Everton were looking to put recent Premier League disappointment behind them and give ourselves the chance of an FA Cup run in 2018/19 as we welcomed League Two high flyers Lincoln City to Goodison Park earlier this afternoon.
Although manager Marco Silva did make a couple of changes, it was nothing dramatic as we looked to ensure we didn’t become a headline by being on the wrong end of a third round upset and he did select a strong squad for the game.
Everton were ahead 12 minutes into the first half as Ademola Lookman opened the scoring, and we quickly doubled our advantage two minutes later as Bernard found the back of the net to make it 2-0. Lincoln made a game of it though and turned the match into a one goal affair just ahead of the half hour mark but that was where the scoring on the day ended, so we are narrowly through to Monday’s fourth round draw.
FT. Job done. ✅
Into the ???? for the @EmiratesFACup fourth round we go. #EFCmatchday pic.twitter.com/ivZaT9lWku
— Everton (@Everton) January 5, 2019
We did dominate the match, but it probably wasn’t as comfortable as many fans would’ve wanted.
Speaking to the BBC following the fulltime whistle, the gaffer explained.
“We achieved the main thing and I am pleased we will play in the next round. The FA Cup is always a fantastic challenge for these type of teams who can play against the Premier League teams. We knew our objective was to go through and it is an important competition for this club and the supporters. When we went 2-0 up, we could have gone scored three or four, but it was big party for them and they had nothing to lose. They scored from the set-piece which gave them hope.”