The scoreline, just for once, didn't really matter. Nothing was riding on the result, save for the updating of statistics and history books.
What really mattered, though, was this bewildering situation. The flagging spirits, the inertia and the plight of a proud club that appears to be drifting like a ship without a rudder, lurching further and further off course and into the teeth of a storm.
Everton sacked Ronald Koeman 32 days ago and their failure to appoint a permanent successor is really beginning to grip hold. Farhad Moshiri, the club's major shareholder, will be guilty of gross negligence if his mind has not been focused by this situation.