Source: Liverpool_Echo
Sigma Olomouc 1, Everton 1 (1-5 on agg): Blues show they can stand the heat
SWELTERING conditions, an obscure European destination and a game with no pressure attached to it - was this the start of pre-season training again?
The times when it is possible to enjoy a fixture completely devoid of stress are few and far between during a normal campaign, so it was no wonder David Moyes informed his players to make the most of a rare opportunity here in the Czech Republic last night.
Having established a four-goal lead in the first leg of their Europa League play-off at Goodison Park, only a calamity of unthinkable proportions would have prevented Everton taking their place in the group stages.
For a moment, that calamity looked like unfolding; a first half that should have been a walk in the park turned into anything but as Tony Hibbert's sending-off after seven minutes triggered countless Evertonians to have panic attacks.
Had Lukas Bajer's subsequent free-kick nestled in the net rather than thudding against the bar, we would have been faced with a very different contest, one that could have ended up with the Blues conceding many more goals.
But Everton are one of the most resilient sides in the business and despite having to play a central midfielder as a central defender and a right-sided attacker as a right-back, they eventually showed the huge gulf in class between themselves and SK Sigma Olomouc.
