David Moyes faced the press for as long as his rising fury would allow but, with anger threatening to consume him, bid an abrupt farewell with his Portuguese interpreter in full flow. The reaction was understandable given Everton’s foolish late implosion at Goodison Park, one that has needlessly raised the prospect of another early exit in Lisbon next week.
Everton were on easy street against Sporting but finished in a cul-de-sac after dreadful errors from Jack Rodwell and Sylvain Distin conspired to transform this tie in the visitors’ favour. Distin will be suspended as a consequence of the red card he conceded for Sporting’s late penalty and, with John Heitinga ineligible, Moyes’ side must defend a precarious lead without their first-choice central defence.
On a night when the highly influential Marouane Fellaini was ruled out for six months with the ankle injury inflicted by Sotirios Kyrgiakos in the Merseyside derby, and Tim Cahill joined him on the sidelines, victory brought little joy.
“The tie looks a lot different now,” said the Everton manager. “I thought we looked more likely to finish 3-0 than 2-1 but we didn’t go for it enough late on. We’ve also lost Fellaini with an injury similar to [Robin] Van Persie’s and think he’ll be out for six months, although we won’t know for sure until he’s had an operation. We have missed him, but it was a seriously bad tackle.”
There was expectancy on Everton following last week’s victory over Chelsea plus Sporting’s poor recent run of four games without a win but this was a tight affair. The Portuguese were content to leave Everton in possession for long periods, a policy borne of an understandable confidence on the counter-attack, particularly through Abel and Marat Izmailov on their right, and it paid dividends once they introduced substitutes with pace late on.
Cahill’s fruitful partnership with Louis Saha offered a potent outlet in the early stages and their first combination almost brought a breakthrough only for goalkeeper Rui Patrício to smother the French striker’s shot at close range. His second save was even better, reacting superbly to tip Leon Osman’s effort wide from the rebound.
Everton’s patient approach and the early kick-off lent the air of a pre-season friendly to the opening half hour and the home side created several half chances before taking the lead with a fine collective move. Phil Neville pierced the Sporting defence with a pass into Cahill, who displayed great awareness to draw his marker and the goalkeeper before jabbing a back-heel into the path of Steven Pienaar. The South African, making his 100th appearance for Everton, obliged under pressure with a rare right-footed shot into the top corner.
Sporting were galvanised once they fell behind and should have departed level at the interval. The impressive Izmailov broke free on the right and picked out former Tottenham, Portsmouth and Rangers midfielder Pedro Mendes lurking on the edge of the area. Tim Howard parried Mendes’ volley into the path of Joao Moutinho but the Sporting captain and former Everton transfer target wanted too long on the ball. Izmailov, the Russian right-winger, then struck the outside of Howard’s near post from an audacious angle.
The night appeared to going entirely Everton’s way when Leighton Baines’ corner at the start of the second half eluded the Sporting keeper and struck Distin on the arm before rolling over the line. Despite the presence of an additional assistant referee behind the net, the goal was given, proving that even six officials are not infallible. “It was a clear handball,” said the Lisbon coach, Carlos Carvalhal. “It’s funny, they showed the first goal three times on the TV screens but they didn’t show the second goal once.”
A two-goal cushion did nothing for Everton’s composure, however. The arrival of Carlos Saleiro and Yannick Djaló in the 66th minute injected more urgency to the Sporting attack and the hosts were visibly unnerved in response.
Even so, their problems were entirely self-inflicted. Everton were only five minutes from a precious clean sheet when substitute Rodwell ignored several better options and struck an over-hit, careless pass straight at Distin. The surprised centre-half had displayed a poor first touch with easier passes, and was easily dispossessed by Liédson before tripping the Brazilian-born forward inside the area. The penalty and red card brooked no argument and Miguel Veloso sent Howard – and Everton – the wrong way from the spot.
Uefa Europa LeagueEvertonSporting LisbonDavid MoyesAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk
