Cape Town - Everton
manager Ronald Koeman said that 1-0 isn’t a terrible result from the
first leg of their Europa League qualifier against MFK Ruzomberok.
A deflected strike from Leighton Baines just past the hour-mark at
Goodison Park gave the Toffees a narrow lead to take to Slovakia for the
second leg of their third-qualifying-round tie.
"I don't think 1-0 is a bad result," he said. "Maybe everybody
thought we would get a bigger result at home but everyone needs to know
it's the fourth week of pre-season and we cannot expect that this team
is at 100%.
"But they worked very hard, had a lot of possession and played
aggressively. A second goal would have been a perfect result but in
European football, a 1-0 win with a clean sheet is a good result."
Koeman also said he was happy with the showing from Wayne Rooney, who
started alongside other new recruits like Davy Klaassen, Michael Keane,
and Cuco Martina.
"Of course he would like to create a little more and he would like to score more goals but he worked very hard."
Rooney himself added that "it was an important game for us so I had
to put my emotions to one side" after making his first competitive
appearance for the Toffees in 14 years.
"Getting the goal gave us a sense of relief and control of the game,"
Rooney said. "It's very early on in the season.I know we can play
better but it's important to win and get the clean sheet."