Erik ten Hag does not do weakened teams and Manchester United's FA Cup XI was stronger than their Premier League line-up against Bournemouth in midweek.
A terrific cup tie, amplified by nearly 10,000 hardcore Everton matchgoers at Old Trafford, confirmed how meaningful the competition is to United's incumbent manager and the strained Frank Lampard. It is a spectacle the sons of Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher, sat together in the directors' box, were engrossed by.
The jubilation in the old Scoreboard End when Dominic Calvert-Lewin appeared to have equalised, and the delight of United fans at the retrospective realisation it was offside, was a cup atmosphere from a bygone age. United fans revelled in the schadenfreude as smoke from a blue flare drifted into the night sky.
