In the Carabao Cup Everton certainly enjoy being beside the sea: twice in two years in this competition they have departed the Lancashire coast with victory over Fleetwood Town.
This win was far harder than the 5-2 rout of 2020 when Carlo Ancelotti was in charge, as the 14th-ranked League One team went close to proving the banana skin in waiting they appeared.
But Everton’s class, as it should, prevailed and Frank Lampard can be grateful for a first win of the campaign following an insipid start in the Premier League that has yielded a solitary point from the nine available. “They made it tough for us,” said the manager. “I was pleased with the attitude – though we could’ve been more intense at times.” After a blast of Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder’s Together in Electric Dreams from the PA, the opening half began with Jakub Stolarczyk suffering a scare when Salomón Rondón went close to charging the No 1’s clearance down.
Scott Brown, once of Celtic and Scotland, was taking charge of only a seventh game in management, his Town record at kick-off reading two wins, three draws and a defeat.