Everton 2-0 Peterborough: Toffees legends guide club into FA Cup fourth round in surreal atmosphere hours after Sean Dyche’s sacking

Just before kick-off, the Goodison Park Tannoy announcer urged Everton loyalists to give ‘a very warm welcome’ in freezing temperatures to Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman, who entered the dugout as caretaker managers just three hours beforehand walked in.

A generous round of applause sounded for two club heroes, followed by a short rendition of ‘Come on You Blues’. But once the match started, the only sounds of joy came from League One Peterborough’s three thousand followers.

These are very strange times in the blue half of Merseyside and it will take more than the abrupt dismissal of an unpopular manager in Sean Dyche to convince the diehards that everything will be fine.

For a long time, the famous old stadium was as eerily quiet as the mist wandering outside.

Most of those long-suffering Everton fans would have been preparing to travel to the stadium when the bomb threat went out just after 4.30pm that Dyche’s contract had been terminated.

The initial response to telephone shows was positive. Dyche was unloved because his teams were both boring and unsuccessful: three wins in 19 league games left the team just one point above relegation.

An early finisher at Goodison honked while others dodged television crews seeking a verdict on the dismissal. But if the club’s new owners, The Friedkin Group, had hoped to spark some sort of celebratory celebration with the timing of their announcement, they were wrong.

Everton fans were as dazed and confused by the news as anything else, and the names mooted of possible successors, David Moyes and Jose Mourinho, did not hint at future carnival, even if the survival of the Premier League is the most immediate priority given the club. will move to a new stadium with 52,000 seats this summer.

In any case, no one can disqualify Baines and Coleman, who have given so much to the club in good times and often bad.

Their tenure is likely to be just one match, with Everton keen to make a deal for the next match against Aston Villa next Wednesday. But this match was also important – possibly the last ever FA Cup match at Goodison Park and the first step towards ending a thirty-year wait for a trophy.

The team sheet submitted by the joint interims would make Dyche chuckle. He regularly complained about the scarcity of the squad when injuries occurred and Everton were only able to name eight substitutes last night – including two goalkeepers – instead of the nine allowed.

In the starting line-up, 17-year-old Harrison Armstrong started in only his second senior game and the less-spotted Jake O’Brien, an £18 million summer signing, was called up for his first start since September, when Everton came into retirement. -Dyche with a back three.

On the Everton bench was 39-year-old Ashley Young, whose 18-year-old son Tyler was among Peterborough’s substitutes.

There was barely a murmur as Posh goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic almost misjudged an Idrissa Gueye shot as the League One underdogs comfortably cruised through the first half hour, with the onlooking Sir Alex Ferguson, father of their manager Darren.

Of Everton’s two ‘managers’, Baines was the most visible technically as Ferguson persuaded Boro.

There was a roar from the visitors’ side as they won their first corner after 35 minutes and Cian Hayes’ shot was blocked by Jarrad Branthwaite.

The surreal atmosphere even extended to the opening goal after 42 minutes. Armstrong slipped in Beto, who outwitted the offside trap and curled the ball in from an acute angle.

In normal times, Beto’s fourth goal of the season would have been greeted by a guttural roar from the country’s most passionate fans. This was met with polite clapping and the occasional half-hearted cheer.

Had David Moyes been assessing his potential future charges at home on an iPad, he would have noticed Branthwaite’s defensive reading of play, Iliman Ndiaye’s deception and Armstrong’s effervescence.

But you could also see why Everton are the second-lowest scorers in the Premier League.

Posh, a lowly 19th in the third tier, gained ambition by attacking the end where their supporters were in the second half. Everton striker Beto was more useful in his own penalty area when heading away from corners than in the final third.

Baines and Coleman mumbled suggestions to each other on technical matters, looking for ways to assert Everton’s supposed superior individual quality. At the other end, Ferguson showed his frustration as his players went all the way back to Bilokapic from a promising position.

There was the sad sight of injury-prone Armando Broja being carried off on a stretcher just 19 minutes after arriving on the pitch.

Ashley Young was called off the bench after 73 minutes to keep all eyes on when Tyler would join him to make history as FA Cup father and son in opposition. It never happened.

On a night where a man lost his job, there was nothing to get too excited about, even though Everton sealed passage to the fourth round with an injury-time penalty from Ndiaye after Branthwaite’s withdrawal.