Everton vs Norwich City. Carabao Cup Fourth Round.
Goodison ParkAttendance31,694.
Everton win 4-3 on penalties.
Thursday 29 October 2015 15:12, UK
Everton booked their place in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Norwich City at Goodison Park.
The two sides could not be separated after 120 minutes in a 1-1 draw, but the Toffees converted all four of their penalties while Joel Robles saved from Wes Hoolahan and Nathan Redmond shot over when needing to score as Everton progressed 4-3.
Sebastien Bassong's first goal since December 2012 had given the visitors a deserved lead after a dominant first-half display but Everton captain Leon Osman's 68th-minute strike hauled a lacklustre Everton side back into contention.
Robles then made a fantastic save from Lewis Grabban in the final minute of normal time before helping the hosts gain the upper hand in the shoot-out by denying Hoolahan.
A combined 15 changes were made to the starting line-ups and it contributed towards an error-strewn first period, yet despite being in the ascendancy the visitors failed to carve out a clear sight of goal.
Everton finally woke up midway through the half and went on create the clearest openings on goal. Again it was a mishap which opened the door, this time Bassong firing straight at Tyias Browning, who rolled a pass into Romelu Lukaku only for the Belgian to dither and drill into stopper Declan Rudd's legs.
The passing style Martinez endorses finally reared its head with an attack started by Gibson's terrific long ball to Bryan Oviedo. He shifted the ball inside to Kevin Mirallas and he fed James McCarthy, whose first-time pass towards Lukaku was almost toed beyond Rudd.
Six minutes after the restart, Norwich went ahead through an unlikely source. Redmond sent a deep corner towards the back post and after neither Ramiro Funes Mori nor Osman could clear, Gary O'Neil put the ball into the six-yard box where Bassong was on hand to hook a first-time finish in.
The hosts were then lucky Vadis Odjidja lost his footing when lining up a shot as Martinez called on reinforcements for his ponderous midfield in the form of Ross Barkley and Gerard Deulofeu.
And the duo's presence helped provide a spark as Everton levelled. After Lukaku's prod had been turned off the line by Martin Olsson, Mirallas' left-wing cross was finished by a sweeping Osman shot that hit the far post and trickled in.
Bassong got back to prevent Mirallas applying the finishing touch to Oviedo's centre as Everton finally took charge for a prolonged spell that was only interrupted by Robles' save from Grabban after Gibson once again lost the ball in his own area.
Lukaku came close with a free header from close-range, while Olsson's long-range try tested Robles and Rudd's fingertips diverted Mirallas' free-kick over as both teams sought a winner in normal time.
Grabban thought he had that in the final minute only to see Robles' right hand claw away his header and force an extra 30 minutes.
With penalties looming, Lukaku's shot almost snatched victory but it fell on the other side of the post after hitting Bassong, while Barkley blazed the final touch of the 120 minutes over after Rudd pushed Oviedo's shot into his path.
In the shoot-out Deulofeu, Barkley, Lukaku and Gibson all scored while Hoolahan was left ruing a slip which assisted Robles in saving from him before Redmond got his placement all wrong in firing over.
