LILLE VS EVERTON – REVIEW

Everton remain unbeaten in the Europa League after drawing 0-0 with Lille on Thursday night.

The Toffees gave an excellent defensive showing in a game of few chances to secure a point that could prove vital come the end of the group stages. Both keepers had a quiet evening with Tim Howard protected very well by Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka. Idrissa Gueye clipped the post with a shot in Lille’s closest chance. At the other end, Vincent Enyeama had to be alert for a couple of Aiden McGeady efforts while Samuel Eto’o couldn’t convert after a neat one-two with Steven Pienaar before curling a shot just wide late on. Although it was a good performance from Everton, we were wasteful at times, with Eto’o and McGeady playing poor final balls across the face of goal which were easily cleared and could have led to clear cut chances. It seemed to be a fairly defensive approach from Roberto Martinez and it worked well in the sense that we didn’t lose. However, if we had favoured a more attacking approach, I believe we would have won. I think the fact that we were away from home led to this set up and that when the return game at Goodison comes around, our usual attacking style will return.

We played a lot of attractive football and it was great to see such a good performance from all of our defenders. Tony Hibbert continued his good form, Phil Jagielka looks back to his best after his slow start to the season, Sylvain Distin came back and was solid, while Leighton Baines was at his brilliant best, especially defensively. We remain top of Group H ahead of the home game against Lille in a fortnight and that is a lovely position to be in with half of the group stage fixtures already gone. Martinez declared it a fair result and this was an accurate statement based on the balance of play and chances created.

We return to Premier League action on Sunday when we face Burnley, and that has to be another three points if we are serious about mounting another bid for European qualification. A run of five league games where we have the ability to get maximum points began with victory over Aston Villa last Saturday and needs to continue at Turf Moor this weekend.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Phil Jagielka

PLAYER RATINGS: Tim Howard   7.5/10

Tony Hibbert   8/10

Phil Jagielka   9/10

Sylvain Distin   7/10

Leighton Baines   8.5/10

Muhamed Besic   8/10

Gareth Barry   8/10

Aiden McGeady  5.5/10

Ross Barkley   7/10

Steven Pienaar   6.5/10

Samuel Eto’o   7/10

Romelu Lukaku   7.5/10

Christian Atsu   N/A

James McCarthy   N/A

Eoin Leeson.

https://twitter.com/LeesonEoin_EFC