David Moyes would be proud.
There were a lot of jokes last season about Moyes trying to turn Sunderland into “Everton B”, and with good reason. The then-Sunderland manager signed several of his former players from his successful stint at Goodison Park. Steven Pienaar, Joleon Lescott, Bryan Oviedo and Darron Gibson joined him as the club failed to avoid relegation.
The spirit of Moyes lives on, as the match between his former clubs on Wednesday night proved.
Everton recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sunderland in the Carabao Cup, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (2) and Oumar Niasse getting the goals. The match won’t live long in the memory of those in attendance at Goodison Park. It did, however, produce a quirky statistic.
The starting XI for the away side featured players who have made more appearances for Everton than the Everton team on the night.
BBCAs highlighted by Steve Johnson on Twitter, players from the Sunderland starting XI have made 238 appearances for Everton. While those on the Everton team have made 233 appearances for the Toffees.
#EFC appearances by tonight's #EFC starting line-up: 233#EFC appearances by tonight's SAFC starting line-up: 238
— Steve Johnson (@stevejohnson95) September 20, 2017
Midfielder Jack Rodwell made 109 appearances for Everton, Darron Gibson played 69 times for the club and James Vaughan made 60 appearances for the Toffees. If Oviedo, with 72 Everton appearances, had come off the bench for Sunderland the overall figure would have been higher. Aiden McGeady, who played 43 times for Everton, is another Black Cats player, but was rested for the League Cup game.
Of the Everton XI, Muhamed Besic has made the most appearances for the Merseyside club with 53 games before Wednesday night.
Moyes’ goal of turning Sunderland into Everton B is complete.
