What Beto did to delay pitch exit sums up Everton change as behind-the-scenes message pays off
In first-half stoppage time, Beto leapt high on the halfway line and chested the ball down before feeding Abdoulaye Doucoure a few yards behind him. He spun around and surged forward, not stopping until he collected a ball from Idrissa Gueye that threatened to send him behind the Leicester City defence for a fourth time in a perfect 45 minutes.
This time, the forward was unable to produce an end product, and seconds later the offside flag went up anyway. But there was no frustration for a figure who has spent 18 months dreaming of the half that had just unfolded.
When the whistle blew he walked towards the tunnel to the sound of the home crowd singing his name and lingered slightly, delaying his exit by picking up a water bottle as his chant continued before being met with a hearty clasp by substitute Joao Virginia.
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For the past week, as the severity of the hamstring injury suffered by first choice striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin became clear, all of the talk surrounding Everton has been about whether they can find someone to lead the frontline for the coming months.
That question will continue to be asked until the transfer window closes on Monday night. But the dynamic has now changed in more ways than one. The most obvious is that this is no longer an ‘all or nothing’ equation for Everton. Goodison Park was a curious mix of confidence and anxiety before referee Darren Bond blew for kick-off. A defeat would threaten the good work overseen by David Moyes since his return to the dugout last month. The prize for a victory was three points that would alter the complexion at the bottom of the table. This emphatic win means, for the first time in four seasons, Everton enter February able to look up the table with hope rather than down it in fear.
There will be no complacency over the coming days. The message behind the scenes after the excellent win at Brighton & Hove Albion last week was that this still had the potential to be a tough season. It still does, and Moyes would dearly love a new forward to strengthen options that, for the next month at least, will not include the injured Armando Broja, Youssef Chermiti and Calvert-Lewin.
Beto has now thrust himself forward as a candidate for the job of leading Moyes’ attack though. A player who has shown glimpses of brilliance since joining from Udinese has all too often failed to build on those moments of inspiration. At the start of the season it was his aim to prove wrong the doubters whose social media criticism he often screengrabbed to use as fuel to drive him forward. At the start of this transfer window there was every chance he could be used as a makeweight to fund squad building efforts in a pivotal month.
At the start of February he has now emerged as a talisman on the pitch and in the stands. He was not the first to do so on Saturday afternoon. That role fell to Doucoure, who latched on to Jordan Pickford’s long ball and finished past Mads Hermansen to give Everton the lead after just 10.18 seconds - the goal recorded as the fourth fastest in Premier League history.
Five minutes later, the away end sang that they were witnessing “football in a library” as their side chased shadows across the pitch. The lull in the atmosphere was because the home fans were stunned by the start their side had made. The riposte was almost as swift as the opening goal as seconds after that chant rang from a corner of Goodison, Beto took centre stage.
The 27-year-old can finish, that much was clear with the glorious touch and strike that was a whisker from giving Everton the lead at Southampton earlier in the season before an offside flag ruled out the goal. Further evidence was in short supply until this match. Any doubt was ended in the sixth minute as he collected James Tarkowski’s ball, held off the Leicester centre backs and doubled the Blues’ lead.
Later in the half he was unfortunate not to earn a penalty after he hit the ground under pressure from Jannik Vestergaard having nipped inside the defender. The most satisfying element of that move was that the opportunity came from him charging down Hermansen and forcing him to pick out James Garner, also superb on his return to the starting line-up, to start that attack.
Garner did not have to wait long to crown his comeback, his delicious through ball sending Beto through for Everton’s third inside stopping time and sparking the chants that continued all the way through to Beto being celebrated by Virginia in the entrance to the tunnel.
The most obvious change since Moyes replaced Sean Dyche has been the intent shown by Everton. A fortnight ago, the first win of the second Moyes reign was secured in first half stoppage time when, rather than protect a two goal lead into the break, Everton pushed for a third and scored it. The goal was the difference when Spurs fought back late on. The same approach was repeated with the same impact against Leicester, Beto’s second sealing this win before Goodison could take stock of a win of enormous magnitude.
That third made the second half a formality. There would be no hint of a comeback such as the one Spurs threatened. Instead, the focus was on whether Beto could secure a hat-trick. He was unable to, and his failure to pick out Iliman Ndiaye for a tap-in felt like the most notable moment of a half played to the soundtrack of songs about Moyes, Beto and the Spirit of the Blues.
When it came, the deserved ovation for Beto did not prove to be the highlight of the second half - glorious as it was. That honour instead fell to Ndiaye as the Leicester defence parted to allow him to add a fourth in stoppage time. The goal crowned a perfect day for Everton, one that ended with Beto fist-pumping in front of the Gwladys Street and shaking the hands of stewards as he revelled in the final whistle celebrations.
The last time - the only time - Beto scored in the league this season was his stoppage time equaliser at Goodison against Fulham an eternity ago. That night, he left the pitch in tears. This time he left in pure elation after suggesting he could provide an answer to his manager’s search for a goalscorer. The challenge for him is to ensure this is not another personal false dawn. Whether this display redefines his Everton career remains to be seen. Yet whatever happens, his goals have redefined Everton’s season.