Sometimes managers can overthink their team selections for these early rounds of the Carabao Cup.
And after making seven changes from Saturday’s starting line-up, a Tom Davies injury just before kick-off forced Frank Lampard to recall weekend goalscorer Demarai Gray who had rescued Everton’s first point of the season against Nottingham Forest .
He again proved to be the Blues’ saviour on a night when most of the post-match chat surrounded another wide man who was left on the bench, Anthony Gordon.
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With Everton facing the prospect of losing their opening three fixtures of a new campaign for the first time in the Premier League and first time since 1990 in what proved to be Colin Harvey’s last year in charge, Gray’s coolness in front of goal against the big-spending newly-promoted East Midlanders snatched a share of the spoils at Goodison Park three days earlier and here at Fleetwood Town’s tiny Highbury Stadium home, he made the most of his late call-up to put the Blues on their way to the third round of the Carabao Cup by breaking the deadlock against their League One hosts with an equally-assured finish on 28 minutes.
Up to that point, it had been more of the same from what we’ve seen from Lampard’s side so far this term. Neat and tidy and while relatively easy on the eye, also, unfortunately, relatively easy on the opposition as Everton stroked the ball around with more competence than last term without appearing to have much of a threat in the final third.
The Blues new central defensive pair James Tarkowski and Conor Coady have hardly missed a Premier League game between them in years but both were given the night off here, along with Mason Holgate, who dropped to the bench, and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford as it was all change at the back from Lampard, who handed 18-year-old Reece Welch his first senior start alongside fit-again captain Seamus Coleman and Michael Keane, who also both appeared for the first time this campaign along with Asmir Begovic behind them.
The same went for Everton’s big signing of the summer Amadou Onana, who appeared in the starting 11 for the first time after cameos off the bench against Aston Villa and Forest but if Lampard thought this might be an opportunity to ease his £33.5million recruit in gently, he didn’t factor for the rough tactics deployed by Scott Brown’s men who did their best to get stuck into the Belgian international as often as possible.
While Onana promises so much, with him standing at an imposing 6ft 5in, it’s sometimes easy to forget he’s actually younger than Gordon – who was left on the bench here – and while there’s a confident and gifted player within that huge frame, he’s still very much green when it comes to the English game and Fleetwood did all they could to make it an uncomfortable evening for him.
Thankfully for the recruit from Lille, he had Everton’s most-consistent performer of the fledgling campaign alongside him in Alex Iwobi - but he’ll likely have a few bruises as souvenirs from his trip to the seaside.
Taking his early steps in management, former Celtic captain Brown, working south of the border for the first time, has made Fleetwood a defensively resolute outfit in recent weeks but that is of course in the third tier of the English football so while Everton are safely into the hat for the third round of a competition that they’ve never won, it will still have been concerning not just for Lampard but both director of football Kevin Thelwell and Graeme Sharp who was sat next to him in the stands, that the Blues could only find the net once.
The only goal of the night came on 28 minutes as Everton were able to demonstrate the difference in quality between the two sides with a well-worked opening after Brendan Wiredu lost the ball. Dwight McNeil was the quickest to react and picked out Iwobi who in turn, waited until the right moment before spotting Gray in space in the left hand side of the Fleetwood area and the winger coolly slotted home.
There was relief all-round from the visitors but while the deadlock was broken, it did not prove the cue for an opening of the floodgates on a ground where these two sides produced a seven-goal thriller a couple of years ago during lockdown when Carlo Ancelotti’s men triumphed 5-2.
Everton kept their hosts mostly at arm’s length until the interval but no doubt inspired by some choice words by their firebrand gaffer at the interval, Fleetwood came out of the blocks much quicker after the break. Their energy produced a few nervous moments at the back for the visitors but ultimately the closest they got to equalising was from a deflection from one of their own.
As the Blues defended a corner, Welch rose highest to meet a loose ball in a goalmouth scramble but proceeded to nod it spinning towards his own goal before Begovic tipped it around the post. The challenges kept flying in from the hosts – mostly on Onana – but after weathering the brief Fleetwood storm, Lampard’s men had the opportunity to sew the tie up when Patterson ran into space in the area and managed to get his shot on target but it was too close to Jakub Stolarczyk.
The introduction of James Tarkowski provided a bolt on Everton’s back door while youngsters Lewis Warrington and Stanley Mills both entered the fray for their senior bows.
This was Highbury and the hosts wore red shirts with white sleeves but rather than “One nil to the Arsenal”, it was a night when the Blues triumphed thanks to a single goal but while the cup passage was secured, the question remains whether Gordon is still one of their number when they head to Brentford this weekend or whether London is calling for the young Scouser to another destination in the west of the capital.
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