Manchester United took on Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday, here’s five things we learned from the game.
On a day when a win for Manchester United, Erik ten Hag‘s side lived up to that expectation.
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring from the spot early on after Alejandro Garnacho bamboozled James Tarkowski with his quick feet.
The lead was doubled by Marcus Rashford who also converted from the spot after Garnacho dribbled dangerously at the Evertonian defence.
Ultimately, United were poor but managed to grab the three points needed to retain some sort of hope of Champions League qualification with a 2-0 win.
- READ MORE: Who is Marcus Rashford? Inside the life of Man Utd’s book-writing, government-tackling ace
Alejandro Garnacho bamboozles the Everton defence
Back on the right, Garnacho was an absolute menace whom Everton simply couldn’t deal with. The Argentine was back at his direct best running at the opposition defence and leaving the Toffees bamboozled.
In this sort of form, he is impossible to deal with as Everton found out with Garnacho winning not one but two penalties which his attacking partners gladly converted, this being a record.
An excellent display from the 19-year-old as without his direct running, the game could’ve been a lot more nervewracking.
Ultimately, Ten Hag owes Garnacho a massive thankyou as without his display, this game probably ends 0-0.
Finally a penalty is awarded to United
As the saying goes, you can wait for a bus and they’ll all come at once, this was true for United on Saturday as after frustrating decisions this season denied the club penalties, finally, we got some.
Two penalties were both taken expertly as Jordan Pickford could do little to deny either Rashford or Fernandes.
Ultimately though, United could and probably should have had more than just the two penalties with a few suspect handbells from Everton.
Andre Onana shows his class once more
After a concerning start to life at Old Trafford, recent Premier League form has shown exactly why United signed him.
A clean sheet which brings him up to second in the golden glove rankings this season.
He also was the only composed player on the backline as struggles to build out from the back continued.
A solid performance which will only do his confidence good ahead of next weekend’s visit of Liverpool.
United need to replace Casemiro and Varane to progress
Despite winning, United still played in a counter-attacking style which against a team like Everton is fairly embarrassing.
To succeed in possession to a team battling relegation is something United really cannot be doing.
However, it is clear to see why this is the case, as both Casemiro and Raphael Varane showed how badly they struggled in building out from the back as they frequently lost possession.
This summer, both must be replaced by players capable of linking a few passes together.
Back in the win column but the performance still lacks
As was the case for much of the wins previously this season, United have picked up three points without really managing to get out of first gear.
This isn’t through choice either as United simply don’t seem capable of performing any better than they have been.
This is a concern ahead of the visit of Liverpool next weekend in the FA Cup, as a performance like this probably ends in elimination from the competition in embarrassing fashion.
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