Unfortunately the combination was not a potent one and for all their fancy footwork the pair were unable to fashion an opening as Everton failed to force a save of note from home keeper David James throughout the entire afternoon.

The England number one couldn’t get near the visitors’ opener on four minutes though as it was all so different as Everton got off to a perfect start with left-back Leighton Baines netting his first goal for the club.

Saha was fouled by Sylvain Distin in a central position just outside the area and Baines curled the resultant free-kick around the wall and into the net via James’s left-hand post.

In these early stages it looked like proceedings were to go with the formbook but unfortunately for Everton, referee Peter Walton who generally officiated the game well, attempting to let play flow, got one key call wrong that crucially allowed Paul Hart’s side back into the match.

With Portsmouth plugging away aimlessly, they caught a break when they were awarded a corner-kick for a supposed deflection by Baines on to a Glen Johnson cross.

Replays suggested that Everton’s goalscorer did not make contact but when the resultant delivery by former Moyes target Sean Davis was only half-cleared by Jo, Niko Kranjcar lofted the ball back into the box, Johnson headed across goal and up popped former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch to nod the hosts level on 22 minutes.

Everton’s lacklustre frontmen both had opportunities to restore the visitors’ lead before the interval but neither could hit the target.

Sol Campbell attempted to head clear a lofted right-wing cross by Jacobsen but couldn’t direct his interception and the ball fell to the feet of the on-loan Brazilian striker who volleyed wide of James’s left-hand post.

A Saha effort ended up going in a similar direction as he failed to make a proper connection with another cross by Jacobsen, attempting an acrobatic scissor-kick.

Things got worse after the break and Portsmouth’s Evertonian striker David Nugent who did his best to talk himself into a move to a dream move to Goodison Park a couple of summers back should have put the hosts ahead but saw his low shot blocked by the feet of Tim Howard when played through by Crouch.

The winner came 15 minutes from time, again from a corner-kick which could have been avoided but for different reasons.

Baines tackled Johnson by the left-hand touchline only for right-back Younes Kaboul to charge in and whip a speculative effort from the wing towards goal that Howard struggled to deal with and spilled around the post.

This time the goal came directly from a Davis delivery as Crouch got between Marouane Fellaini and Saha to head in beyond Jacobsen who was guarding the far post.

There was no late comeback on this occasion and the result could have been more emphatic as Davis rattled Howard’s left-hand post with a 25-yard drive.

But one of the factors that gauges how well you do in the Premier League is your ability to bounce back from a defeat and generally Everton have been able to do that.

Moyes can take heart from that, and of course the fact that Wembley opponents the once-mighty Manchester United are now in freefall.

Well, like Jacobsen we can all dream.