Everton Exit EFL Cup On Penalties

An Ashley Young miss from the spot during the shoutout meant Everton exited the Carabao Cup 6-5 by Southampton.

A peculiar starting lineup and bench, including in total 6 academy players and 3 goalkeepers, was reassured by manager Sean Dyche as many main players were missing. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Tarkoswki were the ones that many Evertonians were confused about why they didn’t feature in the squad. Before kickoff, Dyche had mentioned that:

“Unfortunately, we’ve got three down with illness and a number of injuries that we’re going to have to protect so we’ve got no choice for this one."

Academy kids Harrison Armstrong and Roman Dixon were named in the starting 11, giving them the chance Dyche thinks they deserve.

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Lineups:

Everton:

Virginia

McNeil

O’Brien

Keane

Dixon

Mangala

Armstrong

Doucoure

Lindstrøm

Ndiaye

Beto

Southampton:

McCarthy

Bree

Harwood-Bellis

Wood

Taylor

Ugochukwu

Lallana

Aribo

Fraser

Armstrong

Cornet

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The game before the first goal was reasonably dull. However, a strike of luck allowed Everton to take the advantage. After a shot, the ball fell to O'Brien, who found himself in an onside position on the goalkeeper’s byline. The Irish centre back lobbed it back to the edge of the box, where Michael Keane headed it in the general direction of the goal. A flick on a header by Doucoure was able to fool McCarthy as the ball hit the back of the Park End net!

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Doucoure Everton Stats:

Appearances: 133

Goals: 17

Assists: 12

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However, it only took twelve minutes for Southampton to make the game level again. A foul committed by Roman Dixon was taken by Taylor. A fabulous ball into the hustle and bustle within the penalty area fell to Harwood-Bellis, who rose above the rest and firmly nodded the ball past Joao Virginia.

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Harwood-Bellis Southampton Stats:

Appearances: 50

Goals: 2

Assists: 4

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Into the second half, and a substitution made by Sean Dyche was very perplexing. The manager decided it was the time to take off the target man, Beto, and bring on 39-year-old Ashley Young in the 62nd minute. This ultimately left a huge field of green within the Saint’s penalty area. Even though perhaps Beto didn’t have the game he wanted, his presence allowed the Toffee’s to cause a threat upfront. Taking him off left Everton with no one up top that could pressure the defence.

This was the last major event of the game as the game went to a penalty shootout. All 10 penalties across both teams were scored, but when it went to sudden death is where Everton struggled but the Saints didn’t! As Bree scored to make it 6-5, the next player to step up for the Toffees was Ashley Young. A poor shot into the bottom left corner was saved by McCarthy as he pushed it onto the post, putting Southampton into the next round of the cup as Everton crashed out of the cup.

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Carabao Cup Round Three Fixtures:

Tuesday 17th September:

Stoke City 1-1 (2-1) Fleetwood

Preston 1-1 (16-15) Fulham

Brentford 3-1 Leyton Orient

QPR 1-2 Crystal Palace

Everton 1-1 (5-6) Southampton

Blackpool 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Man United 7-0 Barnsley

Wednesday 18th September:

Brighton 19:45 Wolves

Coventry 20:00 Tottenham

Thursday 24th September:

Walsall 19:45 Leicester City

Man City 19:45 Watford

AFC Wimbledon 19:45 Newcastle

Chelsea 19:45 Barrow

Wycombe 20:00 Aston Villa

Wednesday 25th September:

Arsenal 19:45 Bolton

Liverpool 20:00 West Ham

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