Leighton Baines saves Everton’s blushes on Wayne Rooney’s return

Everton 1 MFK Ruzomberok 0: Wayne Rooney’s Everton return threatened to turn into embarrassment last night before captain Leighton Baines struck to give his side a slender first-leg lead in their Europa League third qualifying round clash with Ruzomberok.

The Slovakian minnows hit the bar prior to Baines’ 65th minute intervention and almost grabbed an equaliser to take into next week’s second leg when substitute Milos Lacny missed a glorious chance late on.

Rooney had a handful of chances to mark his second competitive debut for his boyhood club with a goal, but there was no mistaking the frustration of a side who started with £100m of new signings in their starting line-up.