Everton-SK Brann: Toffees Blow Out Norweigans at Goodison Park

In the first leg of this tie, in Norway, Everton managed to win in a scrappy game that could have gone either way.

The away goals by Leon Osman and Victor Anichebe were priceless, and meant SK Brann would have to score at least three times at Goodison Park if they were to knock Everton out of the UEFA Cup.

Knowing SK Brann would have to come out fighting right from the start, it was surprising to see Everton had gone with two up front. Most people were expecting them to play with five across the midfield in an attempt to snuff out the early SK Brann attacks. It seemed David Moyes was looking to get Everton on the score sheet early on and kill off any hope SK Brann might have had of rescuing the tie.

A complete public address system failure caused confusion before the game had even got under way. After the coin toss it looked like the Everton captain, Phil Neville, was trying gather his team for a minutes silence in memory of Brain Harris who had sadly passed away earlier in the week.

Brain was a former Everton player who had won both the league title (1962-63) and the FA Cup (1966) while at Goodison. More poignantly he had been a member of the first Everton team to play in a European competition and it would have been a fitting tribute to a great servant of the club if he could have been remembered at this game.

But with no way for the club officials to inform the crowd and obviously not wanting to cause more confusion, the moments silence was abandoned and the match was allowed to start. Maybe the best tribute to Brain is to say that this game was played in his memory.

The match started slowly as both teams tried to size up each other. Unsurprisingly it was SK Brann that did all the attacking at the start, though their first couple of efforts hardly troubled Tim Howard in the Everton goal.

Everton seemed happy to play the ball around but never looked like mounting a serious attempt on the Norwegian goal. With a two goal aggregate advantage, it seemed Everton were going to sit back and absorb whatever SK Brann could throw at them. This tactic very nearly back fired after 30 minutes play. A free kick from the right caught the Everton defense asleep. The momentary lapse in concentration allowed Thorstein Helstad to shoot unmarked at the back post. His shot was straight at Howard and the ball bounced off the keeper, back on to Helstad, and out for a goal kick.

If SK Brann were ever to have a chance of beating Everton they needed to make the most of opportunities such as this. With the crowd livid at almost seeing Everton conceded a goal, the team started to push forward and within moments made the Norwegians pay for their miss.

A loose ball on the edge of the SK Brann area was picked up by Tim Cahill who did well to battle for possession. Some quick thinking saw him flick the ball to Yakubu. The Nigerian unleashed a blistering right foot shot that buried into the back of the SK Brann net.

1-0   Everton.

Everton realized that the tie was over as a contest and moved in to kill SK Brann off. A flurry of shots descended on the Norwegian goal, but none troubled their keeper Hakon Opdal. That was only a temporary reprieve.

With only 5 minutes left in the half Howard found Steven Pienaar with a long throw. The South African was having a great game and his pass found Andrew Johnson in full flight. Johnson broke into the area and fired in a low, powerful shot that beat Opdal and nestled into the bottom corner of the goal.

2-0   Everton.

It was no more than Johnson deserved. He had been all over the pitch helping in defense and attack, and the goal was a reminder of what he can do when somebody supplies him with the right type of ball.

The goal also shut up the travelling SK Brann supporters. From before the game started the 1500 strong Norwegian support had been in full voice, even bursting into a few English songs. But with the realization that their team now needed to score 4 times in little over one half of football, their songs died away.

There was still time in the half for SK Brann to try and put some pride into the score. From over 30 yards out Petter Vaagan Moen saw Howard tip his fiercely hit free kick over the bar. That was the last real action of the half.

With only 45 minutes left in the tie, an aggregate score of 4-0 and one eye on an important league game on Monday, Everton manager Moyes rang the changes. He took off Cahill and Lee Carsley and replaced them with Tony Hibbert and Manuel Fernandes.

With the SK Brann fans back to full voice Everton got straight back into the attack, and Johnson was unlucky to see an effort come back off the post after beating the whole SK Brann defense for pace. But Everton didn’t have to wait long for more goals.

All Everton’s attacks looked to be coming down the left and it was from this side of the pitch that the ball was played to Yakubu in the SK Brann area. Struggling for control, he shaped up to fire at the right side of the goal. The two covering SK Brann defenders threw themselves in front of the perceived shot. But Yakubu turned away from them, leaving them both on the floor, and looked to take aim at the left side of the goal. This time Opdal moved to cover where he thought the shot would go, but when Yakubu let fly, it was to his right.

3-0   Everton.

This goal was an example of top class finishing, out witting defenders and sending the keeper the wrong way. It was one of the best goals I have ever seen at Goodison.

A lot of teams at this point would have shut up shop and played out the last 30 minutes making no attempt to score, not SK Brann. To their credit they continued to push forward when they could, and when they got a free kick 10 yards outside the Everton area Vaagan Moen stepped up to have another crack. This time his low shot went under the wall and completely out foxed Howard who made a hash of saving the shot.

3-1 Everton.

And the Norwegian supporters went wild.

With the goal it seemed SK Brann finally admitted defeat. They had got as much as they could and now they just wanted the game to be over. Everton had other ideas.

With 20 minutes left on the clock Mikel Arteta stole in from the right. After going past

one defender he fired towards the left of the goal. Opdal looked to have it covered the whole way until one of his own defenders stuck out a boot in an attempt to clear the ball. To his horror all he did was defect it away from his keeper and in to the open side of the goal.

4-1 Everton.

When it’s not your day everything seems to go against you. Moments after the goal Everton broke yet again down the left. Pienaar played the ball into the box from the by-line and with the keeper and defenders all over the place, Yakubu had the simplest of chances to wrap up his hat-trick.

5-1 Everton.

It was Yakubu’s last action of the night. He was brought off to standing ovation and replaced with Anichebe. The young striker was desperate to make the most of his opportunity. Twice when he could have squared it to Johnson he had a shot himself, only to see it comfortably saved.

Anichebe wasn’t the only one trying to get on the score sheet. Pienaar, who probably deserved a goal more than anyone else, was left on his knees after seeing his fine effort from the edge of the box hit the post.

Hitting the woodwork became contagious. Vaagan Moen had the chance to score his second when, with the whole of the Everton goal at his mercy, he somehow managed to hit the post. It was left to Johnson to have the final say on the night. From 20 yards out the little striker belted a powerful dipping shot that flew into the SK Brann goal.

6-1 Everton.

The rout was over. Everton had emphatically booked their place into the next round of the UEFA Cup. There they will meet the Italian side Fiorentina. Against the Italians it will be a whole different kettle of fish.

But before then, Everton have two massively important league games against Manchester City and Portsmouth as the race for the last Champions League place heats up.