Everton vs Brentford. The FA Cup Fourth Round.
Goodison ParkAttendance37,310.
Match report as new Everton manager Frank Lampard wins his first game in charge after being appointed earlier this week; Yerry Mina and Richarlison put Everton 2-0 up before Ivan Toney scored a penalty for visitors; Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend goals then made sure of Everton's win
Saturday 5 February 2022 19:19, UK
New Everton manager Frank Lampard made the perfect start to life at Goodison Park with a 4-1 FA Cup victory over Brentford in his first game in charge.
He got off to the best possible start as the header from Yerry Mina - only on the field because of an early injury to Ben Godfrey - was the first time the Toffees had taken the lead in a match since October.
But after Richarlison had doubled their advantage shortly after half-time, the former Chelsea boss saw his side put themselves under unnecessary pressure by conceding a second-half Ivan Toney penalty.
However, Mason Holgate's first goal since December 2020 made sure of progress to the last 16 to prompt chants of "Super Frankie Lampard" from all four sides of Goodison Park - and the mood was lifted further by substitute Andros Townsend's added-time strike.
The change in atmosphere from the final days of Rafael Benitez - and even Duncan Ferguson's one match as caretaker last month, when there were protests against the board - could not have been more stark.
Home fans even got to see two signings of genuine quality in Dele Alli and Donny van De Beek, albeit only as half-time appearances as both were cup-tied after previous outings for Tottenham and Manchester United respectively.
Instead it was one of Benitez's signings, Demarai Gray, who got the Lampard era off to a positive start against an out-of-sorts Brentford with a number of driving runs at the visitors' defence which highlighted a change of emphasis from the defence-first approach of his predecessor.
Under Benitez Everton frequently had less than 45 per cent possession, but Lampard has tried to immediately put his stamp on the team in the five days he has had to prepare since being announced on Monday, with a greater emphasis on keeping the ball and passing forward.
Having adopted a new 3-4-3 formation with the recalled Seamus Coleman and early January signing Vitaliy Mykolenko as wing-backs, there were obvious teething problems with a number of players looking unsure in their roles.
It made for a scrappy first half lit up only by Mina's header from a 31st-minute Gray corner which had Lampard leaping out of his technical area.
Just prior to that, academy graduate Anthony Gordon, another bright spot on the afternoon, had fired a shot over having cut in from the right following a neat passing interchange between Coleman and Allan.
Those were the green shoots of recovery Everton fans who had witnessed only two victories in four months, one of which was in the previous round at Championship side Hull, were hoping for following Lampard's appointment.
Three minutes after the interval Richarlison latched on to Allan's ball over the top and, benefiting from goalkeeper David Raya's ill-advised rush to the edge of his area, clipped home the second.
That two-goal cushion lasted just seven minutes, however, as the three-man defence switched off and Christian Norgaard's through-ball picked out Toney, who was brought down by Jordan Pickford.
The Brentford striker sent the England goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot for his third goal in as many games.
But what could have potentially been a testing period for the hosts was avoided by Holgate's timely goalscoring contribution when he popped up at the far post to nod in a deflected Gray corner, followed by Townsend's late contribution.
There was time left for another couple of renditions of Lampard's song before the long-suffering home fans departed happy for the first time in a long while.
Everton's win was the largest ever secured on debut by a Toffees boss, while it was also the team's biggest victory against top-flight opposition since beating West Ham by the same scoreline in the Carabao Cup in September 2020.
Lampard was understandably delighted with what he witnessed, saying: "I can only thank the fans for their support of me from the moment I walked out and of course at the end, seeing the team perform the way it did.
"It's a day I'll never forget, it was very special, and I can't help but get caught up in the emotion of that for the moment.
"We all hear about the Goodison effect and I've felt it on the other side and we wanted to produce that today and the players did.
"But as much as I was proud of the performance and it gets me excited, I have to calm down now and work towards the league games."
Sky Sports' Paul Merson on Soccer Saturday:
"What a start for Frank Lampard. The crowd were buzzing, the stadium was rocking. It ticked the boxes for Everton.
"A good performance from Everton, and like you'd expect at Everton. I've played there a lot of times, and it's a hard place to play when they get it right.
"It's a massive lift for Everton. I've never seen Richarlison make so many runs in behind, and no defender wants to keep running back to goal. It opened the game up, allowing Gray and Gomes to get on the ball. Back to their best.
"The fans at Everton only ask for one thing: to work as hard as they would work if they were playing for Everton, and they got that today.
"If you've got the fans rocking like they were today, it helps the players.
"In his wildest dreams when Lampard went to bed on Friday night, he couldn't have hoped for that."
The FA Cup fifth-round draw is on Sunday, February 6.
It will take place before Liverpool's home clash with Cardiff at around 11.30am and you can follow it live on the Sky Sports app and website.
