Carlo Ancelotti described the prospect of ending the longest trophy drought in Everton’s history as “a great motivation” rather than an obsession.
Everton’s last silverware came in 1995 but Ancelotti, who has won 16 major trophies himself in the subsequent period, believes that long wait does not confer added pressure on them.
Ancelotti’s side host Manchester United, the club Joe Royle’s team beat in the FA Cup final a quarter of a century ago, in the League Cup on Wednesday.
“There is not a lot of pressure on the fact this club did not win for a long time. It is not an obsession, it is only a great motivation,” the Italian said. “It is an important game, a quarter-final of an important competition that Everton never won in its history.”
As he noted, Everton are three games from glory. They have won their last three matches, with an impressive collection of scalps, in Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal.
“We prepare for this game in a good momentum,” Ancelotti added. “It is a really important competition, also because we are not so far to the end. In three games it is finished. It is two games to the final so it will be fantastic to us to play a final if it is possible.”
When Ancelotti was appointed a year ago, Everton were 15th in the Premier League. They are now fourth and a manager who has stressed the importance of qualifying for Europe now has two routes into continental competition.
If Ancelotti faces decisions about rotating, he added: “We give a lot of importance to this competition.”
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Everton v Arsenal player ratings
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EVERTON RATINGS: Jordan Pickford, 6 - Sent the wrong way by Nicolas Pepe’s well-taken first-half penalty and was fortunate when he spilled a cross at the feet of David Luiz before the Arsenal man hit the post. EPA -
Mason Holgate, 6 - Created space on the overlap for Iwobi to provide the assist for Holding’s own goal, while at the other end the stand-in right back kept Willian largely quiet. AFP -
Yerry Mina, 7 - A poor clearing header led to the visitors winning a penalty, but the Colombian redeemed himself with an excellent front post header to restore his side’s lead just before half time. EPA -
Michael Keane, 6 - Gave Bernd Leno something to think about with a long-distance strike that flew just wide in the first half, while keeping a lid on Eddie Nketiah in his own defensive third. EPA -
Ben Godfrey, 7 - Playing at left back, the former Norwich man always had the better of opposite number Pepe, while a bursting run in the second half almost presented Calvert-Lewin with a decent chance. EPA -
Gylfi Sigurdsson, 7 - A perfectly placed corner gave Mina the chance to thump a header home for 2-1 and some neat flicks and turns helped his side gain midfield territory during a second half that Arsenal dominated. AFP -
Abdoulaye Doucoure, 6 - Not a bad performance but didn’t see enough of the midfielder both on and off the ball for him to make much of an impression on the game. EPA -
Tom Davies, 6 - Neat and tidy in his distribution but had no complaints when he missed out on a loose ball and brought down Maitland-Niles for an Arsenal penalty. AP -
Alex Iwobi, 6 - The ex-Gunner swung in a teasing low cross that was met by Calvert-Lewin on the way to the game’s opening goal and he was clearly keen to impress against his former employers. Replaced for the final eight minutes by Seamus Coleman. AP -
Richarlison, 6 - One of those games where things didn’t quite come off for him but the Brazilian plugged away and was never far from the thick of the action. Replaced by Jonjoe Kenny in injury time. EPA -
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 7 - Got a touch to Alex Iwobi’s cross before the ball cannoned off Rob Holding and into the back of the net for the opener. The England international regularly displayed excellent centre forward play and nearly found the top corner with a curling effort in the final minute of the first half. Replaced by Cenk Tosun with three minutes left. Reuters -
SUBS: Seamus Coleman (Iwobi, 83’), N/R - Did his part in seeing the game out. PA -
Jonjoe Kenny (Richarlison, 90+2’), N/R – Slotted in at left-wing and made a nuisance of himself. EPA -
Cenk Tuson (Calvert-Lewin, 90+3’), N/R – Failed to get a touch but helped run down the clock. PA -
ARSENAL RATINGS: Bernd Leno, 6 - Completely wrong-footed by the penalty area pinball that resulted in the opener, before getting a claw on Mina’s powerful header as the ball flew home for 2-1. EPA -
Rob Holding, 6 - A pretty unfortunate ricochet off the Englishman saw the ball trickle past his goalkeeper for 1-0 and the centre back was kept busy by the combative Calvert-Lewin and busy Richarlison. EPA -
David Luiz, 6 - Unfortunate to see a half-volley hit the post in the second half but as his side’s most experienced defender the Brazilian should have done more to organise his defence ahead of the corner for Everton’s second. EPA -
Kieran Tierney, 7 - Always a great outlet on Arsenal’s left-hand side and he created a huge chance for Nketiah in the first half as he pulled the ball back while on the run. Booked for taking out Calvert-Lewin on the edge of the box. AFP -
Mohamed Elneny, 5 - Lost out on a couple of aerial duels in the middle of the park and had a tough evening against an Everton midfield that often had an extra man. Picked up a somewhat harsh yellow card in the first half for a fairly regulation foul. Replaced by Joe Willock in the 64th minute. Getty -
Dani Ceballos, 6 - Certainly the more progressive of Arsenal’s midfield double pivot and had some influence on play in the second half, but the Real Madrid loanee needs to offer his side more in the attacking half when the opponents have men behind the ball, as he is more than capable of a cute pass. EPA -
Bukayo Saka, 6 - The youngster does sometimes have a tendency to drift in and out of games, and Goodison Park was a good example as the 19-year-old remained on the periphery of the match in the first half before having more of an impact on proceedings in the second. Could have levelled at the death but Pickford saved well from his low, driven effort. Getty -
Nicolas Pepe, 6 - Elegantly stroked home a 35th minute penalty to bring his side level but failed to track the run of Mina ten minutes later as the Everton man headed home to make it 2-1. Replaced by Gabriel Martinelli for the final 20 minutes. EPA -
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 7 - Won his side a penalty when he beat Tom Davies to a loose ball before being clipped by the Toffees man. Meanwhile, the wing-back was defensively sound and was ultimately one of his side’s better players on the night. EPA -
Willian, 6 - The winger is having a tough run of form and he struggled to get into the game in the first half but showed some flashed of quality with probing balls in-behind as Arsenal began to turn the screw in the second half. AFP -
Eddie Nketiah, 5 - Should have done an awful lot better when he found oceans of space in the box before slicing wide before being beaten to a corner by Mina for Everton’s second. Hooked for Alexandre Lacazette after 75 minutes. PA -
SUBS: Joe Willock (Elneny, 64’), 6 - Climbed well to meet a Maitland-Niles cross late on but glanced his header just wide. Booked in stoppage time for a poor tackle on Godfrey. EPA -
Gabriel Martinelli (Pepe, 71’) 6 – Back after a long injury absence, the youngster can perhaps be forgiven for a rusty-looking strike that curled well wide in the final few minutes. EPA -
Alexandre Lacazette (Nketiah, 76’) N/R – Gave the Everton defence some sticky moments and his persistence in the box saw the ball fall for Martintelli, who fired wide. PA
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He will alternate between his goalkeepers for the next two games, guaranteeing that Jordan Pickford and Robin Olsen will each start either against Manchester or Sheffield United, but is yet to decide which.
Everton will be without the injured James Rodriguez, though Ancelotti hopes he will be available after Christmas. Lucas Digne is still sidelined but his manager is confident the French left-back has a long future at Goodison Park.
Digne has been linked with Manchester City but Ancelotti thinks Everton will soon extend his deal.
“We are pleased to renew the contract of Digne,” he said. “I think it will not be a problem. He is happy to be here and we are happy with him. He is an important player for us, for the present and the future. The club is going to talk to him.”
This is United’s second visit to Goodison this season after a 3-1 victory in November. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have a 100 per cent record on the road in England, winning all eight games and scoring 25 goals. “Manchester United is a fantastic team,” Ancelotti added. “They won a lot of games away and have players with top quality.”
One in particular troubled Everton with Bruno Fernandes scoring a swift brace on his last trip to Merseyside. Ancelotti hopes Everton will not make the same mistakes again.
“I learned that if you leave space to him we are bad so we have to avoid to leave space,” he said. “He is a fantastic player, the key point of United and we have to take care of this.”
Ancelotti has managed many of the world’s major clubs and could have been at Old Trafford. He was sounded out by Sir Alex Ferguson when the Scot was retiring in 2013.
“I keep a fantastic relationship with Sir Alex and we met when he decided to stop but I was close to [joining] Real Madrid,” Ancelotti said. “I appreciate that at the time he talked to me.”
