A late goal from Samuel Eto'o has earned Everton a 1-1 draw away at FC Krasnodar in the Europa League.
The Toffees were on the back foot for much of the opening hour of the contest, with Krasnodar deservedly taking the lead shortly before the break through a composed finish from Ari.
However, Everton improved in the final quarter of the match and with eight minutes remaining, Eto'o met a cross from Leighton Baines to earn the Premier League side a valuable point in Russia.
Read below to see how the action unfolded at the Kuban Stadium.
Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the match in the Europa League between FC Krasnodar and Everton.
After earning a return to European football thanks to their performances in the Premier League last season, Everton were handed what can be described as a stinker of a Europa League draw when they were drawn alongside Lille, Wolfsburg and FC Krasnodar. However, after they dismantled Wolfsburg at Goodison Park 14 days ago, there is genuine expectation on Merseyside that that Toffees can go deep into this competition.
As we progress further into the season, manager Roberto Martinez will face an increasing struggle to juggle his selections about when it comes to prioritising certain fixtures but for now, the Spaniard is able to name a strong lineup for the game at the Kuban Stadium. Full details are coming right up.
EVERTON XI: Howard; Hibbert, Stones, Jagielka, Baines; Gibson, Barry; Atsu, Osman, McGeady; Eto'o
EVERTON SUBSTITUTES: Robles, Oviedo, Lukaku, Naismith, Besic, Browning, Alcaraz
Martinez has opted to make five changes to the side that drew with Liverpool at the weekend, but that's still a pretty strong starting lineup, right? Samuel Eto'o, who has experience of Russian football with Anzhi Makhachkala, is preferred to Romelu Lukaku while Christian Atsu has replaced the injured Kevin Mirallis. There is also a start in midfield for Darren Gibson, who recently returned from a long-term injury.
FC KRASNODAR XI Dykan, Jedrzejczyk, Sigurdsson, Granqvist, Kaleshin, Gazinskiy, Izmaylov, Laborde, Ahmedov, Pereyra, Ari
FC KRASNODAR SUBSTITUTES: Martynovich, Mamaev, do Carmo Carneiro, Burmistrov, Adzhindzhal, Sinitsyn, Petrov
If you aren't a regular follower of Russian football, there aren't too many names that are going to stand out for you there. Wigan Athletic fans will recall defender Andreas Granqvist playing 16 games for the club between 2007 and 2008, and the Swede has had spells with Genoa and Groningen before finding himself at Krasnodar.
PREDICTION! Despite Krasnodar not possessing well-known European talent, this is a tough ask for Everton against the supposed weakest team in the group. The conditions in Russia as well as the time spent travelling by Everton gives the home side a distinct advantage but Everton have the quality in their ranks to come away with a result. A tight 1-1 draw.
Before we continue, I should point out that this is a different team to who Swansea City played last season. Swansea played Kuban Krasnodar but Everton are facing FC Krasnodar. They do share the same ground in Krasnodar, though, which is called the Kuban Stadium. I'm glad that we've cleared all that up...
Talking of Swansea's experiences in Krasnodar, they were denied all three points in Russia thanks to a last-minute equaliser. A lot of factors are against Everton tonight but they have a decent chance of returning to England with some points intact.
The two teams have made their way out in Russia. We will be underway in a matter of minutes.
2,000 miles away from home, Everton get us started in Krasnodar.
SHOT! That would have been a rather rapid start! Everton are soon dispossessed and Krasnodar waste no time in moving forward. The ball eventually fell to Mauricio Pereyra, who fired narrowly over from 25 yards.
CHANCE! Everton are at sixes and sevens. Krasnodar put together a fine move that concludes with the ball being pulled back for Marat Izmailov who is six yards out, but the pass is behind him and he can only direct it over.
Everton have a bit of joy down the left but to no avail. Still, they've started slowly here and Martinez won't be very impressed.
Defender John Stones is twisted inside and out by Ricardo Laborde and he seems to have done a bit of damage to his ankle. He will continue for now but that's worrying for the Toffees at this stage of the game.
BLOCK! This is supposed to be the weakest team in the group, right? That's hard to believe right now because Krasnodar are playing some superb stuff. Phil Jagielka has just been forced to make a timely intervention to prevent a volley from Odil Ahmedov finding the back of the net.
Krasnodar appeal for a penalty after a cross strikes Tony Hibbert, but the full-back kept his arm to his side so it would have been harsh to give that.
Krasnodar goalkeeper Andriy Dykan has just had his first touch of the ball. That tells you how this opening 15 minutes has transpired. Everton are having a bit more of the ball but they haven't mustered any kind of a threat on goal.
SAVE! You get the impression that it's going to be a busy night for Tim Howard. The American stopper has just pulled a fine one-handed stop to prevent Marat Izmailov's 20-yard effort finding the bottom corner. He got a little fortunate with the rebound, but he deserved some luck for the initial save.
Howard is back in action for a second time in three minutes but he should have perhaps done better. Artur Jedrzejczyk's cut back onto his left foot before getting his shot away but despite the attempt lacking pace, Howard palmed the ball away for a corner.
SAVE! That's much better from Everton. Aiden McGeady cut inside onto his right foot before unleashing a venomous 20-yard strike on goal that was well tipped away by Andriy Dykan.
SAVE! Dykan is forced into another fine save, this time from Gareth Barry. After good approach play from Samuel Eto'o and Christian Atsu, Barry found space to try to curl the ball past the Krasnodar goalkeeper but he did well to palm the bar clear.
Apparently, tickets for this game were being sold for £2. The fans are getting value for money so far.
CHANCE! A third chance for Everton in a matter of minutes! Aiden McGeady weaved his magic on the left-hand side of the penalty area but after finding John Stones, the defender could only direct his header wide of the post with Dykan well beaten.
Christian Atsu loses the ball 30 yards from goal and Krasnodar soon move the ball to within shooting distance, but fortunately for the winger, the resulting effort is deflected wide.
After that brief period where they were very much on the back foot, Krasnodar have responded by pushing Everton back onto their own 18-yard box. The Russians have a succession of corners, but none of them result in the ball threatening Tim Howard's goal. 10 minutes to go until the break.
Moments after Christian Atsu failed to make the most of some space on the right flank, Krasnodar returned to the other end of the pitch to create a chance for Artur Jedrzejczyk, but his flicked header lacked pace and Howard comfortably dealt with it.
Ricardo Laborde looks a threat every time that he gains possession in and around the penalty area but on this occasion, despite beating two Everton players, he got carried away and was dispossessed by the third when he had an opening to cross into the middle.
GOAL! FC Krasnodar 1-0 Everton (Ari)
In all fairness, it was coming. A floated ball into the penalty area causes confusion between Phil Jagielka and John Stones and Ari is on handed to volley the ball into the bottom corner from 12 yards. That's a huge blow for the Toffees so close to half time.
There will be one minute of added-on time.
HALF TIME: FC Krasnodar 1-0 Everton
The half-time whistle has been blown in Russia and FC Krasnodar deservedly lead at the interval. Everton have a short period where they peppered the home side's goal, but other than that, it's been all Krasnodar and the Toffees have it all to do in the second half.
As you would expect, all of the half-time statistics favour Krasnodar. They have had 12 shots compared to Everton's four, they lead the corner count by seven to two, while they've also had 53% of the ball. In all honesty, it felt like they had much more than that.
So where do Everton go from here? Roberto Martinez has plenty of options on the bench, but his biggest concern will be trying to tighten things up at the back. They've looked over-run at times and they should err on the side of caution at the start of the second half.
SUBSTITUTION! Martinez has decided to move early. Romelu Lukaku has come on to replace Christian Atsu. We are back underway.
We've started the second half in the same manner in which the first concluded. Krasnodar are having all of the ball and have managed to create three corners in quick succession but Everton have found a way to clear their lines.
Everton are trying to go the direct route to find Romelu Lukaku but Krasnodar looked well organised to deal with that threat. It's early days but I don't see any reason why Krasnodar can't go deep into this competition. They are very well organised and a constant threat in attack.
Everton work the ball nicely down the left with Leighton Baines, Leon Osman and Romelu Lukaku combining to get to the edge of the penalty area but Osman is adjudged, wrongly, to be offside when getting ready to deliver the ball into the middle.
Samuel Eto'o is dropping a bit deeper compared to his first-half role, but he is spending most of his time trying to track a runner. It's not exactly an effective use of the former Chelsea striker.
Vitali Kaleshin is lucky to avoid a booking for a late challenge on Aiden McGeady, who was too fast for him on the halfway line. Moments later, Everton earned a corner from the left but despite a threatening ball to the near post, Krasnodar were able to head clear.
CHANCE! Krasnodar are excellent at switching the ball from defence to attack at a brisk pace and it nearly brings them a second goal. After Marat Izmailov had as shot blocked, the ball fell kindly to Odil Ahmedov but he scuffed his opening from 12 yards. He should have scored there.
Back up the other end, a raking pass from Gareth Barry finds Samuel Eto'o on the right. The Cameroonian's pull back is half cleared to Darren Gibson, but he could only drive the ball over from 25 yards with his weaker left foot.
WOODWORK! He's been on the pitch for barely a minute but Wanderson nearly scores a wanderful individual goal for the Russians. He weaved his way through the centre of the Everton defence, and although he got a bit of luck, the ball rebounded invitingly to him around 12 yards out but his resulting shot clipped the top of the crossbar and went over.
Roberto Martinez needs to change something because this current setup isn't working. Steven Naismith is a contender to come off the bench.
CHANCE! Romelu Lukaku has his back to goal inside the penalty area, but he turns sharply to force Andriy Dykan into a sharp save at his near post.
Krasnodar are putting in some shift to keep closing Everton down on the ball. Will their efforts cost them in the closing stages?
There's a few theatrics coming from Krasnodar in order to break up the pattern of play. Everton have, slowly but surely, began to make inroads in the final third. Much of their success is coming through Lukaku. Still no sign of a change though.
Everton are continuing to probe but there is a wall of green stopping them from getting too far into the penalty area. A few spaces of opening up in the Everton defence too, so they need to be careful about a potential break-away.
GOAL! FC Krasnodar 1-1 Everton (Eto'o)
Everton have the equaliser and it's a move started and finished by Samuel Eto'o. The striker played the ball over to Baines on the right-hand side before making his way into the penalty area to get on the end of Baines's cross to divert the ball into the corner from close range. It may have come off his knee or shin but Everton won't care.
Roberto Martinez will be quick to stress to his side that they shouldn't throw this away. They are in the ascendancy but a draw would be a fantastic result. Four minutes plus injury time to go.
Krasnodar have had a couple of flurries forward since the goal, but it remains Everton who look the most likely to net a winner. They've really upped the tempo in the past 15 minutes.
CHANCE! Krasnodar are looking increasingly nervous in defence and they nearly concede a second in seven minutes. A cross from Leighton Baines was floated to the far post for Romelu Lukaku, but his downward header from six yards was punched clear by Andriy Dykan. There will be three minutes of added-on time.
Everton have a final chance to get the ball into the box but Darron Gibson's free kick doesn't beat the first man.
BOOKING! Romelu Lukaku has been booked for failing to retreat 10 yards, but I think he will be happy to take that to waste a few seconds.
FULL TIME: FC Krasnodar 1-1 Everton
The final whistle goes in Russia and Everton have managed to pick up a valuable point away at FC Krasnodar. They came on strong during the final stages, but it should be remembered that Krasnodar dominated much of this fixture so a draw should be considered a good result by the Toffees.
The other game in this group between Wolfsburg and Lille is currently goalless, and I imagine that Everton would like it to stay that way. Regardless of that result though, Roberto Martinez will be delighted with four points from the club's first two Europa League games.
That will be all from Sports Mole's coverage of this match but we hope that you stick around for Tottenham Hotspur's match with Besiktas. Coverage begins at 7.30pm, BST. Goodbye for now. PS: I hope you noticed that my prediction was spot on. There's a first time for everything...
Written by
Darren Plant
Darren Plant
