Everton gave their late chairman Bill Kenwright the send-off he would have wanted as ex-Burnley duo James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil played a major part in the Carabao Cup victory over their former club.
On a night when the fanbase, which has often been divided over the role of Kenwright spanning almost two decades, rose as one to mark his death last week at the age of 78, the team ensured the occasion was marked in fitting fashion.
Tarkowski's header opened the scoring in the 13th minute and the centre-back’s aerial prowess came to the fore early in the second half when he nodded McNeil’s header back into the danger area for Amadou Onana to poke home from close range.
Ashley Young’s first Everton goal in added time came courtesy of substitute Beto’s driving run along the byline, handing Toffees manager Sean Dyche victory against his former side.
The scoreline flattered Burnley, struggling after promotion straight back to the Premier League, whose side registering seven changes struggled to lay a glove on their hosts.
They were no match for Everton, watched by owner Farhad Moshiri for the first time in over two years, and they are growing in confidence after a fifth victory in seven matches – their best run in a non-Covid-19 season since May 2019.
Benoit Badiashile scored the opening goal as he made his first appearance of the season in Chelsea's victory over Blackburn at Stamford Bridge.
The France defender had not started a Blues match since he was injured in their draw with Nottingham Forest in May and got himself involved at both ends of the pitch in a game that also saw Reece James return to the starting XI.
Leopold Wahlstedt was able to palm away Conor Gallagher's dangerous cross, but the rebound somehow sailed between a sea of bodies. It eventually landed at the feet of the fortunate Badiashile, who dutifully finished to open the scoring after 30 minutes of a half that also saw penalty shouts from both sides brushed aside by referee Tim Robinson.
Raheem Sterling fired home after the break, and while the visitors had defended well, they never looked close to coming back into the contest.
Chelsea have now reached their 24th quarter-final in 33 attempts, and are one step closer to lifting a first League Cup since 2015, when Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino was in charge of runners-up Tottenham.
Fulham eased through to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004 with a win at Ipswich.
Marco Silva's team were up against a Town outfit that had only lost once since their promotion to the Sky Bet Championship in April, but the Premier League side showed their class in Suffolk.
Harry Wilson provided the breakthrough for Fulham in the ninth minute with a cool finish and Muniz grabbed his first goal for the club in 19 months early into the second period to put the London outfit in control.
Tom Cairney confirmed Fulham’s win with a third in the 77th minute and, while Elkan Baggott reduced the deficit late on, Kieran McKenna’s Championship promotion hopefuls suffered a rare defeat in front of a packed Portman Road crowd.
