Everton starts the first leg of the last 32 teams in UEFA Cup. Yak is now back into the team and will partner AJ in a 4-4-2 formation. The Toffees though will be without two creative players - Arteta and Pienaar.
Everton kicks off and Yak has the first shot on goal in the 43rd second. Everton are passing the ball around well enough and Brann are trying to keep pace with the Toffees. Brann came fighting back in the 9th minute after a clumsy challenge by Fernandes. Brann took the free kick and the header just skimmed the cross bar. Brann is definitely not an easy opponent.
Timmy still looked singed as he had made a couple of bad passes and clumsy tackles. Jag did well in th 16th minute with an important lobbed clearance. Brann is still doing well at the back with former Leeds defender Eirik Bakke marshalling his backline. Once again, Jag made a crucial tackle to ensure that parity was maintained. I'm still waiting for Everton to win their first corner. That's where they can threaten.
The opposing defence was tight and it looked difficult to unhinge their back four. Everton wins their first corner in the 29th minute but Cars took a wild shot that suits rugby more than soccer! Somehow, Everton's defence seems to look more fragile than their opponents and Brann has a couple of pacy attackers to trouble Everton.
Nice curler in the 32nd minute by Ossie, forcing the opposing goalkeeper to make a one-handed save. Still, I'm not convinced with Everton's midfielders. Neville is creating quite a bit of problem for themselves with his bad passes and he gave the ball again to cause more worries for Everton.
I'm starting to wonder if VdM will make a difference if he is ever brought in. The Everton midfield looks pretty dead. Fernandes does not create enough for the strikers, Timmy having his off day, Cars is ballooning every ball he receives. Only Ossie looks interested in the game. Even the Everton defence are also making quite a few unforced errors. Drama at the end of the first half as the ball was bundled into the net but the referee disallowed it for a foul on Howard. That was close.
Both teams enters the dressing rooms at the halfway mark. Brann showed that even though they are off-season in their league, they are still playing with alot of gusto and have done better than the Toffees so far. Believe that Moyes will give them some dressing down for their slack play.
Everton has to play better than the first half and they won two corners in succession but but came to nought. The Toffees are definitely missing Arteta's holding ability and pin-point crosses. If this persist, Moyes may have to remove a striker and add a midfielder to stranglehold the centre of the field. Timmy finally came to life in the 52nd minute as his long shot bounced off the left post.
Everton continues to wallow in their under-par performance as they could not even deliver a simple cross with Neville one of the culprits once again.
Everton scored through Ossie in the 58th minute and what a placement of a shot. A clearance by the opposing defender saw Ossie latch on to the ball and his shot curled beyond the outstretched hand of the goalkeeper. Brann 0-1 Everton. Ossie has been a real handful for Brann.
Again, everton goes into slumber. The defence are waiting for the ball to come to them and are not closing down the opposition quickly enough. Timmy looks really tired and may need to be substituted. Anichebe is in, AJ is being substituted.
Fernandes took a pot-shot in the 76th minute. The ball bounced akwardly in front of goal but was well saved by the opposing goalkeeper. Good try.
Howard made a tremendous save in the 82nd minute to punch the ball away for a corner and Brann nearly profited from it. Brann is really pressing for the equaliser but Everton is trying to slow the pace of the game down and then Everton struck. Lescott marauding run on the left was left unchecked for quite a bit. He was allowed to make a cross into the penalty area which Anichebe gladly pounced on to score Everton's second goal. Brann 0-2 Everton. There was a tinge of offside though. Everton was lucky to be given that goal.
Baines is in, Yak is substituted. The referee blows the final whistle and Everton is one step closer to the last 16.
Score: Brann 0-2 Everton
Scorer: Ossie, Anichebe
Assist: Lescott
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