Everton Secure Vital Point After Lacklustre Display in Krasnodar

Everton secured the proverbial smash-and-grab in Russia, denying Krasnodar a deserved three points thanks to Samuel Eto'o's 82nd-minute strike.

Up until a final 15-minute push, the Toffees were clearly second-best in their Europa League, Group H clash, coming up against sustained pressure from an energetic attack.

Ari, Ricardo Laborde and Odil Ahmedov all took turns at tormenting Everton's nervous back four and should have carved out a far greater lead than just 1-0.

Vitaly Timkiv/Associated Press

The goal arrived at a bad time for the visitors, moments before half-time, and Krasnodar were unlucky not to extend that in the second half, as Wanderson hit the crossbar.

With 15 minutes to go, the home side seemed to sit back and Everton discovered a new level of intensity. Eto'o steered home an equaliser with his knee, and in truth Roberto Martinez's side could have grabbed even more during the closing stages.

Vitaly Timkiv/Associated Press

Given Krasnodar's unblemished European home record (three wins, 11 goals scored and none conceded in the three games before this match), this was never going to be an easy game.

In terms of a performance, however, there's much for Everton to ponder. At the back, Martinez's defence once again retreated too deep too quickly, Phil Jagielka seems an unnatural fit as a left-sided centre-back, and the lack of pace in front of the back four was alarming.

Once again the shots rained in, with Krasnodar hitting 21 to the Toffees' 10, and it's a wonder Martinez's side have conceded just two goals in Europa League competition so far. In two games, Everton have conceded a staggering 48 shots, scoring their five goals through just 22 attempts.

Such accommodating play and an inability to prevent regular openings is clearly a concern: Somehow, Everton have four points despite conceding a shot every four minutes! 

Further forward, this was the Toffees' worst passing performance (75 per cent) of the season (by 5 per cent) and poorest for 31 games, something that prevented the fluency needed to mount regular attacks.

The fluctuating consistency of Christian Atsu, Aiden McGeady and Leon Osman was also an issue, with the trio all too peripheral to be effective as a combination. 

In truth, many aspects of this performance can be dissected with all kinds of negative slants reeled off. The most important thing for Everton, though, was none of the above.

Adding another point to their Europa League total, and staying top of Group H, was all that matters as the Toffees look back on this forgettable game.

Despite a distinctly mediocre performance—which puts it kindly—it's very much job done for Martinez's men in Russia.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

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