Europa League
EvertonEverton4WolfsburgVfL Wolfsburg1

Everton 4-1 VfL Wolfsburg

By Gary RoseBBC Sport
Everton Europa league win over Wolfsburg
Everton have yet to lose in six European games against German opponents
  • Everton's first Europa League appearance since 2010
  • Coleman, Baines and Mirallas all score
  • Rodriguez own goal put Toffees ahead

Everton marked their Europa League return with a dominant victory over Germans Wolfsburg at Goodison Park.

The Toffees, back in the tournament for the first time since 2010, controlled much of the game as a Ricardo Rodriguez own goal and a Seamus Coleman header gave them a 2-0 half-time lead.

Leighton Baines put the game beyond Wolfsburg with a second-half penalty.

Kevin Mirallas drilled in a late fourth for Everton before Rodriguez grabbed a consolation with a curled free-kick.

The win puts Everton top of Group H and was just reward for manager Roberto Martinez, who underlined his intention to take the competition seriously by naming a strong side, after calling it "the perfect next step" for the club.

The Toffees narrowly missed out on the Champions League last season as they finished fifth in the Premier League, but with their participation in this season's Europa League ending a four-year absence, Martinez has expressed a determination to go as far as possible.

Everton's attacking display on Thursday will certainly give him confidence of progressing from a group that also contains French side Lille and Russians FK Krasnodar.

Match facts
Everton had seven shots on target and scored four goalsWolfsburg are without a win in five European away matches (D2 L3)
Roberto Martinez's side have yet to lose in six European games against German opponents (W3 D3)The German side had 27 shots on goal, with 13 of those on target

Martinez had opted not to rest any of his first-team regulars for the visit of Wolfsburg, naming the same side that defeated West Brom 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

Romelu Lukaku got his first of the campaign in that game and the striker spearheaded an exciting, attacking quartet that also included Aiden McGeady, Naismith and Mirallas.

They have all contributed to Everton's impressive statistic of having scored at least two goals in every game this season, and it was of little surprise they each played significant roles in the goals against Wolfsburg.

Naismith was the first to make a telling contribution, forcing the opener with Everton's first attack. After winning possession, Naismith ran into the area to receive a Baines pass before stabbing a shot at goal. Rodriguez tried to clear, but the ball cannoned off goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, and hit the Wolfsburg full-back again before ending up in his own net.

That was Everton's first goal in Europe at Goodison Park since beating Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in February 2010, and it had the buoyant home crowd hungry for more.

Nicklas Bendtner Wolfsburg
Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner came off the bench for Wolfsburg, but was unable to score

Everton duly attempted to deliver, with full-backs Baines and Coleman becoming more adventurous as Wolfsburg offered little going forward, and their attacking instincts resulted in the home side's second goal on the stroke of half-time.

Mirallas's drive was weakly pushed into the path of Baines, who had followed the shot into the area, and he knocked the ball across goal for Coleman to nod in.

Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking introduced Germany midfielder Aaron Hunt for the start of the second half, but within seconds of the restart Everton went further ahead. This time, Robin Knoche's foul on McGeady was deemed to have occurred inside the area, and Baines confidently despatched the resulting penalty.

The goal effectively ended Wolfsburg's hopes of returning to Germany with anything to show but, with nothing to lose, they embarked on a spell of dominance.

For a good 30 minutes they enjoyed the lion's share of possession and attempts on goal, as Tim Howard produced saves from Luiz Gustavo's opportunistic shot and Rodriguez's well-struck free-kick.

Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner was introduced after the hour, with Wolfsburg boss Hecking sensing a possible goal, but instead it was Everton who grabbed a fourth. Mirallas peeled away from defenders to run on to substitute Samuel Eto'o's through ball and he coolly slotted in at Benaglio's near post.

There was still time for Wolfsburg to get the consolation their 27 shots on goal deserved, Rodriguez making some amends for his early own goal with a curling free-kick.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez: "The atmosphere was perfect for us to start a very good performance.

"I thought there were two very good sides. On the night the scoreline probably doesn't reflect the difference between the two sides.

"We scored at the right times. Our work-rate was magnificent. We had to defend and we did that really well but every time we went forward we had a clinical touch about us."

Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking: "It's obviously not the start we'd hoped for. We were lacking in certain areas, both in terms of finishing and defensive work.

"We should have gone into half-time a goal down and we got hit with a second just before the break. Straight after the restart, 3-0 down and the game is lost.

"We really weren't smart enough and showed a certain naivety."

Steven Naismith Everton
Wolfsburg have gone eight European matches without a clean sheet
Seamus Coleman Everton
Everton have reached the knockout phase in both of their previous Uefa Cup and Europa League campaigns
Leighton Baines
Leighton Baines scored his first goal of the season for Everton from the penalty spot
Kevin Mirallas Everton
Kevin Mirallas has scored in each of Everton's last three matches

Line-ups

Everton

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 24Howard
  • 23ColemanSubstituted forOsmanat 90+1'minutes
  • 26Stones
  • 6Jagielka
  • 3Baines
  • 16McCarthy
  • 18Barry
  • 7McGeady
  • 14NaismithBooked at 54minsSubstituted forGibsonat 82'minutes
  • 11MirallasBooked at 72mins
  • 10LukakuSubstituted forEto'oat 69'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Robles
  • 4Gibson
  • 5Eto'o
  • 17Besic
  • 19Atsu
  • 21Osman
  • 30Alcaraz

Wolfsburg

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Benaglio
  • 25Naldo
  • 31KnocheBooked at 46mins
  • 34Rodriguez
  • 24Jung
  • 7CaligiuriSubstituted forBendtnerat 61'minutes
  • 14De Bruyne
  • 22DiasSubstituted forGuilavoguiat 77'minutes
  • 27Arnold
  • 19Malanda-AdjeSubstituted forHuntat 45'minutes
  • 11Olic

Substitutes

  • 3Bendtner
  • 4Schäfer
  • 5Klose
  • 10Hunt
  • 20Grün
  • 23Guilavogui
  • 28Klich
Referee:
Luca Banti

Match Stats

Home TeamEvertonAway TeamWolfsburg
Possession
Home49%
Away51%
Shots
Home12
Away27
Shots on Target
Home7
Away13
Corners
Home1
Away8
Fouls
Home11
Away7

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Everton 4, VfL Wolfsburg 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Everton 4, VfL Wolfsburg 1.

  3. Goal!

    Goal! Everton 4, VfL Wolfsburg 1. Ricardo Rodriguez (VfL Wolfsburg) from a free kick with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.

  4. Post update

    Nicklas Bendtner (VfL Wolfsburg) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  5. Post update

    Foul by Darron Gibson (Everton).

  6. Post update

    Corner, VfL Wolfsburg. Conceded by Aiden McGeady.

  7. Post update

    Corner, VfL Wolfsburg. Conceded by James McCarthy.

  8. Post update

    Offside, VfL Wolfsburg. Ricardo Rodriguez tries a through ball, but Aaron Hunt is caught offside.

  9. Substitution

    Substitution, Everton. Leon Osman replaces Seamus Coleman because of an injury.

  10. Goal!

    Goal! Everton 4, VfL Wolfsburg 0. Kevin Mirallas (Everton) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Samuel Eto'o with a through ball.

  11. Post update

    Delay over. They are ready to continue.

  12. Post update

    Delay in match Seamus Coleman (Everton) because of an injury.

  13. Post update

    Attempt missed. James McCarthy (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Samuel Eto'o.

  14. Post update

    Attempt saved. Darron Gibson (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Aiden McGeady.

  15. Post update

    Corner, VfL Wolfsburg. Conceded by James McCarthy.

  16. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Kevin De Bruyne (VfL Wolfsburg) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Hunt.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Everton. Darron Gibson replaces Steven Naismith.

  18. Post update

    Attempt saved. Nicklas Bendtner (VfL Wolfsburg) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Ricardo Rodriguez with a cross.

  19. Post update

    Attempt missed. Ivica Olic (VfL Wolfsburg) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Ricardo Rodriguez with a through ball.

  20. Substitution

    Substitution, VfL Wolfsburg. Josuha Guilavogui replaces Luiz Gustavo.

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Thursday 18th September 2014

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Apollon Limassol11003213
2Villarreal10101101
3B Mgladbach10101101
4FC Zürich100123-10

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1FC Copenhagen11002023
2Club Bruges10100001
3Torino10100001
4HJK Helsinki100102-20

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Asteras Tripolis10101101
2Besiktas10101101
3Partizan Belgrade10100001
4Tottenham10100001

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Dinamo Zagreb11005143
2Celtic10102201
3RB Salzburg10102201
4Astra Giurgiu100115-40

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Dinamo Moscow11002113
2PSV Eindhoven11001013
3Panathinaikos100112-10
4Estoril Praia100101-10

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Inter Milan11001013
2FK Qarabag10100001
3Saint-Étienne10100001
4Dnipropetrovsk100101-10

G

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Sevilla11002023
2Standard Liege11002023
3Feyenoord100102-20
4HNK Rijeka100102-20

H

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Everton11004133
2FK Krasnodar10101101
3Lille10101101
4Wolfsburg100114-30

I

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1BSC Young Boys11005053
2Napoli11003123
3Sparta Prague100113-20
4Slovan Bratislava100105-50

J

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1FCSB11006063
2Dynamo Kyiv11003033
3Rio Ave100103-30
4Aalborg BK100106-60

K

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1PAOK Salonika11006153
2Fiorentina11003033
3Guingamp100103-30
4Dinamo Minsk100116-50

L

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Trabzonspor11002113
2Legia Warsaw11001013
3Metalist Kharkiv100112-10
4KSC Lokeren100101-10
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