Skipper Leighton Baines grabs the winner as Everton labour to victory in the first leg of their Europa League third round qualifying tie.
Here are the notes from a testing night for the Toffees.
Everton 1 MFK Ruzomberok 0
Leighton Baines’ deflected strike gave Everton something to defend ahead of what is likely to be a tricky trip to Slovakia for the second leg of their Europa League qualifying tie.
While Ronald Koeman’s men were still getting to grips with pre-season, their opponents had already played one league match and beaten Norwegians SK Brann over two legs to earn their visit to Goodison.
So there was always a feeling that this could be a step too soon for the Toffees.
And so it proved.
Everton were slightly off the pace for much of the encounter, and it took the second-half introduction of new signing Sandro to bring some directness and intent into their attacking play.
Koeman handed competitive debuts to defenders Michael Keane and Cuco Martina, though Jordan Pickford – with just 45 minutes in pre-season behind him – lost out to Maarten Stekelenburg in goal.
Davy Klaasen was part of the midfield three in a 4-3-2-1 formation.
The returning Wayne Rooney played through the middle up front, supported from the flanks by Kevin Mirallas, who was handed set-piece duties, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Keane was assured throughout, Martina considerably less so, while Klaasen showed the odd flash of creative ability but might need to demonstrate a lot more – and quickly – should Everton finally land long-time transfer target Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Ruzoberok were resolute in defence and quick to counter, forcing a couple of smart saves from Stekelenburg before Sandro, who replaced Calvert-Lewin, changed the tie’s dynamic.
Rooney was pushed out to the right to accommodate the Spaniard, whose willingness to run behind the back four finally stretched the Slovakians’ defence, allowing the hosts to apply some sustained pressure from which Baines’ winner eventually came.
Post-match, Koeman was quick to praise the impact of Sandro.
“Sandro brought pace to the team, he showed good movement and that gave Wayne more freedom to play from the right side.”
But the manager also told ITV Sport that he is keen to bring in another striker – not what the 20.9% of FPL manager who own Rooney wanted to hear.
Then again, Everton’s opening schedule is sufficiently harsh – involving four of last season’s top six by the middle of September – that early investment in any of their assets looks decidedly risky.
A clean sheet could boost the stock of the 13.0%-owned Keane, while the goal from the ever-reliable Baines (10.3%) was another reminder of his Fantasy pedigree.
But major backing of Everton players looks to be a strategy for the longer term, or at least a good deal later than this very early competitive start to the season.
Everton: Stekelenburg; Martina, Keane, Williams, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Klaassen (Davies 86); Mirallas (Lookman 82), Calvert-Lewin (Sandro 61); Rooney.
Subs not used: Pickford, Jagielka, Holgate, Barry.
