Everton 6 - 1 Brann Bergen

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Thursday Feb 21 2008 08:00

Everton powered into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup by battering SK Brann 6-1 at Goodison Park to complete a commanding 8-1 aggregate victory over the Norwegians.

The Toffees held a 2-0 cushion from the first leg in Norway and they were further boosted by the return to action of Spanish midfield playmaker Mikel Arteta.

The opening minutes saw little goalmouth action, although Lee Carsley was fortunate to escape serious sanction as he brought down Njogu Demba-Nyren when the Brann striker appeared to be clean through on goal.

Arteta eventually began to dictate play in midfield, but Everton seemed content to sit on their lead and look for the counter-attack through Andrew Johnson and Yakubu.

Ten minutes before the break Brann almost found a way back into the tie as Tim Howard blocked a close-range Thorstein Helstad shot, but within a minute Everton were in front.Tim Cahill fed Yakubu and he smashed a right-foot shot from just inside the penalty area into the corner of the net, leaving keeper Hakan Opdal rooted to the spot.

Three minutes before the break it was 2-0 as Johnson turned away from his marker and rifled a low shot across Opdal and just inside the far post with his right foot.

Straight after the restart Johnson raced clear of the Brann defence, but his cool finish past Opdal came back off an upright and was cleared away to safety.

With 54 minutes on the clock Yakubu netted his second of the evening, collecting a Steven Pienaar pass before turning cleverly inside two defenders and burying a left-foot shot from 15 yards out.

On the hour Brann pulled a goal back as Petter Vaagan Moen's left-foot free-kick from all of 30 yards somehow flew in past Howard, who was late to move, expecting Phil Jagielka to get a foot to the ball.

Twenty minutes from time Everton restored their three-goal cushion as Arteta's deflected drive went in off the post, with Opdal left with no chance.

A couple of minutes later it was 5-1 on the night as Pienaar's ball in from the left was deflected off a defender to leave Yakubu with the simplest of tasks to sidefoot home from a couple of yards to complete his hat-trick.

Pienaar and Vaagan Moen were both denied by the woodwork in the closing minutes, before Johnson completed the scoring deep into stoppage time with a swerving strike from 25 yards.

  • 90
    The ref has blown his whistle for full time.
  • 90
    Goal!! Andrew Johnson scores for Everton.
  • 73
    Ayegbeni Yakubu is replaced by Victor Anichebe.
  • 72
    Njogu Demba-Nyren is being taken off, Robbie Winters has come on in his place.
  • 72
    Goal!! Everton have scored with Ayegbeni Yakubu putting it in the back of the net.
  • 70
    Goal!! Mikel Arteta scores for Everton.
  • 67
    Henriques Manuel Fernandes is booked for unsporting behaviour.
  • 60
    Brann Bergen are replacing Hassan El Fakiri with Erik Huseklepp.
  • 59
    Goal!! Petter Vaagan Moen scores for Brann Bergen.
  • 55
    Brann Bergen are replacing Olafur Orn Bjarnason with Azar Karadas.
  • 54
    Goal!! Everton have scored with Ayegbeni Yakubu putting it in the back of the net.
  • 46
    Lee Carsley is replaced by Tony Hibbert.
  • 46
    Tim Cahill is replaced by Henriques Manuel Fernandes.
  • 46
    The second half is under way with the score currently at 2 v 0.
  • 45
    Half time whistle is blown by N Ivanov
  • 41
    Goal!! Andrew Johnson scores for Everton.
  • 35
    Goal!! Everton have scored with Ayegbeni Yakubu putting it in the back of the net.
  • 33
    The referee has booked Eirik Bakke.
  • 0
    The ref has blown his whistle and the match has started.

Statistics

Everton
Shots on target 10
Shots off target 3
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 16
Offsides 2
Corners 2

Brann Bergen
Shots on target 6
Shots off target 4
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 13
Offsides 1
Corners 7

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