Home Sports Everton 3-0 Doncaster: Dwight McNeil, Iliman Ndiaye and Beto score as Sean Dyche’s side get first win of the season

Everton 3-0 Doncaster: Dwight McNeil, Iliman Ndiaye and Beto score as Sean Dyche’s side get first win of the season

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Iliman Ndiaye was among the scorers who helped Everton advance in the Carabao Cup
  • Iliman Ndiaye was among the scorers who helped Everton advance in the Carabao Cup
  • Dwight McNeil and Beto also scored in a much-needed win for the Toffees
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Iliman Ndiaye’s first Everton goal gave Goodison Park a much-needed boost after their dire start to the season.

Sean Dyche’s players were verbally abused after a heavy defeat to Tottenham but were cheered off the pitch last night by a crowd of 37,000 who braved the torrential rain.

Against League Two side Doncaster, the home side were so excited to score their first goal of the season after 53 minutes that two different players got it.

Young midfielder Tim Iroegbunam fired into the bottom corner from 18 yards but looked up to see Dwight McNeil sheepishly raising his arm to take credit.

Replays suggested the ball had grazed the No.7 on its way in and the Goodison Stadium commentator changed his original verdict from Iroegbunam to the older player.

Iliman Ndiaye was among the scorers who helped Everton advance in the Carabao Cup

Ndiaye scored Everton's second goal as they secured their first win of the new season.

Ndiaye scored Everton’s second goal as they secured their first win of the new season.

There was no doubt about the identity of the second scorer after 74 minutes.

There is a lot of pressure on Senegal World Cup star Ndiaye to bring some magic to Merseyside following his summer move from Marseille.

MATCH DATA

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford 7: Coleman 6.5 (Young 67 6), Keane 6.5, O’Brien 7, Mykolenko 6; Garner 7, Iroegbunam 7 (Armstrong 85); Lindstrom 6.5 (Harrison 67 6), Ndiaye 7.5 (Dixon 79), McNeil 7; Beto 6

Unused subs: Virginia (Gr), Holgate, Calvert-Lewin, Doucouré

Doncaster (4-5-1): Lawlor 6: Nixon 6 (Sterry 56 6), Olowu 6.5, McGrath 6, Senior 7 (Sharp 75); Molyneux 6, Bailey 6, Kelly 6.5 (Broadbent 64 6), Westbrooke 6 (Sbarra 63 6), Gibson 6 (Hurst 45); Ironside 6.5Unused substitutes: Sharman-Lowe (Gk), Anderson, Yeboah, CloseWarned: Senior

Referee: James Bell 7

Attendance: 37.245

The way he opened his account against Everton with quick feet inside the penalty area before finishing off Ian Lawlor’s near post suggests he will become a fan favourite.

There was also generous applause from the Gwlayds Street End for Beto, who was rewarded for his hard work by adding a third goal late on.

“It’s a small step forward, but the league is the most important thing,” Dyche said afterwards.

“There has been a lot of noise about our start. This was satisfying. We have a good group here and we put Ndiaye on the wing because I think it’s a good position for him. We want the whole group to score.”

He also expressed his agreement with other Blues fans who demonstrated against the assault on Everton players by a small minority of fans at Euston station on Saturday.

“I don’t need to say anything more than what the Everton fans have already said, which is that they think it was unacceptable,” he said. “Some of them[those shouting abuse]crossed the line.”

Few clubs needed a morale-boosting EFL Cup win like Everton, whose opening Premier League games had ended in 3-0 and 4-0 defeats.

Dyche was encouraged by the fit-again James Garner and Seamus Coleman making their first appearances of the season and he also gave first starts to transfer window recruits Ndiaye, Jake O’Brien and Jesper Lindstrom.

Everton needed England No.1 Jordan Pickford to save Jack Senior’s shot to avoid an early setback.

However, they began to improve their play towards the break when Garner’s shot was deflected out for a corner and from the following set-piece it crashed against the crossbar.

The much-needed breakthrough came when McNeil and Lindstrom combined on the right to set up Iroegbunam’s shot.

Beto (right) celebrates with teammate Tim Iroegbunam after scoring for Everton

Beto (right) celebrates with teammate Tim Iroegbunam after scoring for Everton

Dwight McNeil scored Everton's first goal, although it was unclear who scored.

Dwight McNeil scored Everton’s first goal, although it was unclear who scored.

It was a much-needed first win of the season for Sean Dyche's Everton after a tough run of results

It was a much-needed first win of the season for Sean Dyche’s Everton after a tough run of results

Jarrad Branthwaite watched from the stands amid uncertainty over his future at Everton

Jarrad Branthwaite watched from the stands amid uncertainty over his future at Everton

Beto, who had scored against Doncaster in the same competition on his Everton debut last season, missed from close range so Ndiaye took matters into his own hands, staring down Lawlor before curling a fine finish home.

It was Everton’s moment to start showing their Premier League quality. McNeil was intercepted by Lawlor with his fingertips and then Beto pounced on Vitaliy Mykolenko’s pinpoint pass seven minutes from time.

Rovers manager Grant McCann saw Everton improving as the evening progressed. “They were certainly more aggressive in the second half,” he said.

Blues striker Neal Maupay has been left out of the squad and is likely to leave the club before Friday’s deadline.

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