Everton cruised into the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night with a 4-0 win at Preston North End. David Moyes was making his first competitive return to his former club, but he showed no mercy on the Championship outfit as he named a strong side.
Moyes was rewarded with a fine display from his Premier League team, who ran out comfortable winners thanks to a first hat-trick for the club from Thierno Barry, who then set up livewire substitute Brennan Johnson to notch his first goal for the club since his summer switch from Crystal Palace.
National Media Praise for Barry and Moyes
Paul Joyce at The Times wrote: "The odyssey has started all over again. More than 5,500 Everton supporters converged on Preston North End in the hope that they could say they were present at the start of a cup campaign that finally yielded silverware. By the end of the evening, the first hurdle had been cleared convincingly, with David Moyes swatting aside the club that gave him a leg-up in management back at the tail end of the 1990s. The Scot owes a large debt of gratitude to Preston though he was not in the mood for benevolence here."
Joyce added: "A hat-trick from Thierno Barry, who then provided an assist for substitute Brennan Johnson, ensured a stress-free return on a night when Everton could, and probably should, have scored more. The reward was a Carabao Cup third-round home game with Wolverhampton Wanderers and a chance to avenge last season’s defeat at the same stage to the same opponents."
Barry's Redemption and Johnson's Impact
Andy Hunter wrote for The Guardian: "Thierno Barry resembled a striker reborn, and the goalscorer David Moyes desperately needs, as the first hat-trick of his Everton career plus an assist for new signing Brennan Johnson delivered a resounding win for the Scot on his competitive return to Preston."
Hunter noted: "The France Under-21 international scored eight times in a difficult debut season in England but has half that amount two games into this fledgling campaign. Barry followed up his header against Crystal Palace with a poacher’s hat-trick to give Moyes a convincing victory back at the club where he made his name before leaving for Everton in 2002."
Rich Jolly, writing for The Independent, said: "It was a happy homecoming for a man who lived in Preston long after he managed them. Deepdale was being rebuilt during his time in charge, he recalled. He is a builder of a different kind at Everton and Thierno Barry’s first hat-trick in English football may have served as a reminder of Moyes’ enduring ability to make plenty from players with certain imperfections."
Jolly added: "Meanwhile, Brennan Johnson’s cameo may also cast Everton’s summer of frustration in the transfer market in a different light. Swapping the winger for Dwight McNeil meant he arrived without a transfer fee. He cost Crystal Palace £35m, never scored in 26 games for them and, in his second outing for Everton, had both a goal and an assist."
Moyes's Message and What's Next
Jolly also highlighted Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's role: "They did so courtesy of an outstanding performance from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who belongs to the long tradition of terrific Moyes signings and who was pivotal to each of Barry’s treble."
Moyes reflected on Barry's display: "I would still like more, you think of the one or two opportunities he had that he didn’t score, I am annoyed with those ones." On Johnson, he said: "I was really pleased. Everyone remembers Brennan at Tottenham. He got 15 or 16 goals one season. That was more like the Brennan Johnson people recognise and hopefully his confidence gets a big lift."
Joe Thomas of the Liverpool ECHO wrote: "The headlines will point to Thierno Barry grabbing the match ball, but the wider story is even more satisfying. The Everton forward, who ended the night being serenaded by a jubilant away end, showed signs of improvement through the summer and crowned his rise with an opening day strike in the win over Crystal Palace."
Thomas added: "The positive signs continued against Preston North End and went beyond his impressive hat-trick at Deepdale. His all-round display offered hope he is not just gaining in prowess, but that his understanding of the game and his role within it is also improving."
Everton's reward is a Carabao Cup third-round home game with Wolverhampton Wanderers, a chance to avenge last season's defeat at the same stage to the same opponents.
