I came off the bench for Everton and scored twice - but my manager warned me to never do it again

Everton fans’ favourite Daniel Amokachi reckons there were higher forces at work on the day he sneaked on to the pitch to fire the Blues to Wembley on this day in 1995.

En route to their 1-0 victory over Manchester United the following month – that remains Everton's last major trophy – they thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 in their semi-final at Elland Road but the game remained in the balance until the Nigerian substitute entered the fray. Argentina’s Diego Maradona described his infamous goal against England at the 1986 World Cup as being ‘The hand of God’ but recalling the highlight of his time at Everton, the striker lifted the lid in 2020 on the incident that his Blues boss Joe Royle described as: “The best substitution that I never made.”

Amokachi told the ECHO: “It was just history and the good lord wanted it to come to life. For a player that spent just two seasons at Everton, I became a cult hero just because of that game.

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“I’m a strong believer and I believe in the good lord. It was ordained for it to happen and it happened the way it did. Paul Rideout was tackled a couple of times in the game and second time around he got injured.

“The doctor went over and advised Joe to substitute Rideout. The gaffer was saying ‘give him five more minutes.’

“Five minutes later and Rideout was back on the turf again. You know what it’s like when a player drops, you don’t have to wait for the gaffer, you just start getting ready.”

Amokachi came on against Gerry Francis' side with 20 minutes remaining. Everton had looked comfortable, going 2-0 up through Matt Jackson (35) and