Andros Townsend’s long-range goal leads Everton to overtake Hull in extra time | FA Cup

Andros Townsend’s long-range goal proved to be the difference, as Everton needed extra time to finally fire an energetic effort from championship Hull City to advance to the FA Cup fourth round. Whether it was enough to ease the mounting pressure surrounding Rafa Benitez is another matter after another troubling performance by the Toffees, this time against lower-league rivals.

After falling behind for a minute here courtesy of a Tyler Smith header, Everton responded well and led the halftime after goals from Demarai Gray and André Gomes, the latter scoring his first goal in nearly three years. However, a litany of opportunities came and went for the visitors with none converting, and when Ryan Longman’s surprising spike carried the tie into extra time, the prospect of an upset was firmly on the line. However, as he and Gray have done so many times this season already, Townsend avoided Everton’s blush with a long-range punch in overtime to safely reserve his passage to the next round.

If there was tension on the part of the traveling support towards Benítez before kick-off, it escalated into a chaotic opening minute, when the Premier League team fell behind. After turning the ball almost immediately after kicking and then conceding a free kick, Everton’s weaknesses on set pieces came back to haunt them as George Honeyman’s pitch was greeted by an unmarked Smith, who headed for Asmir. Begovic.

The reaction from Everton’s support was more vociferous than that of the players, who almost fell within two goals when Tom Eaves’ header was flipped by Begovic. Eaves then launched another goal-scoring effort directly at Begovic – it was the Premier League team that seemed in danger of being left out of the tie before it began to establish itself as a competition. However, as the half wore out, Everton weathered the storm and became the game.

They finally tied at the midpoint of the half when Anthony Gordon and Gray combined to put the latter on goal. Gray calmly slid the ball past Nathan Baxter and all of a sudden the momentum was with Everton. All of his best work came through Gordon and Gray. After the latter’s tie, Gordon hit the base of Baxter’s post two minutes later after another good run into the Hull area. Michael Keane then forced a smart save from Baxter after a marauding run from inside his own half. As the break drew near, it seemed inevitable that Everton would take the lead.

They did so in the half hour when a precise cross from Jonjoe Kenny was converted by André Gomes, whose header was too strong for Baxter. Everton had started the game in a decidedly lackluster way, but when the break came they deserved their advantage. Momentum stayed with the visitors after the break and, as in the first half, it was Gordon and Gray who led matters.

The first real chance of the half came when Gray played Gordon, but he was only able to shoot straight at Baxter, who was quickly becoming the only thing keeping the hosts in the game. Visitors continued to assert their dominance heading into the last half hour. Vitaliy Mykolenko should have scored his debut with a goal after a well-crafted corner fell at the Ukrainian’s feet, but was only able to shoot over the goal from six meters.

By now, the tie should be over, but it wasn’t, and Everton’s wastefulness came back to haunt them with 20 minutes to go. As Benitez’s team worked on the edge of their area, a magnificent effort from substitute Longman edged out Begovic to make it 2-2 and put the game in the balance once again. Now it was Hull who seemed most likely to win the game in normal time. A marvelous run by Keane Lewis-Potter led to the forward unleashing a shot that passed Begovic but swerved wide.

After Longman’s draw, it was Hull who had the best chance in the final minutes of regulation time, with Keane Lewis-Potter hitting the post. Overtime, however, was a different matter and midway through the first half, Townsend delivered a long-range effort that had enough curve and drop to catch Baxter off guard and put Everton on the pass.