Everton have earned a place in the Europa League playoff round after they ran out 1-0 winners over MFK Ruzomberok in Slovakia.
The Premier League side struggled for long periods in what was a low-quality game, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin's late goal proved enough to give the Merseyside outfit a 2-0 victory on aggregate.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman opted for a change in personnel and formation, with a 3-4-1-2 formation seeing Phil Jagielka feature in defence, Tom Davies operate at right wing-back and Sandro Ramirez partner Wayne Rooney in attack, but it failed to lead to a dominant first half from the English team.
Koeman watched on as his side passed the ball about in the defensive and middle third, but it was Ruzomberok who came closest to opening the scoring during the early stages when Dominik Kruzliak headed over from a corner.
Everton's first chance fell to Rooney, who chipped the ball over the crossbar from inside the penalty area, but that was as good as it got during the opening half-hour as Ruzomberok kept themselves in the tie with minimal effort.
Michael Keane and Sandro lashed speculative efforts well off target before the break, but it was as close as the Toffees came during a lacklustre half of football.
Soon after the restart, Ruzomberok's Erik Daniel drilled wide of the far post from distance, and the same player was also responsible for sending a cross-cum-shot marginally wide of the same area of the goal.
Everton were having some success in the final third but they were unable to create anything of note in front of goal, and it led to Koeman replacing the ineffective Ramirez with Calvert-Lewin.
It took just 11 minutes for the England Under-20 forward to make his presence known as he sealed Everton's place in the next round with a calm finish from the edge of the box after being released by Davy Klaassen.
In the final minute of normal time, Kevin Mirallas saw a free kick saved by the goalkeeper but it was a rare shot on target in a match which highlighted Everton's need for a replacement for Romelu Lukaku.
Darren Plant
