Everton exited the Carabao Cup quarter final with a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.
A difficult evening for Carlo Ancelotti’s side remained goalless until the 88th minute, when Edinson Cavani struck a curling effort into Robin Olsen’s net.
Five minutes of added time failed to stir a fightback in the Blues and saw Anthony Martial double the visitors’ lead with the last kick of the game.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues bow out on the back foot
Once more, Everton’s League Cup quest ends in an all too predictable fashion.
The scoreline hardly flattered Manchester United but for all their dominance, it took two minutes from the end for the deadlock to finally be broken.
Before Edinson Cavani’s well-struck opener, Carlo Ancelotti’s side clung on by their fingernails in a game where a hefty humiliation appeared inevitable.
From the get-go, the hosts found themselves swarmed and had Robin Olsen to thank for keeping the score goalless with a series of point-blank saves.
This was the worst performance under Ancelotti this season, with his players forced to defend with backs to the wall while creating precious little in attack.
Bowing out on the back foot carries no sense of achievement or even pride. The fact Everton held on until so late in the game defied all conceivable logic.
Better the devil you know?
Without even kicking a ball, Jordan Pickford’s Everton stock has risen again.
Taking the England international out of the firing line on occasion spared him the inevitable scrutiny that has followed some of his more erratic showings.
But Olsen’s latest outing has highlighted just how better-rounded Pickford actually is in between the sticks compared to his current understudy.
Not content with punching Yerry Mina in the nose when attempting to clear his lines from a corner, the Swede offered a similarly gaffe laden follow-up.
A first touch to shift the ball onto his left foot was so hefty that it bounced up onto his knee and allowed an advancing Cavani the opportunity to swoop.
Only Olsen’s heel on the follow-through of the equally botched attempt at a recovery took it away from the United striker, who had managed to block it.
More than basic errors distinguish the Roma loanee from Pickford, though.
Everton’s no.1 does not often gain recognition for it, but he take the initiative on organisation with a constant vocality that keeps defensive standards high.
Olsen’s inability to rally the troops was evident as United put a team who sit beneath them in the Premier League table on goal difference under the cosh.
It was a classic case of better the devil you know than the one you don’t.
Gomes running out of time
No player in a royal blue shirt emerged with any credibility from this game.
One, however, threw their future back under the spotlight in Andre Gomes.
A spell out following the horrific injury suffered at Son Heung-min’s hands last year has clearly stripped the Portuguese midfielder of his finest attributes.
Whether they will ever return with a vengeance remains to be seen, with his fitness and form still alarmingly off in the last eight tie against the Red Devils.
Ancelotti has handed Gomes a semi-regular role since taking over in hopes of such a renaissance. Yet the more he flounders, the less likely that appears.
Time is no longer on his side, either, with Allan’s anticipated return next month and that of Jean-Philippe Gbamin heightening competition for places.
Gomes is not quite in now-or-never territory to save his Everton career, but the clock is ticking.
No VAR leads to cup madness
A cup tie beneath the Goodison floodlights between two iconic names of English football gave license to suggestions of a potential classic in-store.
None of the 2,000 Evertonians bargained for a throwback affair where their team were on the receiving end of some underhand tactics from the visitors.
The EFL’s reticence to use VAR in Carabao Cup games until the semi-finals meant several clear misdemeanours by United players went unpunished.
First, Cavani grabbed Mina by the throat after being outmuscled by the Everton centre-back and only received a talking to from referee Andy Madley.
The Uruguayan’s act was reactionary but the events which led to Richarlison being withdrawn with a concussion appeared to be altogether more sinister.
Bruno Fernandes shoved the Everton forward head-first into an accidental mid-air collision with Eric Bailly which left him literally dazed and confused.
Under the Premier League’s VAR microscope, both incidents would have been examined on grounds of violent conduct and dangerous play respectively.
In its absence, United were allowed to tighten their grip on the tie.