Koeman joy after Gylfi’s blockbuster
This is why Ronald Koeman went to iceland. With Everton’s two-goal first leg advantage down to one at a hostile stadion Poljud, the visitors were on the ropes. And then Gylfi sigurdsson struck.
The club-record signing, making his full debut, had no right to score when he stretched to intercept a pass just inside the touchline near halfway, seconds after the break.
But he did just that — getting a touch to block a pass before lobbing an outrageous equaliser from an incredible 57 yards to effectively kill the tie.
‘it was not a bad goal,’ quipped a delighted Koeman after his new boy had cancelled out Josip Radosevic’s 35-yard drive. ‘incredible. i don’t have any other words.’
Eyebrows were raised when Koeman shelled out £45m for sigurdsson, who had a failed spell at Tottenham before his resurrection with swansea. The manager believes the playmaker delivered the perfect response to those who claimed the fee was too much.
‘You need to be really clever to see the possibility,’ he said. ‘After two weeks of the season maybe already we have the goal of the season.’
Even after sigurdsson’s equaliser, the home side threatened to come back when Ashley Williams brought down Ante Erceg in the area. But Jordan Pickford, another summer arrival at Goodison, dived brilliantly to his left to ensure a frantic finale was averted.
‘he is showing it was the right decision to sign him,’ said Koeman of his £30m keeper.
‘Everyone costs a lot of money at this time. he’s still young. i’m really impressed with him from day one.’
Koeman has fielded a strong team throughout qualifying and explained: ‘Everybody likes to be part of Europe. Football without Europe is not the highest level we like to play. it’s good for the experience, it’s tough, but i think we can deal with it.’
Koeman, who brought Aaron Lennon off the bench for his first taste of competitive football since he was detained under the Mental health Act in April, now has the thankless task of getting his side ready for sunday’s trip to the champions at stamford Bridge.
‘Chelsea will wait for us,’ he said. ‘They know we played Thursday and have to travel. it’s a nice challenge.’
EVERTON (4-4-2): Pickford 7; Martina 5.5, Keane 6, Williams 5.5, Baines 6; Lookman 5.5, (Lennon 46min, 6), Besic 6.5, Schneiderlin 6.5, Sigurdsson 7; Calvert-Lewin 6 (Davies 72, 6), Rooney 6. Subs not used: Stekelenburg, Jagielka, Kenny, Holgate, Mirallas. Scorer: Sigurdsson 46. Booked: Besic.
HAJDUK SPLIT (4-2-3-1): Stipica 6; Juranovic 6.5, Nizic 6, Lopez 6, Memolla 6.5; Gentsoglou 6.5, Barry 6.5 (Kovacevic 85); Radosevic 7, Vlasic 6 (Kozulj 84), Erceg 7; Said 6.5 (Tudor 74, 5).
Subs not used: Letica, Rosa, Pesic, Basic. Scorer: Radosevic 43. Booked: Radosevic, Erceg.
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson. Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia) 6.
Attendance: 31,645.