Everton were made to scrap and toil and apply an enormous amount of patience to overcome Boreham Wood and set up an FA Cup quarter-final tie with Crystal Palace.
Frank Lampard’s side hogged possession to the tune of 80-odd per cent and had more than 20 attempts at goal.
But they had to wait until 12 minutes after the break – following a half-time change from Lampard, replacing debutant Nathan Patterson with Richarlison and ditching a three-man defence for an orthodox back four – to take the lead.
Salomon Rondon was the scorer, prodding home Jonjoe Kenny’s low cross. And Rondon supplied his team’s second six minutes from the end, heading in Andros Townsend’s cross despite the game efforts of excellent Boreham Wood goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond to save.
The night finished with Evertonians – who gave standing ovations to every away player replaced in the second half – loudly urging Rondon to add the goal that would have made him Everton’s first Goodison Park FA Cup hat-trick scorer since Tommy Lawton in January 1939.
Rondon didn’t get his treble, but Everton booked their Selhurst Park date – and handed debuts in the closing minutes to the Academy duo of Isaac Price and Reece Welch.
Vtalii Mykolenko, meanwhile, captained Everton, as the Club once more showed its solidarity with Ukraine during an emotional period pre-match when John Lennon’s Imagine filled the air.
Briefly, in the eight minute, Goodison drew breath in advance of what all but the pocket of supporters from Hertfordshire hoped would be a wonderful moment for Mykolenko.
Everton had dominated possession until this point but not demanded anything of Taye Ashby-Hammond in Boreham Wood’s goal.
That changed when Rondon reined in a high pass down the right and fed Abdoulaye Doucoure, progressing through the middle.
Doucoure’s pass found the overlapping Mykolenko, who steadied himself for the shot that Ashby-Hammond dived to his left to paw to safety.
That foray sparked a burst of activity in the away team’s defensive third.
Allan, the little general at the back of Everton’s midfield, who barked instructions all night, was at the hub of a lot of his team’s slickest work.
There was a pass along the floot to unzip the Boreham Wood backline, Doucoure the recipient but thrashing into the side netting.
Allan adopted a similar approach to free Rondon in a near-identical position on the right of the penalty area.
In hindsight, the fingertip from Ashby-Hammond to divert a venomous cross-shot wasn’t required due to an offside flag. It was impressive nevertheless.
The keeper was earlier untroubled when Townsend was well off target from distance.
Ashby-Hammond didn’t need to get involved in the 15th minute either – but, in this instance, he’d have been hard pushed to come to his side’s aid, had Jarrad Branthwaite directed his shot inside the post.
The corner from Everton to create Branthwaite’s opportunity came straight from the training ground, where coach Paul Clement is meticulously drilling set-pieces.
Indeed, Townsend clapped his hands high above his head following the routine, despite the outcome.
It was Townsend who returned the short corner to taker Anthony Gordon, who fended off a challenge from Frankie Raymond to square for Branthwaite at the front post.
The attempt from the centre-half flew marginally wide.
Gordon was standing over another dead ball a few minutes earlier. He was tripped by Raymond after speeding onto Rondon’s clever flick and progressing towards the box.
The free-kick, however, was smacked into a fearsome wall, dressed head to toe in black.
Ashby-Hammond was equal to Gordon’s dipping 36th-minute shot when the Everton player cut inside from the left to take aim.
When we reached half-time, the numbers showed Everton had enjoyed 80 per cent of the ball and had six goal attempts.
So when Boreham Wood alighted on possession, there was a degree of pressure to manufacture an opportunity.
Fleetingly, in minute 43 – shortly after a brief stoppage when a member of the crowd fell ill – Tyrone Marsh spied a chance to hurt the home team.
The striker wriggled into a promising position on the right of Everton’s penalty box but delivered his cross straight into the gloves of Asmir Begovic.
Patterson swapped fast passes with Doucoure shortly before the break but the final ball travelled across the face of goal untouched.
That would be Patterson’s final contribution, the young Scot making way for Richarlison, as Everton reverted to a back four for the second half.
Mykolenko thundered forwards from his more orthodox full-back berth three minutes after the restart but the desperately reaching Rondon couldn’t apply a touch to the low delivery.
Rondon did make contact on a cross from the opposite flank soon after.
Kenny, who was part of a back three in the opening 45 minutes, seized his first chance to fly up the wing as a right-back.
His centre-was excellent, homing in on Rondon, whose header flashed over the bar.
But when the same two players next combined, the outcome was altogether more fruitful.
Jacob Mendy, the Boreham Wood left-wing-back, gave Kenny room to supply the cross after gathering Allan’s pass.
Rondon stole in front of centre-half David Stephens to toe home at the front post and extinguish the pressure that was growing by the minute.
Between times, Marsh struck too high to concern Begovic after being presented with possession by Branthwaite.
Mykolenko succumbed to injury minutes after the goal – and very shortly after hanging up a ball Michael Keane headed over at the back post.
Ashby-Hammond thwarted Gordon at close quarters following Richarlison’s clinical return pass, as Everton steadily turned up the heat on Boreham Wood.
It felt like the second goal was coming – and Everton thought they had it after 71 minutes.
Richarlison profited from a fortunate deflection off Connor Stevens, who actually did well to resist a rising blast from Gordon. But a VAR review concluded the Everton substitute used his hand to force the ball over the line.
Will Evans headed a goalbound Richarlison strike off target, the Brazilian denied moments earlier by Ashby-Hammond’s sprawling save to his left.
And Richarlison was wondering about his misfortune again he was foiled by an exceptional Josh Rees tackle in the act of shooting.
From the resulting corner, however, Everton confirmed their passage into the last eight.
Gordon took it short to Townsend, who chose a dash down the line and hanging cross over a return pass.
Rondon leapt in the middle and applied enough power to get the better of Ashby-Hammond despite the keeper’s desperate attempts to claw the ball from his line.
There was still time for Welch and Price to get their Everton debuts but the meaningful action was done and the hosts left the stage to Boreham Wood to enjoy the adulation of their noisy pocket of supporters.
Patient Everton Earn Last-Eight Reward
Everton ultimately inflicted death by a thousand cuts on a resilient, disciplined and very organised Boreham Wood team.
The National League side held their more illustrious opponents at bay for 57 minutes, despite spending large portions of the game without the ball.
All that concentration and chasing and filling gaps, the shuffling from side to side, inevitably took its toll on minds and bodies in the visiting side.
Jacob Mendy, impeccable all night as a wing-back for Boreham Wood, backed off Jonjoe Kenny, after Allan went through midfield unchallenged to pass to the advancing full-back.
Kenny steered in his centre, finding Rondon gaining a yard on the resolute central defender David Stephens and defeating Taye Asbhy-Hammond at his near post.
The goal was reward for Everton’s patience and perseverance. As the minutes ticked by without a breakthrough, there would unquestionably have been a sense of the pressure rising on the home team.
One escape upfield from Boreham Wood and the hosts could have potentially been staring an welcome shock in the face.
It was to Everton’s credit, then, that they remained composed, retaining faith that their superior ability would, one way or another, settle the tie.
And that was how it turned out after Rondon poked in his second goal for the Club and followed it with a headed finish for this third to book a quarter-final visit to Crystal Palace.
New Blues In Action On Another Emotional Goodison Night
Early January additions Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko featured together in an Everton team for the first time.
The inclusion of Mykolenko as captain was especially poignant, as Everton followed Saturday’s demonstration of support for Ukraine by staging another pre-match show of unity with the country under attack from Russia.
Mykolenko, the 22-year-old signed from Dynamo Kyiv, was afforded a fabulous ovation prior to kick-off, too.
Playing his fourth game for the Club, Mykolenko began with an adventurous run from his left-wing-back position to receive a pass from Abdoualye Doucoure and, but for a smart save from Taye Ashby-Hammond, would have penned the perfect opening stanza.
Patterson played only the opening 45 minutes but the Scot, on his Everton debut, never flagged in his determination to unlock the cussed away team.
He passed quickly and tried to advance beyond Boreham Wood’s defences with his direct running.
Patterson never went into his shell if a pass went awry, the right sider always attempting to provide a viable option for his teammates.
The half-time change appeared much more to do with Frank Lampard’s desire to inject increased urgency through a formation switch than anything to do with Patterson’s effort.
Both men primarily hogged the touchline in the opening half, making the playing area as large as possible, as Everton sought to move the ball quickly in a bid to run the legs off the National League side.
And fatigue was setting in for the visitors when Jonjoe Kenny was allowed to centre for Rondon to convert.
Mykolenko didn’t have long to impress in his authentic left-back position, and there was very little defending of note required.
But the player burst into a dangerous area to send a cross marginally out of the reach of Rondon and, after the Venezuelan scored, sent over a lofted delivery that Michael Keane headed too high to trouble Taye Ashby-Hammond.
The premature exit for Mykolenko did at least enable Goodson to loudly show its respect for the shaven-headed player one more time.
Objective Achieved
However counter-intuitive the notion when an FA Cup quarter-final spot was at stake, this contest represented the archetypal no-win for Everton.
Feast on the non-leaguers and, well, so you should, would be the verdict in some quarters.
Grind out a patient win against a very well-organised team that didn’t concede in victories over Football League sides AFC Wimbledon and Bournemouth earlier in this competition – and has let in a paltry 17 goals in 27 league matches – and you stand to be criticised for making heavy weather of dispatching lowly opposition.
Ultimately, none of it mattered. Sure, it would have been great fun for Evertonians watching their team run riot – and spoiled the drama television companies had in mind.
Booking a place in the next round, however, was all that counted.
Everton performed admirably in defeat against Premier League leaders and defending champions Manchester City on Saturday after winning both previous Goodison Park fixtures under Frank Lampard.
It was essential, here, to bank a third home win in four since Lampard took charge 32 days ago.
To create some form of momentum ahead of an important league game at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.
And to set up the last-eight trip to Crystal Palace in a fortnight. When the match at Selhurst Park takes place, very few people will be reflecting on how Everton advanced through round five.
The only relevant detail was the scoreline that finished in Everton’s favour.
