Everton vs. Metalist Kharkiv: UEFA Cup, 1st round, 1st leg

Match Preview

This game would see a return to European football for Everton. Their last "European adventure" was both short lived and a little embarresing.

After finishing forth at the end of the 2005/2006 season, Everton had qualified to enter the Champions League 3rd qualification round, & were drawn against the Spanish side Villarreal. The home tie was not great, losing 2-1.

But Everton went to Spain for the 2nd leg full of confidence. This match would be the last for Italian referee Pierluigi Collina. The Italian was widely regarded as the world’s best referee, so it was surprising that in his last game he would make such a huge error. With the game at 1-1, Duncan Ferguson scored what would have been a tie’s drawing goal, only for Collina to disallow it for a foul by Marcus Bent. To this day, nobody can see what it was that Bent did to interfere with the goal. Everton would eventually lose the tie 4-2 on aggregate.

But there was some hope on the horizon. Teams that hadn’t qualified for the Champions League proper would be allowed to enter the final qualification round for that season's UEFA Cup. Everton were drawn against the Romanian team Dynamo Bucharest.

Maybe it was the memories of the game in Spain...maybe it was the long travel to Eastern Europe...or maybe it was just one of those things.

Either way, in the 1st leg of the tie in Romania, Everton managed to go down 5-1! There was no hope left in the tie for Everton, and even a victory in the home leg couldn’t change the outcome. Everton were out of the European competitions.

Everton should be wiser this time around as a result of their last European outing. David Moyes should be looking to take a commanding lead in this game (i.e. 3-0), and leave it to Metalist Kharkiv to do all the chasing in the return leg. The big question is: who will he have fit enough to play?

Reports in the local press suggest late fitness tests for Andy Johnson, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar and Thomas Gravesen, while Tim Howard is still doubtful after missing the Manchester United game. With two long term injuries in Everton’s small squad, the possibility of losing another five players will be a major concern to the Everton manager.

As for Metalist Kharkiv, I unfortunately, can’t tell you much. They don’t seem to have any big name players and I know nothing of their previous European experiences.

As for their injury list or possible lineup, I haven’t a clue. The latest information I could find was that they were beaten 3-0 in their last game and are now 5th in the Ukrainian league. Hopefully they will continue to play on that level come Thursday, but Everton would do well to be weary of the unknown element Metalist Kharkiv possesses.

 
The Match

There is always something special about mid week games. The dark night sky above your head; the stadium bathed in bright light from the floodlights. It creates its own electric atmosphere.

I got into the ground just in time to watch the end of the Everton team’s warm up. Usually some of the players will wave to the crowed or clap as someone screams out their name. Tonight though, they all waved and clapped as they came near the fans for their final exercises. "Good," I thought. "the players seem to be up for the match."

The announcer came onto the PA to give the starting lineups. This was an event in itself. We all expected him to struggle with the Ukrainian names, and he didn’t let us down. Metalist Kharkiv would start with (try to pronounce some of these names yourself—I have left out their first names to make it a little easier): Goryainov, Bordiyan, Babych, Gancarczyk, Obradobic, Guie, Slysur, Valiaev, Devic, Nwoha, and Rykun. On their subs bench they would have Antonov, Edmar, Danilau, Zeze, Davydov & Tlumak.

We had never heard of any of these players, so naively we thought they weren’t up to much.

The Everton team was a little easier on the PA announcer (though he still managed to mess up some of their names as well!). In goal for his second game was Stefan Wessels. Tony Hibbert played right back, Leighton Baines at left back. The centre half pairing would be Joleon Lescott and Joseph Yobo.

Everton had a lot of injuries and so they would line up with a three man midfield of  Leon Osman, Phil Neville (captain) & Lee Carsley. They would also play three in attack with Yakubu the target man, and Andy Johnson and James McFadden playing off him. On their subs bench would be Phil Jagielka, Victor Anichebe, Alan Stubbs, Nuno Valente—and in a sign of how short Everton were—the young players Lukas Jutkiewicz, John Ruddy, and Bjarni Vidarsson. This was an exciting lineup full of attacking options.

It looked like Everton were looking to take the game to the Ukrainians.

The buzz in the crowd went up another notch as fans started to take their seats and the clock approached the kickoff time of 20:00. Then just as the anticipation of the game was reaching its full level, we were told over the PA that the kickoff would be delayed for 30 minutes.

"Typical Everton," was the thought of most supporters. How has the club managed to balls this up now—and on national TV! It became apparent that around 1500 supports— who had applied for tickets on the internet or over the phone—had not received them through the post (a big thank you to Royal Mail). With all these supports outside and miffed at the prospect of missing the game, Merseyside Police instructed the club to delay the kickoff until the fans could be issued with duplicate tickets and allowed into the ground.

Strangely enough, the delay did little to dampen spirits. The chanting and singing continued, and when the players eventually emerged from the tunnel they were met by a typical Goodison roar. All the formalities were completed (hand shaking, posing for team photos, the coin toss etc…) and the game finally got underway.

Metalist Kharkiv's game plan was evident from the start. With only one man up front, they had come to Goodison Park to defend and defend deeply.

Another part of their plan was to slow the match down and waste as much time as much as possible. With Everton’s first wayward shot of the evening, the Metalist Kharkiv keeper seemed to take with the resulting goal kick. So it was that Everton would make all the running at the start.

But warning bells should have been going off when Metalist Kharkiv broke with pace down the Everton left. With the formation Everton were playing, there was a lot of space for players to operate in on the wings. Everton’s back four were obviously struggling with this new formation, and nobody picked Rykun, who found himself unmarked on the edge of the Everton box. Maybe he was a little surprised at the room he had or maybe it was nerves.

Either way, he put his fierce shot over the bar.

Everton continued to press on, and on the 22nd minute managed to get themselves a corner. They had already had a couple of corners, but Metalist Kharkiv had some tall players at the back who dealt with the aerial threat. This time McFadden swung at a good ball and Lescott rose—practically unmarked—on the six-yard box to powerfully head home.

1-0 Everton.

Not a great start, but Everton had got the lead they wanted and would now go looking to extend it. Problem was, the Ukrainians were still finding space to attack, and even their one-man striker was giving the Everton back four all sorts of things to think about. But still, Everton kept to the 4-3-3 formation.

Everton’s Osman was having a good game. He is short on height and build, but makes up for it with quick feet and some good runs. McFadden was also playing well. He hadn’t been able to get in on goal as much as he would have wanted, but he was dropping back and pulling the strings for the other forwards.

Andy Johnson was having his usual game. Run, run, run some more, trying to chase everything down. Yakubu on the other hand didn’t seem to run at all. A few times he had managed to control the ball with his back to the goal, and turn and shoot. But the shot would lack power and the Metalist Kharkiv keeper would make an easy save.

So it was that the Austrian referee blew for halftime and the players left the field.

As the teams came out for the second half, a good friend of mine pointed out a Magpie that had sat itself in front of the goal Everton would be attacking. “Hope that’s bad luck for that goal.” he said. “For the defending team (Metalist Kharkiv) or the attacking one (Everton)?” I asked him.

Now I’m not one to believe in omens, but what would happen over the next 45 minutes will go some way to changing that. No substitutions were made at halftime. The match restarted and Everton were straight onto the attack, with Osman heading over the bar from six yards out. Although Metalist Kharkiv were still playing deep, their pace when counter attacking was a cause for concern.

After almost an hour's play, Metalist Kharkiv made the first substitution, removing Nwoha and bringing in Antonov. Shortly after, Everton took out the lackluster Yakubu and brought on the young Victor Anichebe.

The change was evident from the start. With Anichebe, Everton finally had a forward on the pitch who could use his strength to turn and bully the Metalist Kharkiv defenders. The Ukrainians made another change, bringing Rykun off the field and replacing him with Zeze.

Then came the first moment that brought my thoughts back to that Magpie. Everton won themselves a corner. The ball in wasn’t great, but they managed to regain possession in an attacking area. From the resulting cross, Babych fouled Lescott in the area and the referee gave a penalty. After remonstrating with the referee, Gancarczyk got himself sent off, while Andy Johnson took the ball and lined up the kick.

Johnson hadn’t scored all season. That more comes down to the service he has been provided with than from his own shortcomings. And with the club's usual penalty taker (Arteta) not playing, it was Johnson who took the responsibility.

Up he stepped and rifled the ball passed the keeper and into the net. The crowed went wild.

The Ukrainians had been pushing Everton for some time, and with a two goal lead and Metal Kharkiv down to ten men, it looked like Everton could take command of the game. But something was wrong. The Everton players had stopped celebrating and the Metalist Kharkiv players were still standing around the penalty area.

As the noise died down, a lot of confused fans wondered what was going on. We would  later learn that McFadden had a foot in the area when the kick was taken, and the referee had disallowed the goal and ordered the kick to be retaken. In typical Everton fashion, Johnson took the penalty again—only to see Goryainov save it.

Now the crowed was incensed, and the noise reached a new high as the game continued. Everton pushed on, looking for the goal they should have had. Metalist Kharkiv made their third and final substitution, taking out Antonov and bringing in Mahdoufi.

A tactical masterstroke or a coincidence?  Who knows.

But as Everton came forward yet again, Metalist Kharkiv won the ball and broke with pace. The Everton defence was all over the place after committing so many forward, and it was Mahdoufi who slid the ball to Zeze to score.

1-1.

In hindsight, you could see the goal coming. Everton was playing in an attacking formation, even though the midfield was being over run time and time again. You have to wonder: if Metalist Kharkiv had come to attack rather then sit back, would they have scored earlier?

1-1 would be a great result for the Ukrainians. In this competition, goals scored away from home count double if the scores are tied after the final leg. This meant with the remainder of this game to be played and the return leg in the Ukraine, Everton would have to score at least one more goal—and that was looking unlikely.

Metalist Kharkiv continued their time wasting tactics, but now they were throwing themselves to the floor every time they were touched. Each time they faked an injury, the referee would stop the game to allow the trainer onto the pitch. This frustrated the Everton players and infuriated the Everton fans.

But still there was time for more drama. With 10 minutes left, Anichebe turned the Metalist Kharkiv defence again and as he shaped for his shot he was clearly brought down in the area. But the referee had no interest in giving the penalty.

Anichebe was incensed, and proceeded to tell the referee what he thought of the decision, only to find himself booked. It looked like Everton could lose the plot all together. The game continued, and with five minutes to go McFadden crossed the ball into the Metalist Kharkiv area. Anichebe stretched to control it, and this time was fouled by Babych. The referee had no option but to award a penalty to Everton.

Babych had already been booked, so his second yellow card was quickly followed by a red and he was sent off. Metalist Kharkiv were down to 9 men, and facing a penalty that would surly put them down 2-1 ….wouldn’t it?!

Johnson—having already seen one penalty kick disallowed and the retaken one saved—showed immense courage in volunteering to take another spot kick. In trying to recreate his first attempt, he powered his shot at goal, only to see it rise over the cross bar and disappear into the crowed.

Talk about anguish.

For all the time wasting Metalist Kharkiv had done, the referee signalled that there would be six minutes injury time to be played. That left enough time for McFadden to try a shot from 20 yards that had Goryainov diving across his goal.

But Everton couldn’t really muster another decent attacking move. The game would end 1-1, and for all their hard work the players were greeted by boo’s from their frustrated supporters.

 
Conclusion

Simply put, this was a bad result for Everton. They needed to take a good lead out to the Ukraine—1-1 puts Metalist Kharkiv firmly in the driving seat.

One ray of hope is that Metalist Kharkiv know that Everton have to score in the second leg if they are to have any chance of proceeding in the UEFA Cup. So do they sit back and let Everton come at them, trying to score on the counter attack? Or do they attack straight from the start and try to put the tie out of Everton’s reach, but in the process leave themselves exposed at the back?

These are the big questions that will be answered in two weeks time. What is obvious is that Everton will have to improve—and quickly. Hopefully they will have Arteta back for the game. But the hopes of a whole club is a lot of pressure to pile onto one player.

Before that game, Everton faces a difficult away match against Aston Villa. The fixture at Villa Park is one Everton rarely gets any joy from. They also travel to Hillsborough for a crunch League Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday. That is followed by Everton entertaining Middlesbrough at Goodison Park.

There's a lot of football to be played in the next two weeks. Everton really needs to see some of these injured players returning if they hope to kick on in both league & cup competitions.
 
The next game I may write about is the visit of Middlesbrough to Everton. Personally I’d like to start commenting on victories instead of poor performances, but we’ll see.

And I hope I never see a Magpie ever again!