Everton avoid FA Cup scare on weird Goodison night as 'natural fit' to replace Dyche identified

Everton were unconvincing as they beat League One strugglers Peterborough 2-0 at Goodison Park hours after Sean Dyche was sacked to advance to the FA Cup fourth round.

Beto scored the opener before Iliman Ndiaye’s 98th-minute penalty made sure of the win, but the evening was all about Dyche’s departure, which was announced earlier on Thursday after he had taken team training.

Former captain Leighton Baines – now in charge of the Under-18s – and current skipper Seamus Coleman were in charge against Darren Ferguson’s side, with the Toffees hierarchy eager to swiftly appoint a new boss.

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“I found out today like everyone else,” Baines told the BBC before the match. “The starting 11 I found out today and that was picked beforehand. We have made small adjustments inside of that which we think will help.

“It is a bit different, but it’s football. This is our job and the players know how to play football and I have been coaching for long enough. The message to the players will be, ‘produce a bright, dynamic performance that is appropriate for Goodison Park’.”

Coleman and Baines have 476 Everton appearances between and were both signed by the favourite for the job, David Moyes, during his successful reign at the club.

17-year-old winger Harrison Armstrong was given a start and was arguably Everton’s best player.

On Armstrong starting, Baines added: “He has been working so hard. He has been in and around the first team, he got on at half-time at Bournemouth and tonight is another good opportunity to showcase himself.”

BBC’s coverage revealed that Everton players thought they were arriving for a team meeting with Sean Dyche in the afternoon but instead were told he had been sacked. Co-commentator Martin Keown said the situation is one of the strangest he has ever seen.

The Toffees team was picked and prepared by Dyche as Baines and Coleman made “small adjustments inside of that which we think will help”.

It was a very strange evening at Goodison Park and commentator Steve Bower seemed to want the viewers to feel uneasy as well. The way he was talking and saying the players had to ‘not be disrupted by the news’ was a little bizarre but it was obviously not ideal preparation for them.

Bower and Keown’s amazement at how quickly the kitman was able to get a tracksuit with the initials ‘LB’ and ‘SC’ on them was the highlight of the half for me – even more so than Beto’s goal.

Keown also said Michael Keane suits being able to “pull strings” in the middle of a back three, which was amusing.

The first Peterborough chance came 11 minutes before the break. Ricky-Jade Jones – who Posh manager Ferguson says is the fastest player he has coached – could not capitalise on a counter attack but won their first corner.

They came very close to scoring from the corner. It was a very poor delivery that somehow went all the way through to Cian Hayes, whose shot appeared to take two deflections and could not beat Joao Virginia in the Toffees goal.

Everton led three minutes before half-time through Beto, who scored from a precise Armstrong through ball.

Beto scored his eighth goal for the club by rounding Peterborough goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic.

Half-time allowed Bower and Keown to dive deeper into the situation at Goodison Park. Bower said: “The Friedkin Group are keen to make a swift appointment of someone with Premier League experience.”

Asked if Moyes is the blatantly obvious choice staring the Everton owners in the face, Keown replied: “When you meet David Moyes, you see a man that’s not finished. He’s full of ambition, he had a very good spell here for 10 years, went off to Manchester United, he’s had two spells with West Ham and look what he achieved there and look what’s happened to them (Everton) since he left.

“It does just seem like a natural fit. Whether or not that happens, only time will tell. Lots of people have been linked to the job but Moyes, maybe the two people that are on the bench (Coleman and Baines) are an indication – they were both signed by him – that they might form a part of the coaching team. He has done that in the past; Phil Neville was someone taken on board. He wants that dedication, he wants to stay in touch.

“They need a quick fix, there’s a lot to do to make them well again.”

Armstrong got more and more into the game and was Everton’s best player. He was taken off after 68 minutes alongside goalscorer Beto.

Ashley Young came on and his son was instantly seen warming up. Tyler didn’t come on though. Ferguson denied us some history there with his own daddy in the stands watching. Had he brought on baby Young, it would have been the first time in FA Cup history a father and son were on opposing teams.

Substitute Armando Broja picked up another injury, this time to this ankle, to make everything even more miserable. He was down for an eternity while Peterborough tried to break down the Toffees defence and stayed down for a while after before being stretchered off.

The Albanian looked in genuine agony having only just returned from a lengthy absence and left the pitch for the hospital. Typical.

Keown said on commentary: “Armando Broja is so unlucky with injuries.

“He has done his ACL before and was out for a long time. Since he’s been at Everton it has been injury after injury.

“He doesn’t look well, he has done something serious to that ankle. They are giving him oxygen.”

Jadel Katongo gave away a penalty in injury time and Iliman Ndiaye sent Bilokapic the wrong way to kill off the tie.

Elsewhere in the FA Cup on Thursday night, Cardiff City won 1-0 at Sheffield United and Fulham defeated Watford 4-1 in the Marco Silva derby.

Celtic loanee Rocco Vata scored an absolute belter from long range to equalise for Watford after Rodrigo Munoz’s opener.

Raul Jimenez gave Fulham their second lead of the night from with a penalty, his third spot-kick in two matches.

Joachim Andersen made it three soon after and the tie was put beyond doubt by Timothy Castagne.

Cian Ashford’s 19th-minute striker was enough to see Cardiff become the first team in the fourth round, beating Sheffield United, who are 20 places above them in the Championship.

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