Everton coast into the last 16

I would also have gone with Kone up front; I hope Lukaku doesn't end up playing 90 mins...

Garbutt has also impressed and needs to be given a run of games ahead of Baines at LB as he has been more positive this evening and delivered some very dangerous crosses into the right spots.

For me, Garbutt needs to be given games until the end of the season so that it may persuade him to sign a new contract as he is going to be an epic player – hopefully for the mighty blues!

If Lukaku is hailed off at half time then Martinez is denying a striker who is lacking confidence of a potential hattrick and if heÂ’s left on then itÂ’s "pure bullshit". ItÂ’s not been a great season but there is still hope in this competition and all the negativity isnÂ’t helping anything or anyone.

I know it was a bit of a stroll again in the end but that was good to watch. Garbutt must be retained, Gibson excellent, KoneÂ’s touch is good to see, encouraging from Coleman. Besic excellent again when he came on, despite some strange views on here today that heÂ’s overrated.

No complaints, very pleasing. But please donÂ’t fuck it up on Sunday and Wednesday, that would be far too predictable.

No complaints from me.

COYB.

We looked very nervous to begin with but the confidence visibly grew and it all paid off. Gibson looked good and Lukaku will be great. He gets into good positions and will score more and more.

Gibson looked great again and Garbutt showed a lot of promise going forward, though I think he needs to work on his defensive side a bit. Some of his closing down and positioning was perhaps not the best.

Looking forward to tomorrow's draw.

Still baffled by some of RM decisions though. Playing McCarthy, Barry and Gibson in the same team is just crazy. In the early part of the game Martinez had Gibson playing too far forward and Barry and Mac didnÂ’t have the ability to get the ball to him.

Gibson saw what was happening and dropped deeper and was superb just as he was on Sunday.

Bringing on Besic when he was carrying a yellow card was also unnecessary

When fit it should be Gibson and McCarthy/Besic in future.

On current form obviously Howard should be dropped and Garbutt should also play more.

Looking forward to tomorrowÂ’s draw what a tough list of teams remaining. Would love to draw Sevilla, what a city and an incredible atmosphere at their ground.

The PL is such a mishmash of styles all at 100mph that it really doesnÂ’t work. But in Europa, all day long.

Still laughing at Liverpool skying a penalty and turning on ITV1 to see Goodison going crazy... hehehe.

He spent the summer putting together a decent size squad so that heÂ’d have options, yet he has been absolutely abysmal in the way he has managed the rotation of it this season. IÂ’m assuming Naismith will play the full 90 against Arsenal on Sunday (probably out of position again), looking completely shagged out after an hour and barely able to keep his feet, as he does in every game.

I sincerely hope that in the future this can be put down as a Â’learningÂ’ season for Martinez, but the noises heÂ’s making are still of a stubborn, obstinate person who thinks heÂ’s never wrong, so will never learn or improve.

All round - 8/10

"Liverpool fans, tune into ITV+1 now to see your team still in the Europa League", priceless

Who pissed on your chips? Cheer up – we got a good result if you weren’t aware... I'm not sure what your beef is with Naismith but the lad's a grafter and makes me proud to be a blue because he leaves everything he’s got on the pitch!

Martinez now needs to sign young Garbutt up on a 4 to 5 year deal. No pissing about. Do it as soon as humanly possible. His play tonight was brilliant. And he looks better every time I see him. And believe me, if a novice like me sees how good he is, then most Premier League clubs will no doubt also be taking note. Give him the left back spot for the rest of the season. He is good enough. Integrate Baines into midfield. He has the skill and vision. Why not?

Also fit Oviedo into a LMF position.

Naismith had a good game tonight. No Barkley. And Naismith flourished. Lukaku played well. Would love to see him and Kone play together sometime. FFS even Alcatraz and Barry even played ok. And what about that pass from Gibson to Mirallas. It was bootiful. BOOTIFUL. He needs to keep his place in the team. For now IÂ’d sacrifice Barkley.

Can we now do the unthinkable? And get a result against the Arsenal. Or is this another false dawn? The only changes that now need to be made, are Howard out, Robles in. Alcatraz out, Stones in. The Barry or Besic question is tough. IÂ’d go for Besic. But I can see the merits in going for Barry experience. And Barry does play better alongside McCarthy. And as stated , Gibson must now keep his place. Barkley is a luxury, who now must earn his place in this team. But will Martinez act accordingly. Who knows. IÂ’d be surprised if he starts playing players who are starting to show some form. ThatÂ’s not his style. Looking ahead, that team tonight would IMO trouble a pedestrian Stoke City.

OK folks. That was a good nights football.(for a change). Everton win a football match and go marching on. And the RS and Spurs go crashing out. No work tomorrow, so with the wifes permission, IÂ’m having a few Cream of the Barley. . Cheers.

MartinezÂ’s survival will depend on whether he gets the team to deal with the sides that sit back.

Still, itÂ’s not often that we go through and they donÂ’t, so letÂ’s enjoy tonight and see if we can string two good performances together on Sunday.

Pretty much only good teams left in now, but weÂ’ve nothing to prove and everything to gain in this competition.

Wish the BBC and other media would just fucking wake up and realise that the gobshites are the definition of shite and no-one other then them deluded Norwegians gives a shit. Typical the only English team left in the EL but no boo-hoo for the shite and forget about the only victorious team left in the comp.

IÂ’ve not read the online Daily Mail for a while, simply because they are so baised towards the money clubs, but I will bet our result will be featured somewhere near the bottom. Screw them and the rest of the baised media.

Did Brian CloughÂ’s Forest over achieve for 10 years? Listening to that twat co-commentator yet again bleating on about our 2 offside goals last week was seriously getting on my tits.

Great win tonight.COYB

My choice, would be Inter. I think if we could go there, and beat them, that would give us the psychological boost to and win it.

Its been a good night to be a Blue.

We can attack the manager all day long and we can say that the players can do better but the biggest issue is that certain players refuse to show a second string to their bow domestically and we were taught that in Europe. Look at today, Barry didnÂ’t have to make a tackle yet never made a pass. McCarthy didnÂ’t have to chase down anything, but never stopped running.

On the flip side, all commentary wanted to say was that Besic likes a tackle, yet he was looking to pick the ball up deep and run with it, almost Gascoigne like. All people have said is that Gibson is a shit crock, yet today he was full of energy, even showed pace and was our creative hub.

The top and bottom of our season is this..... Our playing style has been found out. The opposition game plan is to stifle (in the Premier League) and we struggle because the players we have are too one dimensional. The blame is partially managerial as he bought the players and tells them what to do, and the blame is partially the players because they refuse to adapt to the circumstances of a game and alter their playing style.

We will continue to be successful in Europe because our basic playing style fits the European ethos. We will continue to struggle against lesser teams in the league because they wont allow us to play and we cannot adapt to trying to break them down.

We will not be relegated, we will not make the European places. We need to write off the league season and try and win a European competition. You may not like it, and it will kill me seeing our team struggle when my 9 year old son watches, but we will be a different side next season and hopefully a Champions League side because we won silverware this season.

COYB!

ItÂ’s a shame that we can only play eleven, we have a lot of different options in midfield at the minute and I just hope Martinez can find a winning formula in the league as the Europa wins only mask the recent poor form.

Still IÂ’ll give him a pass; our most successful captain and I remember a commentator describing him as a Rolls Royce of a player. Maybe heÂ’s trying to compensate for his obvious blue leaning, as he was a boyhood blue and lived the dream.

Back to the Europa League, I think that this Everton squad could beat Ajax. They would suit MartinezÂ’s style. Everton could have time on the ball. They could beat Ajax with a counter attacking game. So that would be my preference.

As for Mirallas. He will be gone in the summer. He knows it. Martinez knows it. Keep Lennon. And lets get in a certain young fella who is currently floundering about in Spain. Delboy I think you affectionately call him.

The game was always going to be a bit easy but still good to get a win. Hopefully we can get a kind draw in the next round but until then back to the main business. Arsenal and Stoke coming up and we need to pick up some points.

I hope Gibson can get a few games as we finally have someone looking to pass the ball forward and no sideways. Both Gibson and Mirallas played 90 mins so I canÂ’t see both of them playing 90 mins in the upcoming 2 league games. Will see what Martinez decides.

IÂ’d definitely like to see Garbutt given at least one start out of the next two league games. Martinez needs to convince him to sign and a one off game in the EL isnÂ’t going to do that. Play Baines against Arsenal and Garbutt against Stoke.

Look forward to the draw at noon tomorrow. A lot of tough teams left but hopefully the draw will be kind - IÂ’d take Brugge or one of the Ukrainian sides. Rest are all tough!

Some smallish points:

Besic was excellent when he came on; shades of Bobby Moore sometimes. Not sure why he was risked given the disciplinary points start again after the next round. I guess Roberto will always be a purist, even if and when it costs us – odd profession to be an inflexible purist in, mind.

Alcaraz looks good on the ball; he can head well when under no pressure – but if anyone is near him or bullies him or makes him defend stoutly (or at all), he is a weak and uncertain link in the side.

We look wooden without Rom, however lean his return in the PL this season. I’d love the crowd to get behind him at GP more – though he got a good reception when he was subbed (hope he’s OK for Sunday).

BarryÂ’s permanent selection is also baffling, quite baffling.

With Kenno and Bobby we really do have gushing cream on gushing cream – just no cake, I sometimes fear.

Professional performance against a very poor side. Nothing to get excited about but very satisfactory.

Breandan@40 Did you see the Mirallas reaction to Lukaku's second?

ItÂ’s games like tonight that make me wonder why some donÂ’t want us in Europe. Great night to be a blue. Great atmosphere and fair play to the Young Boys fans. 2,000 I believe and never let their team down.

As others have said above. What is up with Kevin Ratcliffe? Shocking again today except for when he said "Besic looks for a tackle even when he has the ball" That one made me smile.

We need to pick up points quickly in the league now so we can really go for this cup. The longer we struggle in the league, the harder itÂ’s going to get playing better teams in the cup. Get to safety (horrible saying that) and we can go full pelt and anything is possible. We look quite good in Europe mode.

MotM – Gibson. I hope we can keep him fit.

I live in the States and often have to explain that Everton is the true team in Liverpool. IÂ’m not surprised these US Networks didnÂ’t recognize that Everton is the remaining British (I prefer English) club left in the Europa Cup.

They probably donÂ’t know where most of the teams remaining are from. Bet they donÂ’t know where Port Vale is!

More, Lukaku extending his hug on Mirallas after MirallasÂ’s goal.

After, what, three years, everything physically and technically indicates Mirallas should be a top-flight player. He just isnÂ’t. One of those peculiar fellows.

In fairness to Martinez (who I have slagged off loads this season), he seems to realise that Gibson has something that no other Everton player has at the moment, the ability to see and implement a pass in one millisecond.

You canÂ’t coach that, and I really hope and pray Gibbo stays injury-free for the rest of the season. Lots of positives tonight, letÂ’s hope we can build on it at the Arse on Sunday.

Sorry, but in a When-I-Feel-Like-It competition between him and Yakubu, IÂ’d take the Yak every time.

As I mentioned, a peculiar fellow.

I'm so glad they are out as teams that are knocked out of the Champions league should not be given a second chance.

Spurs out too, it is a wonder that Sky Sports pundits do not phone in asking for some sick days off.

Please, Everton, let us insert this goalscoring into our league play..

Some dodgy defending of corners in that first 10 mins but they settled down well after that.

They really does look like a different team in this competition as compared to our league displays. Strange game...

Come on here. Everton cruise into last 16. 7 - 2 on aggregate. Last British team in comp. Not one word. Aaaaarse!

Made my morning!

Victor (#61), I must agree with you re Sunday games. I hate them and can't remember the last time we played well in one, EL or not. We just never seem to perform well in them, especially as you say, the early kick-offs. We have to live with them but wish we could find a magic formula to motivate the players to play their best on a Sunday. Mind you, the same applies to Saturdays at present.

Back to the YB game: Gibson had a great game, Garbutt great going forward but still a little frail defensively, and Naismith a stand out man for me. His effort, if copied by the rest of the squad would see us back to winning games for fun again.

As a commentator said, "Naismith is everywhere" and he was! In a few minutes, Osman showed what we've been missing. Knock him all you like, but Leon brings something to the team in terms of his vision and calming influence, even if he can't do it for 90 minutes any more, he is still a very important and pivotal member of the squad. Well done, lads!

ItÂ’s as if losing is far more news worthy than winning, even Smooth Radio state British clubs all exit Europe, so what country is Everton part if then??? IÂ’m amazed!!

Yes, he has been wasteful; yes, he needs to do more... but he is young and improving and needs confidence, not booing from his own fans.

Pleasantly surprised again last night our performance in Europa are like chalk and cheese and I was glad I didnÂ’t have to hide behind the sofa.

I would like to add that Mirallas needs to buck his ideas up or the only way he will make CL football is by being a ball-boy.

Naismith is a star, maybe not the most gifted, but what a grafter! Lukaku needs to find his shooting boots in the EPL

Gibson, what a pass! I was surprised RM didn't chuck Barkley on for 15 mins after it was all sewn up – give the lad a bit of Goodison confidence.

Maybe we will be back down to earth with a bump come Sunday, but I'm enjoying this whilst I can. Pity I'm not in the office today to smile at all my red colleagues.....

Why does Ratcliffe say "Judge-elka" ?

But the stand-out player for me was Gibson, how nice to see a midfield player always looking to play the ball forward early. His touch and range of passing were a treat to watch and forwards were at last prepared to run off the ball as they knew Gibson would find them. His pass for the Mirallas goal was pure class. He may not be able to get round the pitch as quick as he used too but he has a range of passing that neither Barry, Besic or McCarthy can match. So for me provided he stays fit it has to be Gibson and any 2 from 3 for the other places.

Strange isn't it that RM has brought in either defensive midfield players or wide players yet no sign of a midfield player who can look for an early pass like Gibson.

It was good thet Gibson played 90 minutes; it looks like heÂ’s been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

I hope Pienaar returns with a similar spark to his play, and the players can take their European form into the Premier League.

1. Our confidence is SO fragile at the moment. When they scored early on, it suddenly looked as though the nightmare scenario might be possible and had their effort that hit the bar been an inch lower, then it would have been squeaky bum time. But we scored and then confidence grew and we looked once more like the team of last season rather than this one. Our form in Europa gives us confidence that evaporates in the league.

2. What a difference top quality passing makes. Take a bow Gibson, whose quick and incisive passing started many of our best moves. Aided with good movement up front GIbson's range and vision was what we have been crying out for all season. I wonder if Gibson and Besic (whose passing I think is superior to McCarthy's) might be our best midfield combo?

No idea what Martinez's best team is at the moment and i'm pretty sure he doesn't either. This season suggests he will stick with his favourites (Howard, Barry, Baines etc) despite downturns in form.

Naismith offers an intriguing conundrum as his workrate is top class and makes him almost undroppable although his touch and passing is not what it might be and he's certainly not a natural winger. He would seem the obvious choice for № 10 but I think his control and decision making lets him down in such a pivotal role though his main competitor, Barkley, is not exactly at his best right now. Osman on the other hand offers the touch and intelligence without the work rate and movement.

I'm very curious to see the starting line-up for Sunday. I suspect it will look very familiar.

This is easily doable; far lesser clubs have done it, yet we have people on here who donÂ’t like playing in Europe and blame it for poor league form.

Rubbish. Nearly all teams who do well in Europe are near the top of their domestic leagues and the fact weÂ’re not is MartinezÂ’s fault, not the fact weÂ’ve progressed in a cup competition.

No weak sides left so it's all about the quality of the away trip. Bruges, Florence or Seville for me.

For the life of me, I dunno why...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mq4UT4VnbE

A bit of payback due for Villareal and Fiorentina but for an away trip I have the fingers crossed for Brugge.

A bit of personal payback for Brugge who let me down on a FIFTEEN match accumulator a couple of years back......22,000 reasons to beat them :-)

Have a horrible feeling that Wolfsburg might be the best team in it and may be hungry to exact some revenge for our slightly fortunate group results.

Anyone who said Europa was a waste of time was wrong. Only thing keeping Evertonians smiling this season!

We are doing well in Europe and have been unlucky against Chelsea, City and Man United.

Things will turn out ok but all the moaners should stop and think, if we do go on to the Semi Final or Final in Europe and Martinez gets the recognition he deserves, would he want to stay at a club where these people panic at every draw at home?

We were no more unlucky against Chelsea and Man Utd than we were lucky against Wolfsburg and Krasnodar.

Martinez should of course get recognition and praise for any achievements in Europa as he should get criticism for our failures at home. If he can't handle that then he shouldn't stay at the club.

Only on a short while last night but 3 or 4 sublime, piercing passes.

Cracking result and performance. Sets us up nicely to lose on Sunday. Or dominate and draw.

I'll feel a lot more optimistic if we can get into the quarters, then it starts to get a bit of a lottery and once off performances can make/break you. All I'm hoping for is a kind draw with the first leg away.

We'll know in half an hour..

Number 1....Everton

oof

Jeez

Shouldn't hold any particular terrors anyway.

I enjoy your posts as you know the game, Gibson has played well in the two games since he came back and I think Besic is going to be a very good player for the Blues but leaving McCarthy out would be the height of folly, he is Everton's rock.

Dare I say it, our name is on the Europa League...?!

Yes I know McCarthy has been a rock. Though I would be curious to see Gibson and Besic. I also like pineapple on pizza though so a fan of unlikely combinations.

Brent, I'm pretty sure it was the English commentator but maybe my imagination.

Lost a few games though in EL
http://int.soccerway.com/teams/ukraine/fc-dynamo-kyiv/2253/

Gotta take that draw with the quality left in. Hope we take full advantage of it and progress to the last 8. Some big clubs will be knocking each other out, clearing the path a wee bit for the quarters.

Kiev is not such a long haul as going into deepest Russia, either, but the security situation may be a bit hairy.