Thierno Barry scored the first hat-trick of his Everton career, and set up a fourth goal for Brennan Johnson, as David Moyes's side beat Preston North End 4-0 at Deepdale in the Carabao Cup second round.
Barry opened the scoring in the 24th minute, turning in a low ball squared by Vitalii Mykolenko after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had picked him out with a pass over the Preston defence. He doubled his tally in the 58th minute, converting the rebound after Lee Nicholls saved a Dewsbury-Hall drive, then completed his hat-trick in the 69th with a tap-in from Johnson's cross. Johnson, on as a 63rd-minute substitute for James Garner, scored the fourth two minutes later, running onto a pass from Barry to slide the ball under Nicholls.
It was Moyes's first competitive match back at Preston, the club where he began his managerial career before leaving for Everton in 2002, and he showed no sentiment in his team selection: only Jarrad Branthwaite and Tyrique George were missing from the side that won on the Premier League's opening weekend against Crystal Palace. Paul Heckingbottom made seven changes to the Preston team beaten by Wolves in the Championship at the weekend, and it showed. Preston's best chance of the first half fell to Leo Leroy, played through by Delano Burgzorg, who blazed over.
Before the tie, Moyes had been asked how important cup competitions were to a club that has gone 31 years without a trophy, and turned the question back on the interviewer. "I'll ask you the question," he said. "Is winning a cup more important than staying in the Premier League? What would your answer be?"