But that wasn’t enough to stop fans protesting for Roberto Martinez to leave the club following the 2-1 win over Bournemouth.
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Roberto Martinez has called on Everton to replicate their performance from the second half of the FA Cup semi-final loss ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with AFC Bournemouth.
A plane later flew over the stadium bearing a banner that read “Time to go Roberto” while some supporters stayed behind for over an hour after the game, which was attended by majority Everton shareholder Farhad Moshiri, to reaffirm their views on the former Wigan manager.
Gareth Barry is still unavailable for Everton along with defenders Ramiro Funes Mori and Seamus Coleman, while Phil Jagielka is also back on the sidelines.
“We wanted to go to Wembley, to get into the final, we couldn’t achieve that and we had eight defeats at home. It’s a scrutiny of the squad we have put together and scrutiny of how we play against the top teams”.
The Toffees’ 2-1 triumph over the Cherries was their first win in nine matches in all competitions and eased fears of the winless run continuing until the end of the season.
It looks set to be a sombre atmosphere at Goodison Park on Saturday as Everton begin to play out their season of dismal underachievement by taking on a Bournemouth side that has lost four of the last five games.
“We created some great chances and didn’t take them”.
“It has had an impact but even so we’ve been disappointed with the last three games and we need to get back on track”.
And Everton plan to honour the 37-year-old for his service by restoring him to the starting XI for two games remaining at Goodison Park.
Under-fire Martinez admitted: “I can understand the fans, we have been through a very painful week”.
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With safety all but secured having passed the 40-point mark, Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman is keen for the south-coast club to finish a successful campaign strongly, starting with three points that would take them above Everton. Everton had an early 2-0 lead vs Bournemouth in that game after early goals by Funes Mori and Lukaku, but couldn’t hold on as Bournemouth came fighting back into the game after an unbelievable strike from Adam King to give Bournemouth a goal.
