Toffees secure first-leg advantage

On a bitterly cold night in Norway, David Moyes' men took the sting out of Brann Bergen to grab a 2-0 first-leg lead in their last-32 first-leg clash.

Leon Osman crashed home the first in the second half and substitute Victor Anichebe bagged the second, his fourth in six matches in this run.

Anything but a confident progress into the last 16 when Goodison Park stages the second leg next Thursday seems unlikely after Wednesday night's clinical performance.

Everton started in confident fashion, a 4-4-2 formation with Andy Johnson alongside the recalled Yakubu up front. It is not Moyes' favourite formation but it showed the intent to attack.

But it was the Norwegians who almost went ahead after nine minutes. Jan Gunnar Solli's free-kick curled into the box and Azar Karadas' instinctive header flashed over the bar.

On the stroke of half-time, Tim Howard fumbled a Jan Gunnar Solli corner over the line, under pressure from Karadas and former Leeds midfielder Eirik Bakke. Referee Anton Genov ruled the effort out, to the disgust of the local fans, who booed the Bulgarian official off at the break.

There was clearly a need for Everton to be more positive at the restart, and Tim Cahill responded with a 25-yard strike that cracked against Opdal's left-hand post after 52 minutes.

Johnson turned Kristjan Sigurdsson in the box before drilling in a low cross. The danger was only half cleared to the edge of the box and Osman was onto it in a flash to crack a low drive into the far bottom corner.

And Everton grabbed a crucial second goal two minutes from time when Manuel Fernandes sent Joleon Lescott down the left to supply a perfect cross for Anichebe to guide into the net, his fourth goal in Europe this season.