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Penalty conversions in the first half by Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford helped Manchester United bounce back from a disastrous derby clash with arch-rivals Manchester City, securing a win over a struggling Everton by 2-0 on Saturday at Old Trafford.
Manchester was a little sloppy at times, but Everton was absolutely wasteful in front of the goal. The three points gained by Erik Ten Hag-managed side has put them three points short of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspurs at sixth spot. Sean Dyche's side had 23 shots as compared to Manchester's 15, the most by an away side at Old Trafford this season, but none of these shots could be converted into goals, showing a lack of cutting edge on the part of Everton. The Toffees also have not won a game in the last 11 outings, equalling their club record of 199. They stay at 16th spot with 25 points. The injury-hit hosts were extremely sloppy in the first half, often gifting possession to Everton in their half. But the Toffees could not make most of this possession as Dwight McNeil, Amadou Onana and Ben Godfrey failed to convert their chances into goals. Garnacho won his team the first penalty when he was fouled by centre-back James Tarkowski. Bruno fired a clean spot-kick out of Jordan Pickford's reach, getting his first Premier League goal since November (12th minute). Later, Garnacho was once again brought down inside the box, with Godfrey being the culprit who gifted Manchester another spot-kick. The kick was taken by Rashford and he sent Pickford the wrong way with some mind games, netting the second goal in the 36th minute. Though Pickford made a stunning save from a Fernandes free-kick, Manchester became more threatening as the game went on. After the break, the hosts had a lot of chances to score. Garnacho could not score after receiving a low cross from Bruno and Victor Lindelof's close-range effort was also repelled by Everton. Everton though continued to get the ball in Manchester's half, but Andre Onana saved a near-post effort by Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin could not drive home a cross by substitute Lewis Dobbin. Calvert tried scoring using a header, but Everton did not look threatening enough to score. This win comes after two successive losses to Fulham and City and boosts Manchester United's UEFA Champions League hopes. (ANI)
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