Everton cruises past Wolfsburg in Europa League opener
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Liverpool, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Everton made a big splash in its Europa League opener on Thursday, cruising to a 4-1 defeat of Wolfsburg at Goodison Park to take the lead in Group H.
The Toffees were in front by the 15th minute as a well-worked move culminated with Leighton Baines squaring a pass for Steven Naismith to tuck home from close range, though Ricardo Rodriguez was credited with an own goal on the play.
Everton held the one-goal edge until first-half stoppage time when Kevin Mirallas' shot was parried by Diego Benaglio, but only as far as Baines at the corner of the six-yard box. The England international then centered the rebound for Seamus Coleman to nod home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wolfsburg attempted to regroup upon the start of the second half, but within two minutes of the restart, Everton had extended the lead.
Aiden McGeady was tripped up by Robin Knoche just inside the box, a foul that allowed Baines to slam home his first goal in European football.
Mirallas got on the score sheet in the 89th minute when he latched on to a through ball and slotted a shot past the on-rushing Benaglio.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The only sour note for the home side came in stoppage time when Rodriguez made amends for his own goal with a sublime free kick that rooted Tim Howard to the spot.
It proved to be the final moment of action as Everton climbed atop the group following Lille's 1-1 draw with FC Krasnodar on Thursday.
In Group A, Patrick Herrmann's first-half strike was canceled out by Ikechukwu Uche as Borussia Monchengladbach played to a 1-1 draw with Villarreal while an own goal from Philippe Koch in the 87th minute saw Apollon Limassol claim a 3-2 victory over FC Zurich.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In Group B, Nicolai Joergensen bagged a brace to lead Copenhagen to a 2-0 defeat of HJK while Torino was held to a 0-0 draw at Club Brugge.
In Group C, Facundo Parra nabbed an equalizer two minutes from time to help Asteras Tripolis claim a point from a 1-1 draw at Besiktas while Tottenham was held scoreless in a 0-0 draw at Partizan Beograd.
In Group D, El-Arbi Hilal Soudani's hat trick lifted Dinamo Zagreb to a comfortable 5-1 win over Astra Giurgiu while Jonathan Soriano scored in the 78th minute to secure a point in Red Bull Salzburg's 1-1 draw against Celtic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In Group E, Luuk de Jong's penalty proved to be the only difference between PSV Eindhoven and Estoril as the Dutch club picked up a 1-0 victory, and Dinamo Moscow staved off some late pressure to collect a 2-1 win at Panathinaikos.
In Group F, Danilo D'Ambrosio produced the lone goal in Inter Milan's 1-0 defeat of Dnipro while St. Etienne collected a point from a 0-0 draw at FC Karabakh.
In Group G, a pair of first-half goals lifted reigning champion Sevilla to a 2-0 defeat of Feyenoord and two goals inside the final 16 minutes granted Standard Liege a 2-0 victory over Rijeka.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In Group I, a penalty from Gonzalo Higuain and a brace from Dries Mertens guided Napoli to a 3-1 defeat of Sparta Prague while five different scorers helped Young Boys smash Slovan Bratislava, 5-0.
In Group J, Claudiu Keseru's hat trick brought Steaua Bucurest a convincing 6-0 victory over Aab while Dynamo Kyiv eased past Rio Ave in a 3-0 win.
In Group K, Fiorentina topped 10-man Guingamp by a 3-0 score while Stefanos Athannasiadis netted three goals in PAOK's 6-1 demolition of Dinamo Minsk.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In Group L, Miroslav Radovic produced the lone goal in Legia Warsaw's 1-0 defeat of Lokeren and Avraam Papadopoulos scored at the death in Trabzonspor's 2-1 defeat of Metalist Kharkiv.