Wolfsburg vs Everton match report: Roberto Martinez delighted as ‘patient’ Toffees progress in Europa League
Wolfsburg 0 Everton 2: Counter-attacking goals by Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas secured top spot in the group
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Your support makes all the difference.The Everton manager, Roberto Martinez, felt his side had been “outstanding” at the back and “lethal” going forward as they ensured progress to the Europa League knockout rounds as Group H winners with an impressive victory at Wolfsburg.
Everton were guaranteed qualification for the next stage of the competition by half-time even if they went on to lose, with the other match in the pool having ended in a 1-1 draw between Krasnodar and Lille.
But Everton were already putting in a decent display at that point, going in at the interval 1-0 up after Romelu Lukaku’s 43rd-minute counter-attack strike. It was another breakaway effort, by Kevin Mirallas in the 75th minute, that wrapped up a fine night’s work and secured top spot for Martinez’s men with a game to spare.
They might have had more goals, with Sylvain Distin hitting the crossbar, Aiden McGeady missing a chance when it looked easier to score and substitute Ross Barkley having an effort ruled out for offside late on.
But Everton also defended bravely over the 90 minutes against dangerous-looking German opponents who had won 10 of their previous 13 matches.
Martinez said: “We had to defend really well, and when we did we defended in numbers. We were patient with that and ready to use the counter-attack to good effect.
“On the transition we were lethal and every time we broke we looked really threatening.”
Wolfsburg Benaglio; Vieirinha, Naldo, Knoche, Schafer, De Bruyne, Gustavo, Malanda (Caligiuri, 63), Perisic, Hunt (Arnold, 75), Bendtner (Olic, 75). Substitutes not used Grun, Klose, Trasch, Jung.
Everton Howard; Hibbert, Distin, Jagielka, Garbutt, Besic, McCarthy (Osman, 31), McGeady, Eto’o (Barkley, 73), Mirallas (Atsu, 84), Lukaku. Substitutes not used Robles, Kone, Coleman, Browning.
Referee F Vitienes (Spain).
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