page_title: 2009–10 Everton F.C. season
section_title: Europa League
hierarchical_section_title: 2009–10 Everton F.C. season / Matches / Europa League
caption_attribution_description: w:Jack Rodwell of w:Everton F.C., in a match against w:Manchester United F.C. in November 2009 This file has been extracted from another file: Michael Owen Johnny Heitinga 2.jpg
context_page_description: The 2009–10 season of Everton F.C. was Everton's 18th season in the Premier League and 56th consecutive season in the top division of English football. The club began their preseason friendly schedule on 10 July 2009 and concluded the summer friendlies on 7 August. Everton began their Premier League season at home in Goodison Park with a 6–1 defeat by Arsenal, the worst defeat by the North London side since a 7–0 loss in 2005. Everton's poor form continued throughout most of the first half of the season; they found themselves in 16th place, only two points clear of the relegation zone, at Christmas, though their league form improved significantly from that time. Everton entered the League Cup in the Third Round against Hull City, a match they won, but the club was eliminated in the next round by Tottenham Hotspur. They also entered the FA Cup in the Third Round Proper and were eliminated in the Fourth Round by Birmingham City.
context_section_description: Everton opened play in the Europa League in the play-off round and were drawn against Czech club Sigma Olomouc, who finished fourth in the 2008–09 Gambrinus liga. Sigma had already advanced through two rounds of the Europa League, having dispatched of Icelandic club Fram in the Second Qualifying Round and Scottish club Aberdeen in the Third Qualifying Round by aggregate scores of 3–1 and 8–1, respectively. Everton took a 4–0 lead at home in the first leg. In the return leg in Olomouc, Tony Hibbert was sent off in the seventh minute, but Everton were able to hold strong, earning a 1–1 draw for the 5–1 aggregate victory.
  The Toffees were next drawn into Group I in the Group Stage with Greek club AEK Athens, Belarusian club BATE Borisov, and Portuguese club Benfica. Everton opened their first match in the group stage with a 4–0 home victory against AEK Athens. Everton then continued their perfect start to the group stage with a 2–1, come-from-behind victory over BATE Borisov, with goals from Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill cancelling out Dzmitry Likhtarovich's 16th-minute opener. The Toffees, heavily depleted by injuries, were handed their first loss of Europa League play in their third Group Stage match away to Benfica, losing 5–0, the worst defeat Everton had ever suffered during European play. This loss was followed a fortnight later by a second loss to Benfica in Everton's home tie, the scoreline ending 2–0 and goals coming from Javier Saviola and Óscar Cardozo, who each had already scored two goals apiece in Benfica's previous win over Everton. In their next match, Everton travelled to Athens to play AEK Athens, winning the match 1–0 thanks to Bilyaletdinov's 6th-minute goal. The win allowed Everton to qualify for the knockout stage with one group stage game to spare thanks to Benfica's victory away to BATE. The win, however, was somewhat soured by injuries suffered by Jô, Sylvain Distin and Dan Gosling. In the Toffees' final group stage match, with several senior starters injured and the club having already secured passage into the knockout rounds, David Moyes fielded a young side against BATE. In all, seven teenagers saw action on the evening, including five who received their first senior cap. In the match, two Everton records were set: Tony Hibbert set the club record for European caps with 20, and Jake Bidwell set the record for youngest senior cap in European play at only 16 years and 271 days. BATE was able to control possession for much of the match and came away as victors in their final European match of the season.
  For the Round of 32, Everton were drawn against Portuguese side Sporting CP, with the winner advancing to face the winner of Atlético Madrid–Galatasaray. As a result of UEFA regulations, Everton were forced to move the first leg from the regular Thursday evening schedule to an early Tuesday kickoff, which resulted in less than 30,000 in attendance. The first leg was won 2–1 by Everton on the strength of goals by Sylvain Distin and Steven Pienaar. Distin, however, was penalised with a red card in the 85th minutes for a hard tackle in the box, which was converted from the penalty spot by Miguel Veloso. For the return leg, Everton's Nigerian contingent of Yakubu and Yobo were both initially denied entry into Portugal as a result of passport issues stemming from Portuguese foreign relations with Nigeria, but both players arrived via Amsterdam on the morning of the match. Sporting entered their home leg against Everton on a seven-match winless streak in all competitions, but they possessed the ball attacked the Everton back line early and often, defeating Everton 3–0 on the day and 4–2 on aggregate. The Toffees only managed four attempted shots in the match, only one of which was on target. Conversely, Tim Howard had a very busy night, facing nine shots on target and saving six. Miguel Veloso scored his second goal in as many games against Everton in the 65th minute, putting Sporting in control of the tie. Everton's hopes of forcing extra time remained alive after Pedro Mendes' 76th minute shot deflec
caption: Jack Rodwell made his European debut against Sigma Olomouc and tallied two goals.
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