Real Betis 1-1 Everton (4-3 on pens): Romelu Lukaku plays as Blues lose shootout in Dresden Cup

• Everton ended Dresden Cup campaign without a win after Real Betis draw 
• Toffees went ahead as Aissa Mandi put through his own net on 13 minutes
• Betis equalised as German Pezzella scored after Riza Durmisi's free-kick
• Romelu Lukaku was booked for an incident off the ball in the first-half
• John Stones scored his penalty in the shootout but it was not enough 
• Toffees face Manchester United in Wayne Rooney testimonial on August 3 

Romelu Lukaku’s return for Everton - and first game under Ronald Koeman - lasted an hour as they ended the trip to Germany with a penalty defeat against Real Betis.

The 23-year-old trained this week after being afforded an extended break following his European Championship exertions with Belgium.

Lukaku partnered Arouna Kone up front here during the draw in Dresden as talk continued to swirl over his future at Goodison Park.

New Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is interested in bringing the striker back to Stamford Bridge, two years to the day since Jose Mourinho allowed him to depart west London for £28million.

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Everton would want to recoup at least double that figure given the 45 goals he has scored in all competitions and they will handle the situation in much the same way as with Manchester City target John Stones, who started Friday night’s defeat by Dynamo Dresden.

Stones, incidentally, played the final part of this after Matthew Pennington looked to pull a hamstring in the second half.

Certainly there is a strong reluctance to sell either player and new owner Farhad Moshiri’s steadfastness on price is unlikely to change.

MATCH FACTS 

Real Betis: Adan, Piccini (Ceballos 66), Pezzella, Mandi, Durmisi, Petros, Jonas, Felipe Gutierrez (Sanabria 66), Cejudo, Joaquin (Musonda 81), Rubén Castro (Alegria 81)

Goal: Pezzella 23

Booked: Petros 

Everton: Robles, Oviedo, Galloway, Holgate, Pennington (Stones 79), McCarthy (Grant 60), Barry (Davies 60), Besic, Cleverley, Kone (Lennon 73), Lukaku (Dowell 60)

Subs not used: Hewelt, Mirallas.

Booked: Lukaku 

Goal: Mandi o.g. 13 

Whether Lukaku’s agent, Mino Raiola, turns attention towards Merseyside now the intricacies of Paul Pogba’s move to Manchester United are complete is one to watch as the Premier League campaign creeps upon us.

At this juncture, Lukaku is weeks behind his team-mates in terms of fitness and so the run against Gus Poyet’s Betis was welcome, with Everton edging ahead inside 13 minutes.

Pressing in midfield, Gareth Barry slipped Kone up the left to win a corner. 

From that, Tom Cleverley’s fairly routine cross was met only by a flapping Adan, whose indecision caught defender Mandi unawares, the tangled feet diverting in an opener. 

A nice change for the 1,000 travelling Evertonians, who became more accustomed to watching their own team fall into a state of disarray at set pieces under the previous management. 

PENALTY SHOOTOUT: HOW THE SPOT KICKS UNFOLDED

EVERTON 

Conor Grant missed

Kieran Dowell missed

John Stones scored

Muhamed Besic scored

Mason Holgate scored

REAL BETIS 

Dani Ceballos missed

Riza Durmisi scored

Antonio Sanabria scored

Jonas Martin scored

Charly Musonda scored

That is something Koeman has doubtless worked on this pre-season but he saw Betis equalise ten minutes later from a free-kick, a goal easily avoided.

Felipe Gutierrez stole a march to flick on the delivery, Joel Robles tipping onto his far post, but no defenders followed in the rebound, Pezzella eventually bundling over the line. 

Koeman was particularly keen to pull Muhamed Besic aside at the subsequent drinks break.

The Dutchman and his coaching staff were also slightly irked at what appeared to be a lack of communication between Robles and his youthful back four, gesturing towards goalkeeping coach Patrick Lodewijks at moments of uncertainty. That sort of disappointment will encourage those close to the club.

Koeman set up with four central midfielders - James McCarthy joining Besic, Barry and Cleverley - in a clear indication the new manager has other plans up his sleeve, something generally amiss last season.

He will hope Everton have the option to operate narrower occasionally and thus become harder to beat as they look to correct the previous ills. Conor Grant saw a shot thrash the side netting before they went down 4-3 in a shootout, leaving Dresden late on Saturday afternoon bizarrely with two points owing to the couple of goals scored in both games.