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.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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