David Moyes can be left in no doubt about tough job he's walking into on return to Everton
EVERTON 2-0 PETERBOROUGH: On the day that Everton sacked Sean Dyche and moved to the brink of appointing David Moyes, their problems were there for all to see
by Chris McKenna · The MirrorIf David Moyes tuned in to see the team he could potentially be taking charge of then it would have been an eye-opening bit of research into the task ahead.
The expected replacement for Sean Dyche in the Goodison Park hotseat will have an FA Cup fourth round clash to contend with later this month. But this was hardly a performance to get pulses raised just hours after Dyche departed.
Anyone who has watched Everton in recent weeks have seen this type of uninspiring display a lot but given the opposition, albeit with some rotation, this should have been much better.
Beto’s first-half strike and a stoppage-time penalty from Iliman Ndiaye were enough to see off League One Peterborough United. But this was a League One side struggling in the wrong half of their division, too. They came to Goodison Park without a win in five games. They were hardly ruthlessly disposed of.
Everton had won just one game in 11, of course. That’s what contributed to Dyche’s sacking. But he picked the team before he departed which Under-18s boss Leighton Baines and club captain Seamus Coleman oversaw from the touchline.
There was warm applause when the caretaker managers had their names announced before kick-off.
Everton’s first shot on target of 2025 came from Beto inside two minutes.
But the Toffees soon started playing like a side struggling for goals and just a point above the drop zone in the Premier League.
Orel Mangala cracked the bar but they needed Jarrad Branthwaite to get in the way of a deflected Cian Hayes strike for The Posh.
Beto opened the scoring before the break as teenager Harrison Armstrong played a superb ball through and the Portuguese-born striker rounded Peterborough keeper Nicholas Bilokapic. The closest Ashley Young got to sharing the pitch with his son was when the pair were warming up side by side on the touchline.
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The game was in the balance for too long to allow The Posh boss Darren Ferguson bring on 18-year-old Tyler as a nice gesture after his dad came on for Everton late on.
Which tells you all you need to know about the hosts’ performance.
Ndiaye did secure the win late in stoppage time from the spot after Jadel Katongo dragged down Branthwaite in the area.
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