Gylfi Sigurdsson Is Very Clever – Ronald Koeman

Ronald Koeman praised Gylfi Sigurdsson’s “incredible” goal after the Iceland international aided his side into the group stages of the Europa League after a 1-1 away draw with Hajduk Split.

Wayne Rooney was back in action a day after announcing his retirement from international football with England, but it was the home side who threatened early on.

The Stadion Poljud was buzzing just before half-time when Josip Radosevic reduced the deficit with a 30-yard effort.

The home fans, though, were left in sad silence less than a minute after the restart when midfielder Sigurdsson — who completed his £45 million move from Swansea last week and came on as a substitute against Manchester City — looped the ball in with an angled drive from just inside the Hajduk half.

“I saw Gylfi’s goal, but I don’t think everyone on the bench did. It was incredible. I don’t have any other word for it,” Koeman said on Everton’s club website.

“You need to be really clever to see that possibility and, after two or three weeks of the season, it could be the goal of the season.

“It was really important to be level so quickly in the second half.”

“We dropped a little bit in the first half to be compact but I thought we did well from the start. The goal just before half-time made it difficult, but before that neither side created many chances.

“The penalty save was key as well because there were still 30 minutes to go at that time.

“Jordan is showing that we made the right decision to sign him. He is still a young goalkeeper and I have been really impressed by what he’s done from day one here.

“It is an important position in the team. There’s a big future for Everton and a big future for him.”

“It was a big test for our younger players in the atmosphere. They will learn from it,” the Dutch coach said.

“You see the older players, like Rooney, [Leighton] Baines, [Ashley] Williams, [Morgan] Schneiderlin and Sigurdsson, knowing what to do at the right times which makes it easier.”