The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Everton lacking in confidence: Koeman
Toffees stunned by late Limassol goal as Gunners win again
EVERTON 2 APOLLON LIMASSOL 2
Everton’s poor start in the Europa League continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park by Cypriot outfit Apollon Limassol, who finished the game with 10 men.
A fortnight on from the woeful 3-0 away defeat to Atalanta in their Group E opener, Everton fell behind in the 13th minute when Adrian Sardinero netted following a mistake by Ashley Williams.
Eight minutes later they capitalised on an error from Apollon’s Hector Yuste, with Wayne Rooney stroking in his first European goal for Everton, and substitute Nikola Vlasic then opened his Toffees account by slotting home in the 66th minute.
That looked set to be the winner, but a chaotic finish to the contest saw the away side have Valentin Roberge sent off, then equalise moments later through Yuste’s header, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin blew a superb opportunity to secure victory for the hosts at the death.
With Lyon and Atalanta drawing 1-1 in France in Thursday’s other Group E match, Everton – who left the field at the end with boos ringing around the stadium – remain bottom of the pool.
Toffees boss Ronald Koeman said his side are hampered by low confidence.
Koeman told BT Sport: “To concede in the final minutes is really disappointing.
“We started poorly without any confidence, doing a lot of mistakes in our possession. We had a good reaction, we had a big present to get to 1-1. The second half was much better and controlled the game and had big chances to score a third.
“It’s football, sometimes when you are struggling that’s the reason we are too afraid to play football. Then it’s difficult if your body is not full of confidence. It’s several players.”
BATE BORISOV 2 ARSENAL 4
An under-strength Arsenal XI survived a late fightback from BATE Borisov to secure a 4-2 victory that keeps them on course to progress in the Europa League.
In a game of little quality beyond the superb Jack Wilshere, it was goals from the recalled trio of Theo Walcott, Rob Holding and Olivier Giroud – with his 100th Gunners goal – who sealed all three points at the Borisov Arena in Belarus as much as David Ospina’s goalkeeping.
Arsene Wenger had retained only Mohamed Elneny and Skodran Mustafi from the team that on Monday defeated West Brom 2-0, handing rare starts to Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, while Joseph Willock made his senior debut.
It was the experienced defence of Per Mertesacker, Mustafi and Holding that regardless proved consistently vulnerable, but with Ospina impressive and BATE so disorganised, Arsenal were left top of Group H with the maximum six points from their two openers.