Sean Dyche insists Everton cannot rush their recovery after the Toffees’ impressive Carabao Cup win at Aston Villa.
James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired the visitors into the fourth round – and a home tie with Burnley – following their 2-1 victory.
Boubacar Kamara pulled a late goal back to spark a Villa rally but any comeback would have been undeserved for the awful hosts.
Everton lost 4-0 at Villa Park in the Premier League just five weeks ago but have secured back-to-back wins for the first time in a year as their season splutters into life.
Investment firm 777 Partners is also waiting for approval on its takeover and Dyche knows the process to revive the club takes time.
“The story of Everton has been a two-to-three season story, the cloud hanging over it a little bit. The only people who can change that story is us,” he said, after four defeats from their opening five league games.
“The team starts the process, bonding the club together, bonding the fans. You want that bond.
“We want a strong connection with the fans, the rest I can’t control, but a strong connection is something we can get with the way the players go about their business.
“We are trying to work with things on and off the pitch, there’s so much alignment which needs to be done from top to bottom. You can’t just fast track everything. The last couple of seasons have not been where Everton want to be.
“Now it’s step-by-step, building a team which is more competitive and gets more wins. The rest of it takes care of itself.”
Everton’s press unnerved Villa and earned them the opener after 15 minutes when they forced a mistake.
Robin Olsen’s poor clearance under pressure landed for Amadou Onana on the edge of the area, with Calvert-Lewin and Arnaut Danjuma returning the ball.
Onana slipped a clever pass through to Garner to smash in his first Toffees goal from 10 yards.
Olsen stopped a comical John McGinn own goal and thwarted Calvert-Lewin but was powerless to stop the striker adding a second five minutes after the break.
Youri Tielemans’ poor pass left Ezri Konsa short and Calvert-Lewin darted in to run through and beat Olsen.
It was all the visitors deserved yet they needed Jordan Pickford to stop Moussa Diaby pulling a goal back immediately.
Calvert-Lewin tested Olsen but Kamara gave Villa faint hope when his strike from the edge of the box deflected in off Michael Keane.
Diaby and Douglas Luiz went close to forcing penalties but poor Villa slumped to their first home defeat since February.
“It’s not (about being) tired,” said boss Unai Emery, who made five changes from Sunday’s 1-0 win at Chelsea which lifted Villa to sixth in the Premier League.
“I don’t want to use all our effort with the players each match. We are trying to keep a balance with some different players but trying to be competitive.
“We’re disappointed with the start and mistakes we made but we are trying to go forward and building the team.
“We made the second mistake quickly (in the second half) and it was difficult to come back.
“We have to move on quickly, try to recover the players for Saturday (against Brighton) because we need the best performance.”
West Ham 2-2 Liverpool: Antonio header damages Reds' dwindling title chances
Liverpool suffered another blow to their dwindling Premier League title hopes as Michail Antonio's late header snatched a 2-2 draw for West Ham at London Stadium.
Jurgen Klopp's side disappointed in Wednesday's 2-0 defeat against Everton, with Jarrod Bowen's goal and assist inflicting further pain for the Reds on Saturday.
Liverpool responded well to Bowen's first-half opener, edging ahead through Alphonse Areola's own goal after Andy Robertson's 48th-minute leveller, only for Bowen to tee up Antonio's headed equaliser 13 minutes from time.
This draw left Liverpool two points behind leaders Arsenal ahead of the Gunners’ Sunday meeting with Tottenham and one behind Manchester City – who have two games in hand on the Reds – while West Ham remain eighth.
A tepid opening befitted two sides struggling for form as both failed to carve out any gilt-edged opportunities.
Liverpool wanted a 27th-minute penalty for Angelo Ogbonna's tackle on Cody Gakpo and, though an offside call against Luis Diaz silenced those appeals, that passage livened the game up.
Harvey Elliott's curling attempt was held by Areola after Vladimir Coufal went close at the other end, before Diaz blasted a low strike against the West Ham goalkeeper's right-hand post.
Bowen saw a deflected drive parried behind by Alisson but the West Ham forward headed Mohammed Kudus' left-wing delivery into the far corner from the resulting set-piece two minutes before the break.
Ryan Gravenberch flashed a powerful half-volley over immediately after the interval – and West Ham did not heed that warning sign.
Diaz cut inside from the left to find Robertson before a slight deflection off Lucas Paqueta saw Areola caught off-guard as the left-back found the bottom-left corner via the post.
Gravenberch arrowed narrowly wide before one-way traffic finally paid dividends midway through the second half when Gakpo's miscued strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner forced Areola to turn into his own net after a deflection off Tomas Soucek.
Alisson kept his side ahead with a remarkable stretching stop to thwart Emerson's volley, yet the Liverpool goalkeeper was powerless when Antonio headed into the top-right corner from Bowen's right-wing centre.
Elliott almost snatched all three points in the 89th minute but his dipping effort found the top of the crossbar rather than the right-hand corner from long range.
Reds falter once again
Under Klopp, Liverpool have only won more Premier League games against Crystal Palace (13) than West Ham (12).
Yet the visiting Reds faltered once more as what appeared to be a promising season continues to unravel in disappointing fashion for Klopp's final campaign.
Having threatened an unlikely quadruple at the start of March, Liverpool now require a minor miracle – and slip-ups from Man City and Arsenal – to muster a slight shot at the title.
Bowen on target but West Ham struggle at home
Bowen had already found the net in the Premier League and EFL Cup against Liverpool this season and became just the second West Ham player to score in three different games with the Reds in a single campaign – after Geoff Hurst in 1964-65.
His well-taken headed opener eased the nervous home crowd, yet this draw left West Ham with just one win from their last nine Premier League home games.
That concerning home form may be what costs David Moyes’ side a higher finish. The Hammers trail seventh-placed Newcastle United by a point, despite the Magpies playing two games fewer.
Postecoglou not motivated by denting Arsenal's title hopes in north London derby
Ange Postecoglou insists Tottenham must focus on themselves heading into the north London derby with Arsenal, rather than on denting their rivals' Premier League title hopes.
With four matches remaining, the Gunners are a point clear at the summit from reigning champions Manchester City, who still have a game in hand on Mikel Arteta's side in second place.
While Arsenal look to stay very much in the hunt for a first league crown in 20 years, fifth-place Tottenham will aim to reduce their six-point deficit to fourth-place Aston Villa, on whom they have two games in hand.
Spurs are winless in the last three north London derbies - winning just one of the most recent six - though they twice came from behind to earn a point in September's reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium.
And Postecoglou has his sights firmly set on beating his side's rivals, and says his players are not driven by the prospect of thwarting their opponents' title bid.
"Not in terms of that as a motivation," he said when asked if he would like to dent Arsenal's title hopes.
"I understand the importance of winning against your traditional rival. I never believe your motivation should revolve around the demise of somebody else.
"Your motivation should be about yourself. We can win on Sunday, but it doesn't mean we are title contenders this year. I want to win because I want us to progress. I want us to be in a position fighting for the title.
"If that's your kind of measure, always peering over the back fence to see what your neighbour's building, you could both have the worst houses in the street because everyone else is building beautiful places, and you're looking over the back fence."
Nashville SC v San Jose Earthquakes: ‘A win would change everything’ - Godoy
Anibal Godoy insists that Nashville are already looking at their game against San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday as a must-win.
Nashville have won just once in the MLS this season and sit in 14th place in the Eastern Conference after a run of four without a win.
The Earthquakes, meanwhile, are bottom of the Western Conference having lost eight of their matches and recording just one win.
Godoy is aware of how their poor start to the season could affect their playoff hopes later down the line but is confident that Nashville can turn things around.
He said: “For us, it's an important week. It's a day we have to win, or we'll start to feel the pressure from other teams as they start to separate in the table.
“This league is long but if we want to get to the playoff you have to win games early on, especially at home.”
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