Sean Dyche can only hope his half-time introduction of the new signing Beto proves the turning point so many managers need as Everton fought back from a goal down to defeat Doncaster Rovers courtesy of Arnaut Danjuma’s 88th-minute winner.
Trailing deservedly to a first-half goal from Doncaster’s Joe Ironside, an effort that might have been ruled out for offside had VAR been in operation, Everton finally responded in the second half, with Beto producing a bizarre 60 seconds that veered from the ridiculous to the sublime.
From a rare Everton chance on 70 minutes, his embarrassingly errant shot ended with the ball closer to the corner flag than the home goal. But, within a minute, Abdoulaye Doucouré played a long pass into the channel and Beto held off Joseph Olowu before finishing with a deft flick of his right boot.
“That’s why I brought him here, obviously,” Dyche, the Everton manager, said. “He only got here yesterday and we only got his clearance this morning so the team was already set up.
“It was a lot to ask of him but I was always going to bring him on at halftime, regardless, and he’s adapted very quickly. The Premier League is different, of course, but he’s shown he has that rawness and pace, and the effect he can have on a team.”
After equalising, Everton might have gone on to win the tie comfortably, with Beto heading against a post and Danjuma clipping the crossbar with a skilful attempt.
Finally, two minutes from time, Danjuma cut in from the left and played a tidy one-two with Neal Maupay before finishing with lethal precision from 16 yards.
The goal finally quietened home supporters who had been serenading Dyche with unsympathetic chants about his job prospects only moments earlier. Although the chants may be premature, they are indicative of the problems the manager has been facing in the opening weeks of this season.
Those looked like being compounded by Grant McCann’s team, punching way above their weight as the lowest-ranked team in the Football League, when they took the lead shortly before the interval.
One of many well-worked Doncaster set pieces involving Luke Molyneux and Zain Westbrooke led to Tommy Rowe’s hanging cross drifting over a static defence for Ironside to head in from six yards, albeit with a strong suspicion of offside. “Three yards,” Dyche claimed.
“I thought in the first half we were excellent, but in the second half they made changes and it made them a lot stronger,” McCann said.
“It’s been a positive night for us. I hope the fans can come back and support us.”
Doncaster Rovers (3-4-1-2): I Lawlor 7 — O Bailey 6, J Olowu 6, J Senior 7 — L Molyneux 7, G Broadbent 7, Z Westbrooke 8 (D Sotona 90min), J Maxwell 6 (J Goodman 90) — T Rowe 8 (T Roberts 70) — M Faal 6 (S Straughan-Brown 82), J Ironside 7. Booked Roberts.
Everton (4-4-2): J Pickford 7 — N Patterson 5 (A Young 45, 6), B Godfrey 5, M Keane 5, V Mykolenko 5 (J Tarkowski 75) — J Garner 7, A Doucoure 6 (N Maupay 84), A Onana 6, L Dobbin 5 (I Gueye 45, 6) — A Danjuma 7, Y Chermiti 5 (Beto 45, 8).
Referee T Reeves. Attendance 11,430.
