Everton FC: Was the Loss to Wigan the Worst in the David Moyes Era?

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for Everton.

Playing at home in the FA Cup quarterfinals against a poor Wigan side was supposed to be an automatic win for the Toffees—especially since Wigan has the issue of relegation hanging over their heads, which takes priority for them over the FA Cup. It was expected to be a rout for the home side.

The game turned out to be one-sided, but not in the way that everyone expected.

In one four-minute span in the first half, Wigan scored three goals. It was an absolute nightmare for Everton. It left them reeling, and they never threatened to get back into the match. They simply never showed up. That includes their biggest star Marouane Fellaini, who was very quiet.

David Moyes has had a ton of success in his reign at Everton. However, his teams have still not been able to lift a trophy. Manchester City and whoever wins the Manchester United-Chelsea game on Sunday would have been favorites over Everton to win it all.

However, if you get to the semifinals of any competition, you have a real shot at winning it. Everton would have had a real shot.  

Last year’s FA Cup semifinal loss to their Merseyside rivals was excruciating for Toffee fans—especially since they had the lead and couldn’t hold it. Losing to Villarreal in the Champions League was also really tough to take, since it came in controversial fashion. However, I think that this loss trumps them all, when you consider that they were such heavy favorites to win and missed a big chance.

Everton still can get into Europe next season. Their current position is sixth, which may be good enough to get in. Also, they are just two points out of fifth, which would get them in automatically.

This loss, though, was a hammer blow to their season, and it will take some time to get over it.