Slick Everton gather momentum
CARLO ANCELOTTI prowled around with his hands stuffed in his pockets, occasionally looking to his assistants to express his irritation. Everton’s manager is not a dreamer and there were times on a dank night in Fleetwood when he gave the impression that things were going wrong. He scowled at unnecessary back-passes and scolded Jordan Pickford for errors. Watching Ancelotti at Highbury was fascinating, simply because his team were relatively so assured. With the exception of an uncomfortable 10 minutes, this was as straightforward as you could imagine. Joey Barton was right to expect no James Rodriguez in Everton’s starting lineup but a few other names would have taken the Fleetwood boss by surprise. Ancelotti went strong from the start, an indication of how seriously he is taking this competition, and he was rewarded with an exemplary performance. Everton’s first goal arrived in the 23rd minute when Richarlison slid in at the back post to finish Bernard’s cross following good work by Alex Iwobi.
Iwobi has bitterly disappointed in the last 12 months but Ancelotti would have been impressed with his attitude here and the former Arsenal man was involved in the game’s second goal in the 35th minute, his deft backheel giving Richarlison the opportunity to thrash in from 14 yards. While Everton’s substitutes bellowed their delight, with Seamus Coleman particularly vociferous, Ancelotti simply stood with hands in pockets and munched his way through a packet of chewing gum. He was not going to get ahead of himself. With good reason. Everton were sloppy after the restart and gave a silly goal to substitute Mark Duffy but soon Iwobi restored their two-goal lead. Fleetwood refused to go away and Callum Camps’ fantastic overhead kick in the 58th minute fired hope of a penalty shootout. It was not to be, though, as Everton kept moving the ball and eventually Bernard thrashed in from 12 yards to settle things. The rout was completed in injury time when the excellent Niels Nkounkou skipped down the left and crossed for substitute Moise Kean to fire in from close range. Only then did Ancelotti allow himself a smile. He deserved to — his team are gathering momentum.