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Everton comfortably cruise into the fifth round

By Matt Townsend

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: James Rodriguez of Everton shoots under pressure from Joey Pelupessy (L) and Jack Marriott of Sheffield Wednesday during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday at Goodison Park on January 24, 2021 in Liverpool, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: James Rodriguez of Everton shoots under pressure from Joey Pelupessy (L) and Jack Marriott of Sheffield Wednesday during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday at Goodison Park on January 24, 2021 in Liverpool, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /
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In what turned out in the end to be a routine win Everton comfortably beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 to advance into the fifth round of the FA Cup. And to top off the day, Liverpool had of course been knocked out earlier too!

Going into this match Everton needed a solid effort against a Championship side that would have been up for the game, taking time off their relegation struggles and feeling this was a free hit of sorts for them.

Carlo Ancelotti picked an almost full-strength side given his injury issues, which kept Lucas Digne, Alex Iwobi and Allan out.

Apart from those likely starters, Ancelotti gave Robin Olsen another outing in goal and brought Seamus Coleman back, reshuffling his defence to give Michael Keane a rest again.

His side lined up in a 4-2-3-1 similar to the sort of formation that his predecessor Marco Silva favoured with Abdoulaye Doucoure taking the Idrissa Gueye-type role alongside Andre Gomes in the central midfield two.

This worked well with Gomes enjoying that deeper role again and Doucoure providing the energy, defensive cover and work-rate beside him. In attack Gylfi Sigurdsson joined Richarlison and James Rodriguez behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

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Wednesday began brightly and tested the Blues Swedish keeper when Adam Reach fired a long shot at goal to bring out a save from the Roma loanee.

The Toffees though responded and took control of the match. They were passing the ball around neatly and creating a few chances before Richarlison might have scored but he was caught offside.

Everton did finally take the lead after some good play when Gomes who was excellent, put in a fine ball across the box and after it slipped past the Wednesday keeper, Calvert-Lewin poked it home.

It was clear what a difference it made having the England centre-forward back in the team. He was leading the line again with the verve and intelligence that has made him arguably the best target man in the country.

With this finish he also underlined again how much progress he has made when it comes to getting the goals to go with his all-round play.

Another player who’s absence has been sorely missed recently is of course Everton’s superstar summer signing, Rodriguez. The Colombian was back to his best spraying the ball around with sublime vision and incisiveness and created a slew of chances.

The quality of his passing is at times breathtaking and is on a par with any of the other top play-makers in the Premier League.

The Toffees were in almost complete control for the rest of the half although to give the visitors their due they kept battling and took any chance to try and get forward.

The second half began slowly with the home team happy to knock the ball around and be patient but while Wednesday offered a sporadic threat, it always looked like another Blues goal would settle it.

Everton got that when through a corner Rodriguez put an excellent ball in the box and Richarlison headed it home for his first goal in a long while.

Rodriguez then repeated the trick a few minutes later this time it was his fellow countryman Yerry Mina who scored for 3-0 and game over.

The match now petered out but there was time in the closing minutes for Everton to bring on two youth team products with defender Thierry Small becoming the youngest ever player to make a top-flight debut for the Blues.

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So a strong, solid and very professional performance from the Toffees who will now almost certainly play Tottenham in the next round.