deserved the goal. Everton needed a clean sheet to have any real chance though.

Moutinho was really disappointing tonight

paulelectronica

the 2nd leg is going to be a completely different game and wont be easy , should have won the game by a bigger margin today and soft goal to give away . anyway hopefully we can get an early goal out there and try and kill the tie off asap

Columbia

Voltwad wrote: »

We could've and should'e been 3 or 4 up. Fellaini sorely missed. Don't see why we can't beat them at their place at all.

Just made it alot harder. Typical Everton.

Howard 8 - solid when called upon with a couple of great saves. Could do nothing about pen.

Baines 8 - driving forward and link up play superb with Pienaar

Distin 6 - solid throughout and was pushing a 9 and then gave a penalty, confident in possession and very important tackles right up to that point. Rodwell has to take some blame for basically blasting it towards him though!

Yobo 7 - a reassuringly solid return.

Neville 5 - the weak link tonight. Improved second half but too often long ball and long throw the only option.

Pienaar 8 - great take for the goal, excellent link up play.

Arteta 6 - tidy enough but terrible set pieces. Still (understandably) a little off the pace.

Osman 8 - more energetic than Arteta and good running. Harried well in defence too which earned him extra points for me..

Donovan 7 - did well with the meagre pickings he seemed to get. Positive running.

Cahill - 8 all over the pitch and some great vision which showed more to his game than many of us give him credit for.

Saha - 8 good energy and unlucky not to get a goal.

Subs:

Yak - 7 looked really bright. Great link up play with Saha at one point and good shot.

Rodwell - 5 slow and partially at fault for the pen.

Bily - 6 no time to shine.

Overall a disappointing game in which we played really well at times but should have put them away. One mistake ruined what would have been a good performance and the right result.

Moyes: 7

The right team selection and nothing I would have had him do really. Good decision to bring Yak on.

For me;

Howard 7 - did well, has recovered very well from the derby goal, which must have come as a shock to him because all these players know what the derby means to the fans.

Baines 8 - absolutely brilliant tonight, particularly in the second half. MotM.

Distin 7 - looked okay and wasn't entirely at fault for the goal. I'm sure he'll take responsibility though, he's not the kind of guy to lay the blame on an 18-year-old.

Yobo 8 - for a player just back from injury tonight, Joey did a remarkable job. Used his pace and strength throughout the game, and was very, very solid.

Neville 4 - constantly giving the ball away, constantly caught out of position, constantly getting beat by his man. I have no idea how much ball he kicked directly to their defence, but I'd say it was over 50%. He's not played well of late, and he's only getting worse. No doubting how important he is to the team (look at our form while he was out) but he needs to improve very rapidly.

Pienaar 8 - excellent all night, showed some great skills and took his goal very well.

Arteta 5 - by most people standards Arteta would get a 6 or a 7 tonight, but I'm judging him against what we know he can do, and he was impotent tonight.

Osman 7 - frustrated me once or twice, but all in all another really good centre-mid showing by Ossie. I say it after every game we play lately, but I don't understand why Moyes has ever played him out wide.

Donovan 6 - not his best showing, but didn't do anything terribly wrong.

Cahill 8 - got involved, wound up their players and his assist for Pienaar's goal was a great piece of awareness. Hopefully the injury won't keep him out for long.

Saha 7 - did reasonably well, ran himself ragged before he was subbed. However he really should have scored at least once.

Subs:

Yak 8 - looked absolutely brilliant I thought. Pressured their players on the ball, created several chances, and looked very threatening every time he was on the ball. If he had played the full 90 minutes with that form he'd have been my MotM.

Rodwell 4 - didn't do much right unfortunately. Had a few nervy moments and one of them ended up costing us dearly. But it's worth remembering that he's only 18 and he will have games like this.

Bily - can only remember him touching the ball once, and it went out for a throw to them.

Disappointed with it, moreso the result than the performance, but I think we'll still make it through without away goals even coming into play.

Third_Echelon

flahavaj wrote: »

Everton show their European inexperience. That goal will put them out of Europe.

I fail to see how that situation of the goal to Lisbon was down to "European Inexperience" as you put it...

It was a bad ball from Rodwell i think it was and Distin got pick-pocketed and he eventually gave away a penalty. That could have happened in any match in any type of competition, be it domestic or otherwise.

They won the tie, but yes the away goal is something they have to deal with now...

Sometimes I really wonder... :rolleyes:

SantryRed

Why did it kick off so early?

leninbenjamin

SantryRed wrote: »

Why did it kick off so early?

UEFA didn't want it clashing with the champions league fixtures.

Columbia

Third_Echelon wrote: »

I fail to see how that situation of the goal to Lisbon was down to "European Inexperience" as you put it...

It was a bad ball from Rodwell i think it was and Distin got pick-pocketed and he eventually gave away a penalty. That could have happened in any match in any type of competition, be it domestic or otherwise.

They won the tie, but yes the away goal is something they have to deal with now...

Sometimes I really wonder... :rolleyes:

Indeed, it was a bit of a kneejerk reaction from the poster, but to some level they got it right. I wouldn't say it was down to our inexperience, but rather Sporting's vast experience at this. We allowed ourselves to be put under pressure for the last 20 minutes, they brought on a couple of pacy subs towards the end in the hope they could somehow nick a goal and completely change this tie, which is exactly what they did.

The goal itself was very unfortunate, a bad pass from Rodwell to Distin who had a man on, but Sporting were creating half-chance after half-chance in the final 20 minutes, playing a numbers game and hoping something would give.

Wouldn't get too worried about it though, we've made Thursday week a tough night for ourselves, but there was a huge difference in the quality of the two teams, and that was Sporting on a good night, we'll get the job done in Lisbon.

The Volt

Can't see us not scoring over there tbh. They look very shakey at the back.

Columbia

Voltwad wrote: »

Can't see us not scoring over there tbh. They look very shakey at the back.

We definitely will, we've only failed to score 4 times in the league this season (against Burnley in August, and since then only against Liverpool (x2) and United). Benfica are the only team to stop us in the Europa (discounting the teenagers vs BATE). We were by far the better team last night, an unfortunate goal doesn't change that.

You thought they looked dodgy at the back last night, and that was them playing defensively and hitting on the counter, wait until next Thursday when they have to seek a goal