Everton’s promising start to the season was put into perspective by Championship opponents as Norwich City deservedly progressed to the last 16 of the League Cup, with the Goodison old boy Steven Naismith not only setting his side on the path to victory but being applauded by the home crowd for doing so.
Ronald Koeman had promised beforehand to make a few changes but not too many, and in the event made six. On the evidence of a listless performance, that appears to be too many for Everton, who may be second in the Premier League but found the going tough against a Norwich side who made no fewer than 10 changes of their own from their last league outing.
“The players who came in applied themselves really well,” said Alex Neil, Norwich’s manager, perhaps unintentionally rubbing salt into Everton’s wounds. “Most of those boys haven’t played a lot of football this season but they still produced a great performance.”
Koeman, the Everton manager, said: “Norwich were more clinical than us, I must admit that. They only had two shots on goal, and one of those was lucky.”
Norwich survived an early penalty appeal when Aaron Lennon’s goalbound shot struck Steven Whittaker on the elbow. The referee quite reasonably felt the defender could not get out of the way and had his back turned in any case, yet it was a let-off for the visitors because Lennon seemed certain to score once Seamus Coleman had squared the ball across goal.
Gerard Deufoleu had the next attempt on target as gaps began to appear in the Norwich defence, but having sprinted purposefully into the area the winger took a fraction too long over his shot and allowed John Ruddy to scramble the ball away. A good block by Robbie Brady was required to prevent Tom Cleverley meeting a cross from Enner Valencia on the six-yard line as the home side stepped up their attacking efforts.
Making his first start for Everton, Valencia was supposed to be operating at centre‑forward, but was sent down the left wing by a perfectly weighted pass from Ramiro Funes Mori, himself playing in an unusual position at left back.
For all their attacking intent, however, Everton were somewhat lightweight up front in the absence of the injured Romelu Lukaku. Valencia did not present the same sort of threat to defenders, and Lennon, Deulofeu and Ross Barkley all struggled to impose themselves on the game.
Norwich took Everton to penalties here in the same competition last season and seemed content to stay behind the ball while the game remained scoreless. The debutant striker Nelson Oliveira shot wide in the opening minutes but was otherwise quiet, though it was his subtle flick that sent Naismith striding into the area to break the deadlock.
Only four minutes remained before the interval and it was the first time Norwich had even looked interested in opening Everton up, but on his return to Goodison Park Naismith stunned his former crowd with an unexpected finish. Whether he intended to chip Maarten Stekelenburg is debatable since he seemed to slip slightly in the act of shooting, but the effect was a delicate waft over a bemused goalkeeper into an otherwise unprotected net.
It took the Goodison crowd a second or two to work out what had happened, but once the penny dropped Naismith’s reward was a generous round of applause. “That sums up this place,” the scorer said. “It is a great club, with great people. It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes, I took a big divot, but in the end it’s a goal and that’s all that counts.”
Everton could not capitalise on a chance to equalise at the start of the second half with Ruddy out of his area after attempting to head clear. The ball fell straight to Barkley, who attempted to volley it into an empty net from 20 yards out and missed by a considerable distance. It was not an easy chance and he would have been praised for his audacity had it gone in, though he could have taken a touch and tried to make sure rather than going for the spectacular. Deulofeu was guilty of the same offence minutes later when Lennon’s persistence presented him with a clear sight of goal, leaning back and managing to miss the target from a position close to that where Naismith had scored.
Koeman replaced both his wingers in a double substitution midway through the second half, and immediately Everton looked sharper. Yannick Bolasie’s cross from the right led to a free kick from which Kevin Mirallas brought a fingertip save from Ruddy, then Alex Pritchard blocked a Valencia effort on the line. Yet this flurry of activity proved misleading.
Norwich were the next to score, Josh Murphy taking advantage of some statuesque defending to secure victory with a fine individual goal. Cutting in from the right, the winger rode half‑hearted challenges from Funes Mori then Cleverley before beating Stekelenburg from just inside the area as Ashley Williams attempted to block. Ruddy was brought into action a few more times before the final whistle but there was no way back for the Premier League side.
