Everton thrashed in Kiev

Posted Friday, March 20, 2015 by Foxsports.com

With the Toffees aiming to stop England having no representation in the last eight of European competition for the first time in 22 years, Romelu Lukaku scored a stunning strike to cancel out Andriy Yarmolenkos excellent opener.

But the hosts, who went through 6-4 on aggregate, fired themselves clear with two quick-fire goals from Lukasz Teodorczyk and Miguel Veloso.

Oleg Gusev scored a close-range effort early in the second half before Vitorino Antunes fired in a wonderful strike from distance, while Yarmolenko almost added a sixth as he hammered a shot against the crossbar, then Phil Jagielka headed in a late consolation for the visitors.

It was a fairly relaxed opening to the match, but it came alive on 21 minutes when Yarmolenko picked the ball up off Silva, before driving past Gareth Barry with a couple of stepovers and curling a stunning 25-yard strike past a watching Tim Howard.

The visitors didnt let it affect them, though, and shortly afterwards Ross Barkley went close as he drilled a low shot across goal which came back out off the far upright.

Evertons defence had looked nervous from the outset, and Yarmolenko almost caught the visitors out as Antolin Alcaraz and Jagielka failed to deal with a long ball forward, before the Kiev man drew an excellent stop from Howard low to his right-hand side.

Martinezs side put themselves in the driving seat on 29 minutes, however, as Jagielkas free kick eventually broke to Lukaku on the edge of the box, and the Belgian fired an excellent shot into the top corner for his eighth Europa League goal of the season putting him level at the top of the charts in the competition.

But Evertons joy was short-lived, as five minutes later Gusevs cross came down off Yarmolenko, allowing Teodorczyk to react quickest and fire it low past Howard.

HUMBLED

Things soon got from bad to worse for the visitors as Sergei Rebrovs men added another just three minutes later. Another long ball caused problems for the defence, and Jagielkas headed clearance fell to Veloso, who hammered in a 20-yard volley with the aid of a deflection.

The second half was just as action-packed, and 11 minutes after the break the hosts made it 4-1, Gusev latching on to the rebound from his own shot in the area and firing it in off the post with the Everton defence all at sea.

Christian Atsu tested Oleksandr Shovkovskyi at the other end, drilling in a long-range effort which the goalkeeper parried away, before Barkley hit the woodwork for the second time, cutting in from the right and firing a rasping strike against the post from distance.

It clearly wasnt Evertons night, and Antunes capped a wonderful evening for Rebrovs men as he picked the ball up in space on 76 minutes, then unleashed a perfect shot from all of 35 yards which arrowed into the top corner.

With eight minutes remaining, Jagielka met Leighton Baines corner at the near post and nodded into the far corner, but it was too late as the hosts still needed two more, and the last-surviving British team in Europe were also knocked out.