published: thursday 25 february 2010, 22.50cet sporting clube de portugal 3-0 everton (agg: 4-2)
carlos carvalhal's side deservedly overturned a first-leg deficit to book a round of 16 meeting with club atlético de madrid.
sporting clube de portugal secured a 3-0 victory at home to everton to progress 4-2 on aggregate from the uefa europa league round of 32.
david moyes' side held a first-leg advantage that could have been more telling had it not been for miguel veloso's late penalty at goodison park. that spot kick gave sporting momentum and they built on it when veloso gave them the edge on away goals, with pedro mendes and matías fernández then rubber-stamping the club's first win in eight attempts in all competitions.
thoughts of their previous trip to lisbon – a 5-0 group-stage defeat by sl benfica – appeared at the forefront of everton minds throughout. slicker, brighter and more precious in possession, incision was all that was lacking from sporting during the first half.
the willing marat ızmailov set the tone inside five minutes, cutting in from the left and forcing tim howard into a sprightly stop. joão moutinho took a more direct route to goal, exquisitely curling his free-kick over the wall but down only so far as howard's crossbar. tonel wasted the rebound and the visitors breathed a sigh of relief before finally threatening on the stroke of half-time, philippe senderos turning the ball into rui patrício's goal only to be adjudged offside.
the high tempo that has characterised everton's premier league resurgence was conspicuous only by its absence, the interval neither knocking sporting out of their stride nor helping the visitors find theirs. moutinho was himself in full flow on the hour mark, meeting leandro grimi's searching cross on the volley only to side-foot at howard.
ıt was an opening that was bettered just four minutes later, veloso racing onto carlos saleiro's cute pass and bumbling his shot past howard. louis saha came closest to hitting back but pedro mendes's deflected shot evaded howard and vanquished everton's resolve. an added-time counterattack finished by matías fernández only added to the visiting contingent's misery.
