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Europa League | Group Stage
Nov 6, 2014 at 8.05pm UK
 
Lille

3-0

Osman (27'), Jagielka (42'), Naismith (61')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Live Commentary: Everton 3-0 Lille - as it happened

Sports Mole brings you live coverage of the Europa League clash between Everton and Lille at Goodison Park.
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Everton have moved closer to securing their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League after recording a 3-0 win over Lille.

The Toffees weren't required to get out of second gear against the French outfit who never came close to getting back into the contest after Leon Osman's opener.

Phil Jagielka gave Everton some breathing space shortly before the break before Steven Naismith's strike on the hour mark ensured that Roberto Martinez's side remained top of Group H.

Read below to see how the game unfolded at Goodison Park.


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Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the match in the Europa League between Everton and Lille.

After being drawn into what was widely considered to be the toughest group, Everton have responded with a win and two draws to get their campaign off to an solid start. Manager Roberto Martinez may have expected his team to come away from FC Krasnodar or Lille with more than a point, but in a group where each team is capable of beating any of the others, five points from three games with two home contests to come is a fantastic position ahead of tonight's meeting with Lille.

With just 30 minutes remaining until kickoff at Goodison Park, I won't hang about in bringing you the details of the two teams.

EVERTON XI: Howard; Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Distin; Barry, McCarthy, Osman, Naismith, McGeady; Lukaku

EVERTON SUBSTITUTES: Robles, Gibson, Eto'o, Besic, Atsu, Barkley, Pienaar

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has made four changes from the side that drew with Swansea City at the weekend. The most notable alteration sees Romelu Lukaku return in place of Samuel Eto'o in attack, while Leon Osman has been drafted into midfield to replace Ross Barkley. There are also two changes in defence, with Tony Hibbert and Sylvan Distin taking the places of Seamus Coleman and the injured Antolin Alcarez.

LILLE XI: Enyeama; Corchia, Balmont, Gueye, Frey; Kjaer, Mendes, Souare, Mavuba; Basa, Origi

LILLE SUBSTITUTES: Rodelin, Meite, Elana, Beria, Rozehnal, Roux, Traore

The name in the Lille starting lineup that will catch your eye is striker Divock Origi. The Belgian forward was signed by Everton's rivals Liverpool during the summer before being loaned back to the French outfit for another 12 months. The 19-year-old hasn't scored in his last five fixtures for Lille but with pace to burn, we will provide Distin and Jagielka with a tough examination at Goodison Park.

The other fixture in Group H sees FC Krasnodar travel to Germany to face Wolfsburg. With the group as close as it is, I'm sure that everyone associated with Everton will be hoping for a draw from that encounter.

PREDICTION! After Everton thrashed Wolfsburg on matchday one, it's hard to back against the Toffees on their home turf but Lille have travelled to England with a mean defensive record and it may take some perseverance from the Premier League side to get a result. A competitive 1-1 draw.

RESULT! It's all over in Greece where Tottenham Hotspur have recorded a 2-1 victory over Asteras Tripolis to leave Mauricio Pochettino's side just a couple of points away from guaranteeing their place in the knockout stages. You can read our full report of the match by clicking here.

The two teams are limbering up inside the tunnel as they prepare to walk out at Goodison Park. We will be underway on Merseyside very shortly.

Everton get us underway.

CHANCE! Oh my. That was almost an incredible start by Everton. A flowing move saw a cross from Leighton Baines played into the path of Romelu Lukaku by Steven Naismith but the Belgian striker's shot from an acute angle was superbly tipped wide by Vincent Enyeama.

Everton have started this game at a high rate of knots and Lille currently have no answer. A through ball is met by Naismith who beats Enyeama to the ball to set up Aiden McGeady but the Irishman is hustled away from goal by a couple of defenders.

Lille have started to settle now but Everton remain in the ascendancy. Naismith and McGeady are looking particularly lively in the final third. More good play from Everton almost sees Romelu Lukaku get free but he's well dispossessed by a defender.

It will be interesting to see if Everton can keep this pace up. Roberto Martinez has rotated a few of his players so fitness shouldn't be an issue, but this a high intensity being set by the Toffees.

The last few minutes have been spent with Everton passing the ball in the middle third without showing much ambition to push forward. Maybe this is their brief rest period before going again. Lille are happy to sit deep and let their opponents keep possession.

CHANCE! Aiden McGeady wins a free kick in the right after being hauled down by Pape Souare but despite his set piece finding the head of Steven Naismith, the ball goes flying over the crossbar from six yards.

Lille create their first opening with a cross from the right flank but Michael Frey can do little with his header at the near post.

Everton get back on the ball and proceed to play it about down the left flank. Leighton Baines, as always, is showing plenty of ambition to get forward but he can't link up with Romelu Lukaku to create a worthwhile opening.

CHANCE! Ryan Mendes has looked sharp during the opening quarter of this match and he earns Lille a corner after accelerating into the box. The delivery into the box is only half cleared to the Cape Verde national who forces a decent stop out of Tim Howard from 15 yards.

GOAL! Everton 1-0 Lille (Osman)

Everton have the breakthrough at Goodison Park! James McCarthy plays in Aiden McGeady down the right flank and the Irish winger wastes no time in crossing to the back post for Leon Osman. The Toffees stalwart controls the ball, potentially with his arm as well as his chest, but the finish is composed as he volleys into the far corner from 12 yards.

Everton deserve their goal but Lille come close to an immediate reply. Florent Balmont whips in a super cross to the back post where Tony Hibbert has to head behind with Divock Origi lurking behind him. The Belgian would have had a tap in had it not been for the full-back's reaction.

CHANCE! Everton should be two ahead. Aiden McGeady, who is proving to be a constant threat to the Lille defence, found himself on the left wing before sending the ball into the middle. Steven Naismith appeared to be the intended target but Romelu Lukaku nipped in front of him to glance a header wide.

Three minutes later, Lukaku does have the ball in the net but he is correctly adjudged to be offside. Still, it was a decent finish.

It's worth noting that the game in Germany between Wolfsburg and FC Krasnodar remains goalless. If, and it's a big if, Everton will be delighted should both results remain the same.

Back to this match, and there's not a whole lot going on at the moment. Everton are continuing to play some good stuff in possession but their final ball is lacking.

GOAL! Everton 2-0 Lille (Jagielka)

That could prove to me a pivotal goal in this match! Everton double their advantage at Goodison Park after a corner from Aiden McGeady is met by Phil Jagielka, who takes advantage of being left all on his own 10 yards out to head powerfully past Vincent Enyeama.

CHANCE! Divock Origi has been quiet so far tonight but he finally tests Tim Howard with a header from eight yards after meeting a corner. That will be the last action of the first half.

HALF TIME: Everton 2-0 Lille

The referee blows the half-time whistle at Goodison Park and Everton head into the break in full control of this contest. The Toffees have operated in fits and starts but it's been effective against a Lille side who look short of confidence in every area of the pitch.

It may have been one-way traffic in the opening 45 minutes but the statistics suggest a different story. Everton have only had one more shot than their opponents while Lille have had more corners. However, it's the possession stat that tells the correct story with Everton having had 64% of the ball. If that continues after the restart, they should win this game.

As it stands, Everton are going three points clear at the top of the group and five points ahead of third, but there is still plenty of time for that to change. There's every reason for Everton supporters to be optimistic though - I haven't covered a game that has seen more than three goals all season so if that run continues, you are going to be celebrating in around 50 minutes time.

Lille get the game restarted at Goodison Park.

Divock Origi hasn't even played for Liverpool yet and he's already being booed by the Everton faithful. He almost gets in down the left side of the penalty area but his shot is deflected wide for a corner.

GOALFLASH! Wolfsburg have taken the lead against FC Krasnodar thanks to a goal from Aaron Hunt. It's not the worst news for Everton, but it would mean that there would be more riding on their game with the Bundesliga team in three weeks time.

Everton win a free kick on the edge of the area after Rio Mavuba trips Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian and Leighton Baines are eyeing this up...

SAVE! It's Lukaku who steps up to curl the ball towards the top corner but Vincent Enyeama pulls off a flamboyant save to keep his strike out. It's a tad over the top but it got the job done.

Everton look that comfortable here that Roberto Martinez may already be considering a couple of changes. I imagine the likes of Lukaku and McGeady will be at the top of the list to rest ahead of Sunday's trip to Sunderland.

Lille win a corner on the left but it has too much pace on it and the ball eventually goes out for a goal kick. The French side need to make more of those situations if they are to create any uncertainty in the Everton defence.

GOAL! Everton 3-0 Lille (Naismith)

It's game over at Goodison Park as Everton move into a 3-0 lead. It's another wonderful goal from the hosts, too. Romelu Lukaku released Leighton Baines down the left who pulled the ball back for Steven Naismith. The Scot took his time to control the ball before firing his shot into the roof of the net from eight yards.

OUCH! Gareth Barry contests a 50/50 challenge with Sebastien Corchia but it's the Lille player who comes off worse. However, after receiving a yellow card, the midfielder is forced off to be replaced by Darron Gibson.

Aiden McGeady has also made way for Christian Atsu. There have been a number of star performers for Everton tonight, but the Irish winger has stolen the show.

There's less than 20 minutes remaining in this encounter and it has become a case of how many will Everton score. Lille are still trying to press forward themselves but they aren't coming anywhere near to reducing the deficit.

Everton put together another excellent move but Leon Osman's final ball to Romelu Lukaku is just about intercepted by a Lille defender. The likes of Samuel Eto'o, Ross Barkey and Steven Pienaar are wrapped up in bobble hats on the bench so I can't see them featuring this evening.

It's not just here where the goals are flying in. In the last few moments, Wolfsburg have taken a 3-1 lead over FC Krasnodar to all but wrap up the three points. Wanderson had reduced the deficit for the Russians but the home side reopened a two-goal margin within a minute.

For the second time tonight, Romelu Lukaku has the ball in the net but is adjudged to have been offside. However, while the first decision was correct, this wasn't. The Belgian was comfortably level with the final defender.

Christian Atsu is still looking for his first Everton goal since his loan move from Chelsea and it looks as though the Ghana international will have to wait a little longer after scuffing a shot wide of the near post.

SUBSTITUTION! It looks as though Muhamed Besic is going to enter the action for the final six minutes. He has replaced James McCarthy.

BOOKING! Florent Balmont has gone into the referee's notebook after a late challenge on Leighton Baines. It was a tackle born out of pure frustration and he continues to struggle with his emotions even after receiving his caution.

There will be three minutes of added-on time. Not that they are really needed, though.

There are a few groans as Romelu Lukaku loses the ball. A little bit harsh when your team is 90 seconds away from sealing a comprehensive victory!

FULL TIME: Everton 3-0 Lille

The referee finally puts Lille out of their misery as Everton canter to a comfortable success at Goodison Park. After Leon Osman had given the Toffees the lead, the result was never really in doubt and the Merseyside outfit can start to think about the knockout stages though, although they are still need a point to guarantee progression.

With Wolfsburg beating FC Krasnodar, just a point separates the two clubs ahead of their clash in three weeks time.

That will be all from Sports Mole for this match. Thank you for joining us this evening and we hope you stick around for all of the reaction from the games that have taken place across Europe tonight. Goodbye for now.

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Romelu Lukaku of Everton celebrates with team-mates after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Burnley and Everton at Turf Moor on October 26, 2014
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Group A

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Group H

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