Frank Lampard leads Everton to victory over Brentford in first match

Frank Lampard got the full Everton experience in his first match as new manager with a 4-1 FA Cup victory over Premier League rivals Brentford.

He got off to the best possible start as the header from Yerry Mina – only on the field because of an early injury to Ben Godfrey – was the first time the Toffees had taken the lead in a match since October.

But after Richarlison had doubled their advantage shortly after half-time, the former Chelsea boss saw his side put themselves under unnecessary pressure by conceding a second-half Ivan Toney penalty.

However, Mason Holgate’s first goal since December 2020 made sure of progress to the last 16 to prompt chants of “Super Frankie Lampard” from all four sides of Goodison Park – and the mood was lifted further by substitute Andros Townsend’s added-time strike.

The change in atmosphere from the final days of Rafael Benitez – and even Duncan Ferguson’s one match as caretaker last month, when there were protests against the board – could not have been more stark.

Home fans even got to see two signings of genuine quality in Dele Alli and Donny Van De Beek, albeit only as half-time appearances as both were cup-tied after previous outings for Tottenham and Manchester United respectively.

Instead it was one of Benitez’s signings, Demarai Gray, who got the Lampard era off to a positive start against an out-of-sorts Brentford with a number of driving runs at the visitors’ defence which highlighted a change of emphasis from the defence-first approach of his predecessor.

The perfect start for the new boss. Top performances all over the pitch and Goodison at its very best!That was Everton.