Everton – Manchester United 0-3 (Garnacho 3′, Rashford 56′, Martial 75′)
GOODISON PARK – Typical Everton. Fans raise over £40,000 and draw 40,000 people to a well-planned protest where they will be able to tell the Premier League for the first time what they think of their 10-point deduction – all to lift spirits – and they get goal The victory of the season came in the 133rd second of the game.
Alejandro Garnacho had no right to shoot on goal from the penalty area, and this goal allowed Manchester United to win their fourth away win in a row. Certainly not on this day of all days. One of the greatest goals in history, a goal that the Premier League can use as another tool to bolster its image as ‘The Best League in the World’.
What followed was (and it’s a low bar when it comes to this version of United) by far the club’s best performance this season and perhaps the most consistent in 90 minutes on the road under Erik ten Hag.
The fact that Everton could and should have at least equalized at half-time suggests that such a claim borders on blasphemy, but no turnaround or anything like that was achieved. It was much, much better for United.
“I don’t know if it was for the best [performance]says Ten Hag.
“We started very well, as planned, we scored a good goal, but we were too passive until the end of the first half.
“But in the second half we were active. The players behaved very calmly in difficult circumstances. Well done everyone.”
There were fears that traveling along the M62 would make United’s midweek trip to “hell” ahead of the Galatasaray match look like a village festival, as Evertonians plan to keep the flames from going out in that blazing blue inferno.
A few hours before the start of the match, people gathered. They erected their huge banners and covered the entire facades of several buildings on County Road in front of the stadium.
But these weren’t old sheets of paper with messages scribbled on them with a child’s excess paint; They were professionally designed and contained well-crafted prose that was more reminiscent of the opening words to the papal audience in St. Peter’s Square: “Where there is power, greed and money, there is corruption.”
While the fans were still holding their pink “corrupt” cards at the start of the game, Diogo Dalot sent over the board an encouraging ball, and an erratic one at that, forcing Garnacho to make serious concessions.
As the teenager struck an overhead kick, the first groans were heard from United’s staff in the press box, dismayed that the Argentine would even attempt such a daring attempt, which was sure to succeed.
It’s reminiscent of Wayne Rooney’s performance against Manchester City in 2011, but this time without shin guards, Garnacho’s strike was so good it changed the zeitgeist – Goodison Park forgot he was there to protest.
Even fireworks outside the stadium in the 13th minute could not revive the stunned fans. There was little the players could do to lighten the mood either.
There were some heroics on goal and some fine saves from goalkeeper Andre Onana, but as is often the case in this region, Everton only had themselves to blame for failing to cope with the pressure in the first half.
With the club in decline, a single goal could kill Everton at any moment, and the manner in which that decisive goal was scored only further worsened the atmosphere around Goodison Park.
Man of the match – Kobby Mainu
Overshadowed by Garnacho’s stunning strike, the United debutant had a memorable afternoon.
Anthony Martial was initially booked for diving following a challenge on Ashley Young, much to the delight of fans who felt they were being bullied by another authority figure, but VAR changed the referee’s mind and awarded a penalty. This could only happen to Everton.
Rashford was awarded a penalty against Bruno Fernandes and scored his first goal since September 3, before Martial put the cake on the cake with a fine third goal, his seventh against Everton during his seedy spell in England.
A flattering result? Maybe. Vintage combined? NO. Signs of life? Certainly.
Source: I News
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.