Everton edge closer to knockout stages

Everton 3 Lille 0

Everton took a major step towards the knockout stages of the Europa League as goals from Leon Osman, Phil Jagielka and Steven Naismith saw them claim a comfortable 3-0 victory over Lille at Goodison Park.

The Toffees took a deserved lead in the 27th minute when Osman – on the same day it was announced he had agreed a one-year extension to his contract – rifled past Vincent Enyeama.

Jagielka’s header then doubled the advantage three minutes before the interval, before Naismith struck home in the 61st minute.

It wrapped up another convincing win for Roberto Martinez’s side in a European home fixture, with their last outing at this ground in Group H being the 4-1 victory they pulled off against Wolfsburg in their opener.

Since then, Everton, in what is their first continental campaign for five seasons, have drawn 1-1 at FK Krasnodar and 0-0 at Lille, and the unbeaten pool leaders are now close to securing a place in the next round.

They are top of the group with two more rounds of games to go on eight points, one clear of Wolfsburg – who beat Krasnodar 5-1 on Thursday.

Lille are third with three points, while Krasnodar are fourth with two.