Everton 3-1 Oldham Athletic
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Fifth Round Proper replay
7.45pm, Tuesday 26 February 2013
Goodison Park, Everton FC
Live on ITV1
Winning clubs receive £180,000 from The FA's Prize Fund
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By Zarif Rasul
Oldham Athletic failed to repeat their Merseyside giant-killing heroics of the Fourth Round as they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park.
The League One side, who eliminated Liverpool from The FA Cup in January, were presented with a second chance to claim another scalp after holding Everton to a 2-2 draw during their first meeting earlier this month.
However, David Moyes’ men produced a mature display to see off their valiant opponents, with goals from Kevin Mirallas, Leighton Baines and Leon Osman enough to secure Everton’s place in the last eight where they will play Wigan Athletic at home.
And Oldham, who previously sprung an upset at Goodison Park with a 1-0 FA Cup win in 2008, more than matched their top tier opponents in the opening exchanges and restricted them to mere half-chances.
But Everton began to exert greater pressure as the half wore on, with the visitors’ defensive line retreating deeper and deeper in a bid to quell the threat of Nikica Jelavic.
The Toffees grew more creative in search of a breakthrough and were they rewarded in the 15th minute thanks to some clever play from Darron Gibson.
Despite having a wall of bodies in front of him, the former Manchester United man angled a super ball into the path of the advancing Mirallas, who diverted the ball beyond Dean Bouzanis from six yards out.
Far from being deflated by the home side’s breakthrough, Oldham launched an attack of their own and were desperately unlucky not to draw level when former Everton youngster Jose Baxter saw his curled effort bounce off the post, with goalkeeper Tim Howard beaten.
Gibson was then fortunate to escape conceding a penalty after he appeared to handle Phil Jagielka’s clearance, but referee Michael Oliver allowed play to go on.
And the challenge facing Oldham became even bigger in the 34th minute when Baines doubled Everton’s lead.
Connor Brown was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box and the England man converted the resulting spot-kick, despite Bouzanis diving the right way and getting a hand to the ball.
Oldham started the second half brightly, but any hopes of a comeback were quashed after the hour mark when Osman added a third, with a flicked header deceiving Bouzanis and nestling in the bottom corner.
But the visiting supporters had something to celebrate soon after.
Sub Matt Smith, who forced the replay with Oldham's equaliser at Boundary Park, again showcased his aerial prowess by crashing a firm header past Howard to reduce the deficit, although it proved to be little more than a consolation for the League One side.
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Mirallas (Naismith 84), Neville, Gibson, Pienaar (Hitzlsperger 89), Osman, Jelavic.
Subs not used: Mucha, Heitinga, Oviedo, Vellios, Duffy.
Oldham Athletic: Bouzanis, Brown (Wesolowski 76), Mvoto, Tarkowski, Grounds, Croft, Furman, Baxter, Obita (Simpson 55), Iwelumo (Smith 55), Barnard.
Subs not used: Cisak, Millar, Winchester, Mellor.
Referee: Michael Oliver
