Everton Beaten At Old Trafford

Everton fell to a 4-0 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

The home side found a fortunate opener just after the half-hour mark through Marcus Rashford, whose first-time effort from a corner was heavily deflected on its way to goal.

The Red Devils doubled their lead shortly after, when Everton gifted the opposition a chance through a sloppy effort to play out of defence. Amad forced the error and Joshua Zirkzee finished from close range.

Adding a third straight after the interval, Rashford netted from a fast-paced move on 46 minutes, before Zirkzee made it four mid-way through the half – a lead which proved too difficult for Everton to overcome.

Heading into the game, Everton had shown strong defensive form, losing just one in eight and keeping clean sheets in four of their past six matches.

Manager Sean Dyche made one change to his starting 11, bringing in Beto – who made his first Premier League start of the season – in place of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The fixture marked the hosts’ third while led by head coach Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese, appointed in early November, joined the Red Devils after an impressive four-and-a-half year stint with Sporting CP, which saw him earn two top-flight titles.

The game started at a fast pace and Jordan Pickford was called into action for the first time just a few minutes into the game, delivering a strong save to stop Kobbie Mainoo’s powerful effort from the edge of the box.

On five minutes, the Blues sparked a quick counter-attack. Led by Dwight McNeil, he carried the ball from the halfway line, but Casemiro accurately timed his tackle to prevent the winger from entering the penalty area.

Shortly after, Diogo Dalot threatened down the left channel, entering the Toffees penalty box dangerously, but Jarrad Branthwaite was there, sliding in brilliantly before the Portuguese could aim at goal.

Everton began to grow into the game, earning more possession, but the hosts reminded the Blues of their attacking potency once again, with Bruno Fernandes picking out Rashford with a cultured outside-of-the-boot pass. Pickford was quick to rush out and make the close-range save, but up came the flag for offside.

Everton struck back just seconds later, however, when Branthwaite fired a ball into midfield, finding McNeil, who turned and played a through ball to Beto. He beat Matthijs De Ligt for pace, knocking the ball to the right of goalkeeper Andre Onana, but the angle narrowed, and his effort hit the side netting – just a couple of yards wide.

Following an open and end-to-end 20 minutes, the tempo slowed somewhat, but Man United struck an opener on 33 minutes through Fernandes’ corner-kick.

He guided the set-piece to the edge of the penalty area, where Rashford was free. The Englishman hit a low effort first time, and the ball deflected off Branthwaite – just a few yards from goal – and bounced into the net.

Eight minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead, capitalising on Everton’s efforts to play out from the back. Amad charged down Branthwaite, blocking his attempted pass deep into the Blues half. Fernandes charged forward, before squaring to Zirkzee to finish the chance.

Man United netted a third straight after half-time, finding a way around the Everton defence just seconds from kick-off. Amad closed down on the Toffees goal, before sliding Rashford through on goal to slot past Pickford

Conceding a fourth on 64 minutes, Everton were forced into another error – this time Amad pressing James Tarkowski, winning the ball off the Blues captain, and then entering the final third. He laid off Zirkzee to score his second.

Despite a late Calvert-Lewin headed chance, forcing a near-post save from Onana, the home team cruised to a 4-0 victory, taking all three points.

For Everton, a busy week follows, as the Blues welcome Wolves on Wednesday (7.30pm GMT), before taking on Liverpool in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Saturday (12.30 GMT).