Stand-in duo oversee comfortable victory over Peterborough in the Cup

Everton 2 - 0 Peterborough United

Everton began life after Sean Dyche in routine and unspectacular fashion, with Beto and Iliman Ndiaye scoring the goals in a 2-0 win over Peterborough United in the FA Cup.

Dyche had been sacked a little over three hours before kick-off and former team-mates Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman were hastily installed as caretaker managers for this Thursday evening tie at frigid Goodison Park.

Baines admitted afterwards that Dyche had picked the team, with a three-man back line and wing-backs, but that he and Coleman had made some tweaks to the approach, with a greater emphasis on keeping the ball and the team playing their way up the pitch in evidence during a fairly pedestrian first half.

Beto, starting up front, had the first shot on target with less than two minutes gone while Ndiaye curled well wide from the edge of the box before the Blues’ central midfield pairing both went close to opening the scoring.

First Idrissa Gueye prompted a one-handed save from Bilokapic in the Posh goal and then Orel Mangala crashed a crisp volley off the crossbar.

The visitors were game but limited in their ability to cause their hosts any problems until 10 minutes before half-time when Ricky Jade-Jones was played in following a poor header by Vitalii Mykolenko in midfield but the Ukrainian atoned with an excellent covering tackle that blocked the striker’s shot behind.

From the following corner, Beto failed to make a connection on the delivery and when the ball fell to Hayes at the back post, his shot was blocked by a combination of Jarrad Branthwaite and Jake O’Brien.

Then, three minutes before the interval, Beto made the breakthrough thanks to an excellent through-ball by Harrison Armstrong. The 17-year-old threaded the Portuguese in to round the keeper and slot home from the angle.

Gueye might have done better early in the second period when Nathan Patterson drove to the byline and cut the ball back for the Senegal international but he smashed over the bar while Mangala would see another of his efforts deflect behind later in the half.

Beto was replaced by Armando Broja after 67 minutes but the on-loan forward would have his evening curtailed by a potentially serious injury after just a quarter of an hour on the pitch.

Landing awkwardly as he rode a challenge from a defender, Broja remained prone on the turf while play continued for some time before he could receive treatment and was eventually stretchered off.

Everton kept pushing forward in the 10 minutes that were added on for stoppages and when Jesper Lindstrøm was fouled and O’Brien’s header from the resulting free-kick was blocked, the referee blew for a clear foul by Katongo on Branthwaite.

Ndiaye took responsibility for the spot-kick and confidently sent the keeper the wrong way before stroking home to seal the Toffees’ passage to the next round.

 

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