Man Utd 2-0 Everton – Manchester United sealed a comfortable two goals victory over Everton, courtesy to goals by Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial. Christian Eriksen made a remarkable return to Old Trafford since January.
First-half: Man Utd 1-0 Everton
The home side were in total dominance as they completely outplayed the visitors. Manchester United registered twenty-one shots in the first-half in what became their highest tally this season.
Antony Santos curled the ball from outside the box, only to hit the crossbar. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was in a promising position to take a rebound but missed an open net on the follow-up.
Séamus Coleman and Ellis Simms interchanged passes on the right before the latter failed to hand Everton the lead with a tame short well off target.
United had an unconvincing conversion rate by missing too many chances. The Red Devils broke the deadlock when McTominay strucked home following an assist by Jadon Sancho.
First-half ended on 1-0 to Manchester United, thanks to McTominay’s effort from close range.
Second-half: Man Utd 2-0 Everton
Marcel Sabitzer played a curling cross inside the box which found Bruno Fernandes, but his effort was saved by Jordan Pickford. The English goalkeeper had a busy afternoon.
Lisandro Martinez played a long ball which found Coleman. The right-back gave the ball to Rashford cheaply, and the latter found Martial who doubled the lead.
The Frenchman made a remarkable return from injury with a goal to ensure a victory beyond reasonable doubt.
Manchester United finished the match on 2-0 following a total dominance over Sean Dyche’s army.
Christian Eriksen return
Eriksen was given a warm standing ovation by the home crowd when he was substituted during the course of second-half.
The Danish international last made his appearance back in Janury 24. He could pair with Carlo Casemiro in the next fixture against Seville in the UEFA Europa League encounter.
Casemiro, on the other hand, is expected to comeback from a four match ban following his red card against Southampton.
Marcus Rashford injury
Rashford limped off in front of the Stretford End in what appeared to be a groin injury. This was no doubt the biggest disappointment for Manchester United.
Manchester Evening News quoted the remarks of Ten Hag when the Dutchman spoke on the injury of Rashford. He largely uttered fixture congestion for injury:
“I can’t say in this moment, you are doctor, maybe?” Ten Hag said. “I am not. We have to wait, how bad or how good it is. Obviously he went off with a complaint, now we have to wait, set a diagnosis and we will see.”
“Some things you can’t avoid but it was avoidable. Why is the Premier League giving us the late Sunday night game (against Newcastle) and giving us the early Saturday game? I think it’s not right.”
Ten Hag added: “You run the risk, the players can’t recover that quickly, we know all research that players need a certain period to recover and it accumulates.
“So then you run even more of a risk. It’s also part of the schedule that we now find ourselves in this situation and now we can only pray he is not dropping off.”
“Not any manager at this stage of the season will rotate so much. I know it’s the toughest league of all the leagues we are in you need a squad to rotate to a certain point.”
“But this was avoidable, it was not necessary to set the schedule like we have now. I think another fact is more important than the sporting element like protecting the players. Today we have seen a very entertaining afternoon but players can’t do it so often when they’re not fresh
