How the national media reacted to Everton's 4-0 victory over Preston North End at Deepdale in the Carabao Cup
PRESTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 26: David Moyes, Manager of Everton, acknowledges the fans before the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Preston North End and Everton at Deepdale on August 26, 2026 in Preston, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
David Moyes acknowledges the fans before the Carabao Cup match between Preston North End and Everton at Deepdale(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
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Everton cruised into the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night with a 4-0 win at Preston North End. David Moyes was making his first competitive return to his former club, but he showed no mercy on the Championship outfit as he named a strong side.
And Moyes was rewarded with a fine display from his Premier League team, who ran out comfortable winners thanks to a first hat-trick for the club from Thierno Barry, who then set up livewire substitute Brennan Johnson to notch his first goal for the club since his summer switch from Crystal Palace.
So what did the national media make of the Blues at Deepdale? We'll start with Paul Joyce at The Times.
He wrote: "The odyssey has started all over again. More than 5,500 Everton supporters converged on Preston North End in the hope that they could say they were present at the start of a cup campaign that finally yielded silverware. By the end of the evening, the first hurdle had been cleared convincingly, with David Moyes swatting aside the club that gave him a leg-up in management back at the tail end of the 1990s. The Scot owes a large debt of gratitude to Preston though he was not in the mood for benevolence here.
"A hat-trick from Thierno Barry, who then provided an assist for substitute Brennan Johnson, ensured a stress-free return on a night when Everton could, and probably should, have scored more. The reward was a Carabao Cup third-round home game with Wolverhampton Wanderers and a chance to avenge last season’s defeat at the same stage to the same opponents.
"Deepdale holds all manner of memories for Moyes, not least Friday afternoon chats with the legendary Sir Tom Finney during his four years in charge, and he was warmly received during a lap of honour after the final whistle.
"Yet football constantly demands the pursuit of new highs. He is acutely aware of the craving to end Everton’s long trophy drought, a barren run stretching back to 1995, even if a surly reaction to being asked how significant the cup competitions were ahead of the tie resulted in disquiet among a portion of supporters online.
"They had not expected Moyes to reply by saying it was not as important as staying in the Premier League. Still, rather than deciphering press conferences, it is sometimes better to wait and both the strength of the visitors’ line-up and the urgency with which they started spoke only of a team intent on winning."
Andy Hunter was also present in Preston and he wrote for The Guardian: "Thierno Barry resembled a striker reborn, and the goalscorer David Moyes desperately needs, as the first hat-trick of his Evertoncareer plus an assist for new signing Brennan Johnson delivered a resounding win for the Scot on his competitive return to Preston.
"The France Under-21 international scored eight times in a difficult debut season in England but has half that amount two games into this fledgling campaign. Barry followed up his header against Crystal Palace with a poacher’s hat-trick to give Moyes a convincing victory back at the club where he made his name before leaving for Everton in 2002.
"Before the tie Moyes attracted accusations of a lack of ambition – the kind that has contributed to the longest trophy drought in Everton’s history at 31 years – with a spiky response to being asked how important cup competitions are this season. "I’ll ask you the question," he had replied. "Is winning a cup more important than staying in the Premier League? What would your answer be?" But a club of Everton’s stature should not have to choose between league survival and cup success.
"Perhaps Moyes’s question was directed towards Everton’s owners, The Friedkin Group, who have so far shown little ambition themselves in this summer’s transfer market. The Scot maintains Everton are short on numbers and quality ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
"The Everton manager could not be accused of treating the Carabao Cup lightly on the evidence of his team selection at Deepdale, where only Jarrad Branthwaite and Tyrique George were missing from the side that started on the opening day."
Rich Jolly was on duty for The Independent and he wrote: "It was a happy homecoming for a man who lived in Preston long after he managed them. Deepdale was being rebuilt during his time in charge, he recalled. He is a builder of a different kind at Everton and Thierno Barry’s first hat-trick in English football may have served as a reminder of Moyes’ enduring ability to make plenty from players with certain imperfections. As Liam Delap, a forward Everton targeted last summer, instead left Chelsea for Nottingham Forest this week, Moyes is getting a return from a striker he signed in 2025.
"Meanwhile, Brennan Johnson’s cameo may also cast Everton’s summer of frustration in the transfer market in a different light. Swapping the winger for Dwight McNeil meant he arrived without a transfer fee. He cost Crystal Palace £35m, never scored in 26 games for them and, in his second outing for Everton, had both a goal and an assist. The obvious caveat is that Preston are Championship stragglers, but Everton dispatched them from the Carabao Cup. They get a third-round meeting with Wolves, who eliminated them at that stage last year.
"They did so courtesy of an outstanding performance from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who belongs to the long tradition of terrific Moyes signings and who was pivotal to each of Barry’s treble. He was serenaded by the extensive Everton following. He may never be a particularly stylish player, but there are days when he can be a very effective one.
"His first and third were high-class goals, with Dewsbury-Hall curling a pass over the Preston defence for the overlapping Vitalii Mykolenko to centre for Barry’s first-time finish for the opener and the third a devastating counter-attack masterminded by Dewsbury-Hall and featuring a low cross from Johnson. To call his second a low-class goal may be harsh, but Barry seemed to know little about the finish. The excellence again came from Dewsbury-Hall, whose ferocious shot was parried by Lee Nicholls and bounced in off Barry. "I would still like more, you think of the one or two opportunities he had that he didn’t score, I am annoyed with those ones,” reflected Moyes.
"But Barry was getting in the right positions and also provided a fine, defence-splitting pass for Johnson to advance and slot in his first goal since Wales beat North Macedonia in November. "I was really pleased," said Moyes. "Everyone remembers Brennan at Tottenham. He got 15 or 16 goals one season. That was more like the Brennan Johnson people recognise and hopefully his confidence gets a big lift."
"Johnson had scored Tottenham’s Europa League final winner. Everton’s own bid for silverware is confined to these shores but it dates back to 1995. Moyes’ suggestion staying in the Premier League was of rather greater importance than winning a trophy had riled some Evertonians. Yet he only made three changes, to Preston’s seven; actions may have spoken louder than words as Everton cruised to victory."
And, finally, Joe Thomas for ourselves at the Liverpool ECHO wrote: "The headlines will point to Thierno Barry grabbing the match ball, but the wider story is even more satisfying. The Everton forward, who ended the night being serenaded by a jubilant away end, showed signs of improvement through the summer and crowned his rise with an opening day strike in the win over Crystal Palace.
"It was met with smiles from the France youth international and an ovation from the Blues supporters as a player who struggled on and off the pitch last season found immediate redemption at the start of his second campaign on Merseyside.
"The positive signs continued against Preston North End and went beyond his impressive hat-trick at Deepdale. His all-round display offered hope he is not just gaining in prowess, but that his understanding of the game and his role within it is also improving.
"That is crucial for an Everton side that places a heavy burden on their frontman. There were times against Palace, like last season, when he drifted out of the game and, when the ball found him, he struggled to make it count."