Everton’s Europa League campaign has come to an end, thanks to a 3-0 reverse at Ligue 1 outfit, Lyon.
The Blues needed to avoid defeat and hope that Atalanta were unable to do the same at Apollon Limassol in the night’s other Group E fixture, but neither result went their way.
Lyon edged a tense first half and almost took the lead in the 23rd minute when Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford parried Bertrand Traore’s header at full stretch, before denying Nabil Fekir on the follow-up.
Everton were left reeling in the 68th minute when Morgan Schneiderlin slid in for a challenge, only to deflect the ball into the path of Traore in front of goal, allowing the former Chelsea forward to place a strike beyond Pickford and into the net.
From there, the Toffees capitulated, falling further behind in the 76th minute when substitute Houssem Aouar collected a reverse pass from Memphis Depay and curled a shot into the bottom corner to double the host’s lead.
When Everton were reduced to 10 men in the 80th minute thanks to a rash challenge from the already-booked Schneiderlin, they only looked like conceding again ahead of the full-time whistle.
The inevitable occurred two minutes before the end as Depay latched onto Jordan Ferri’s through-pass and placed Lyon’s third beyond Pickford to cap off another miserable night for managerless Everton.
The defeat, coupled with Atalanta’s 1-1 draw in Cyprus, was enough to end the Blues’ Europa League campaign after four matches and put Lyon in good stead to reach the knockout phase.