Everton racked up their first win of the season against Doncaster.
Sean Dyche’s side found a breakthrough early in the second half when Dwight McNeil was able to divert Tim Iroegbunam’s goal-bound effort.
They doubled that advantage as Iliman Ndiaye opened his account with a sublime individual goal for which he dummied Joseph Olowu in the build-up.
Beto added a third during the closing stages by slipping the ball past Ian Lawlor after he was teed up by Vitalii Mykolenko inside the penalty area.
The Blues are set to discover who their next opponents in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, when the draw for the third round will be made.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues avert potential Groundhog Day
Being drawn against Doncaster in the Carabao Cup’s second round will have filled some Evertonians with a sense of dread at history repeating itself.
Last season’s meeting at the same stage of the competition was a real low point for Sean Dyche’s side as they had to mount a second-half comeback.
A repeat always appeared likely for a sub-par Blues, despite being at home in the rematch, and the first half alone carried a genuine sense of foreboding.
Their League Two visitors grew in confidence to a point of mounting several attacks while Dyche’s men were restricted to a small handful of half-chances.
Given the current state of life at Goodison, both on and off the pitch, a cup upset would not have registered as a surprise for its underperforming hosts.
But Everton’s second-half response averted a potential Groundhog Day with the resulting comfortable score line a true barometer of the gulf in standards.
Three goals and a maiden victory of the season has alleviated the potential pressure cooker heading into Saturday’s encounter with Bournemouth.
Now they just need to build some momentum to stave off further crisis talk.
Dyche’s experience argument weakens
A lack of Premier League experience was Dyche’s logic for refusing to hand several of his summer arrivals starting roles in the opening two games.
At that stage, Jake O’Brien, Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom were only deemed good enough for places among the Everton manager’s substitutes.
Facing a team 54 places beneath them in the English football pyramid, however, Dyche took off the shackles and afforded the trio starring roles.
The pay-off was an instant one with O’Brien acquitting himself well in a first taste of competitive action alongside the much-maligned Michael Keane.
Downfield, Lindstrom and Ndiaye proved to be the hosts’ sole creative outlet during the first half and extended that influence shortly after the interval.
Teeing up fellow new recruit Tim Iroegbunam for Dwight McNeil’s opener, the loanee winger was a constant hive and only surpassed by Ndiaye’s efforts.
Everton’s No.10 departed to a standing ovation after producing the goal of the evening, sending Joseph Olowu to the shops before executing a cool finish.
Dyche’s ‘inexperienced’ bunch may have just given him food for thought.
Goodison proves a top draw for cup
Everton fans know how special an evening under the Goodison lights can be.
Unfortunately, that allure was not exclusive to the early rounds of the Carabao Cup, with sub-capacity attendances a recurring theme during recent seasons.
Yet that particular trend was bucked for Doncaster’s first visit to the blue half of Merseyside since an FA Cup fourth-round defeat here in January 1985.
Grant McCann’s side had brought a sizeable travelling allocation in their own right, comfortably filling both tiers in the far corner of the Bullens Road Stand.
Appetite for their likely last-ever visit to Goodison was mirrored by the take-up of the home crowd, whose numbers swelled the overall figure to 37,245.
Clearly the Grand Old Lady’s imminent demise increased the appeal for fans to take in as many games as possible, even at this early stage of the season.
Should the third round draw prove favourable again, a similar turnout should not be discounted as Toffees of all ages embrace the magic of the cup.