Match Summary
David Moyes took this opportunity to give some of his other first-team squad players a chance to stretch their legs, given his reluctance to tinker with a league side that is performing so well. Wright, Yobo, Naysmith, McFadden and Ferguson get starts
For Bristol City, ex-Blue Bradley Orr steps in to replace the player-manager Brian Tinnon.
Naysmith went in the ref's notebook early on for taking a free kick before the ref's signal. Everton nearly scored from the next attempt.
Naysmith very nearly got himself a second yellow with a rash late tackle but the ref thankfully showed some leniency after his petty first booking... Ferguson and Carsley then combined sloppily to give Roberts a good chance but Wright watched it fly wide. But Everton's early dominance was fading and they allowed Bristol to come at them worryingly.
But at the other end Osman set off with the ball, one-two with McFadden, whose through-ball was handled by Jamie Smith. Duncan Ferguson stepped up and fired the ball in along the ground from the penalty spot... GOAL!
Leon Osman was then withdrawn with Chadwick coming on in his place, raising concerns about a possible injury to the mercurial midfield midget. Yobo was looking rather rusty, setting up the opposition inadvertently all too often, rather than being his classy self. But at the other end, a free-kick from Gary Naysmith was whipped in to the box and there was Nick Chadwick nipping in with a great header for his first touch of the game!
But it didn't take long after the start for Bristol City to get back in the game. A fast move down the Everton left, followed by a fierce incoming ball resulted in an own goal by Tim Cahill or Alan Stubbs under pressure from Christian Roberts. Then minutes later, Roberts got outside of Naysmith, cross from the right, met by Leroy Lita in there to jam it home for a dramatic equalizer.
Everton looked shaky and stunned as Naysmith went down under pressure from Murray, and Yobo had to rescue with a block. City had the pace and off-the-ball movement that were making Everton look limited at best. Naysmith was eventually withdrawn for Pistone. Later, Campbell replaced the lumbering Ferguson for the last 10 mins and almost scored.
Everton then had a gifted opportunity to seal it when McFadden, tussling for the ball, was scythed down and Everton were awarded their second penalty. James McFadden took the penalty firmly but it was parried back for McFadden to head it towards goal when Phillips produced a miraculous tip-over to deny the hapless Scot. Yobo met the resulting corner very well, forcing a third fabulous save from Phillips to keep Everton at bay.
Campbell got the ball into the net from a great header off a corner in the closing moments but it was disallowed for something in the area. And so it was extra time, and much of the same... a good cup-tie perhaps for the neutrals but dire stuff for any committed Evertonians.
The first period of extra-time was poor, with only a good chance for Chadwick to note. Another great save then prevented Stubbs from scoring as Everton showed some sort of life.
Naysmith went in a little hard on the Bristol hero, Phillips and earned a card for his troubles, but set up a chance for Everton to later test the injured keeper; however it came to nothing as Everton struggled to regain their shape and take some of the chances they were creating.
But Bristol City then got a chance to pressurize Everton with a dangerous free-kick that Wright stretched well to save to keep the Blues in with a shout as dreaded penalties loomed. Wright was again forced to save from Murray in Extra-Time injury time.
And so to penalties: Murray sent Wright the wrong way; Watson's was saved well to his right. Lita hit the post; Cahill sent Phillips wrong way. Miller high to the right; Campbell fired home; Coles hit bar; and it was up to Carsley, with the last penalty kick to fire home coolly and claim Everton's first ever penalty shootout victory in the League Cup!
Bristol City 0-2 Everton
Match Preview
Everton's Carling (League) Cup journey begins at Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City whom the Blues have faced twice in cup competition in the past decade — both FA Cup wins. The road to Wembley in 1995 began with a highly fortuitous 1-0 win on this ground and Ibrahima Bakayoko won another early-round tie there in 1999 with two goals.
David Moyes has pledged to field a strong line-up (for that read no youth players) for the trip to his former club and the likes of Nick Chadwick, Richard Wright, Duncan Ferguson and Kevin Campbell are all in contention, as is Tim Cahill who is still not fully match fit. James McFadden will also be looking for an opportunity to put Sunday's disappointment behind him (the Scottish striker missed a gilt-edged opportunity to seal the victory over Middlesbrough when he allowed Mark Schwarzer to take the ball off his toe in a one-on-one in injury time).
Marcus Bent will almost certainly miss out after straining hamstrings in both legs leading the line against 'Boro at the weekend. Moyes will no doubt prefer to allow him a full week to recover for the trip to Portsmouth than risk him for this game.
Bristol City boss Brian Tinnion, who is hoping to take the scalp of the Premiership's third-placed club, has no injury worries ahead of the tie and will likely name an unchanged team from the one that beat Bradford 4-1 on Saturday.
Everton's record against lower division opposition both in this competition and under David Moyes in general is pretty embarrassing so there are either plenty of bad omens or plenty of incentives for the Blues to come away from Bristol with a victory and their five-game unbeaten run still intact. They will be looking to last season's vastly improved Carling Cup performance as a springboard for this year's campaign.
Lyndon Lloyd
Matchday Stats
This will be the 26th meeting between Everton and Bristol City in all competitions, and the 14th at Ashton Gate. This match will be the 2nd meeting in the League Cup.
Everton's full record against Bristol City is:
P
W
D
L
F
A
Division One
18
11
3
4
32
19
Division Two
2
1
0
FA Cup
10
League Cup
5
TOTALS:
25
17
49
23
Our record away to Bristol City is:
9
13
7
22
16
The last match between the sides was on 2 January 1999 when Everton won the FA Cup third round tie between the sides 2-0 with Ibrahima Bakayoko getting both of them. The only other meeting between the sides in the League Cup was on 13 September 1967 when Everton ran out easy 5-0 winners at Ahton Gate, with the goals coming from Howard Kendall (2), Sandy Brown, Joe Royle and John Hurst.
There has only been 1 Everton hat-trick scored by Andy King in Everton's 4-1 victory at Goodison Park on 10 February 1979 in the old First Division.
The most common victory for Everton is 1-0 which has happened 6 times in Everton's 17 victories. Bristol City's most common victory is shared between 2-1 and 3-1, both of which have happened twice in City's 5 victories. The other victory was 3-2. The most common draw between the teams is 0-0, which has also occurred twice in the 3 draws between the sides, with the other draw being 2-2.
Everton's record for 22 September is:
Premier League
6
29
27
20
8
34
This is the first time the sides have met on this day. The last match on this day was in 2002, when Everton lost 3-2 at Aston Villa with Everton's goals coming from Kevin Campbell and Thomasz Radzinski. The last Leagu Cup match on this day was in 1999, when Oxford United won 1-0 at Goodison Park.
Willie Muir was born on this day in 1877 in Ayr. Signed from Kilmarnock in April 1897, Willie went on to make 137 appearances for the Blues, without scoring a goal, until he was sold to Dundee in May 1902.
Stefan Rehn was also born on this day in 1966 in Stockholm. Stefan was signed from Djurgardens IF in June 1989 and made just 6 appearances for Everton, 4 of them as a substitute, before being sold to Gothenberg in January 1990.
Neville Southall won his 2nd Welsh cap in their 1-0 win over Norway in a European Championship qualifier on this day in 1983.
Robert Warzycha, played for Poland, also against Norway, in their 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat on this day in 1993.
Also on this day, Bill 'Dixie' Dean scored twice for the Football League in their match against the Irish League in 1928.
Nine years earlier, in 1919, Tom Fleetwood and Alan Grenyer also appeared for the Football League in a match against Burnley.
Milestone's that can be reached in this game:
Steve Flanagan
Report
Steve Milne
* Unfortunately, we cannot control other sites' content policies and therefore cannot guarantee that links to external reports will remain active.
Get rid of these ads and support ToffeeWeb
Bet on Everton and get a deposit bonus with bet365 at TheFreeBetGuide.com
View full table
We use cookies to enhance your experience on ToffeeWeb and to enable certain features. By using the website you are consenting to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.