For all the encouraging displays Everton have produced in recent weeks, manager Frank Lampard warned before this game that “improvement doesn’t happen in a straight line” and after getting their noses in front early on against Manchester United, the Blues produced arguably their most-disjointed display of the season to fall to their first defeat in eight matches.
In truth, Lampard’s side peaked too early as Alex Iwobi’s spectacular strike from outside the area just five minutes in should have proven to be the springboard to what could have been a third consecutive win and a famous night under the lights at Goodison Park. However, that early zip quickly eroded as for the second straight match, Idrissa Gueye gifted Everton ’s opponents possession and within seconds, Antony had broken clear and stuck the ball into Jordan Pickford’s net.
You might be able to get away with such languid play when you strolling around for petrodollar-fuelled Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 but back in the Premier League, the Senegalese international has learned the hard way that the team you face are far more ruthless.
AS IT HAPPENED: Everton vs Manchester United goal updates and analysis
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When it comes to cool heads in front of goal, they don’t come much better than the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo and while he left this corresponding fixture last season frustrated and slapping a child’s phone out of his hand, here he kept his composure to net the winner just before the interval and become the first player to score 700 career goals at club level.
It could have been worse as United had the ball in the Everton net for a third time in the second half after Marcus Rashford capitalised on a mistimed challenge by James Tarkowski but his effort was ruled out for a handball in the build-up but despite a spirited finish with Dominic Calvert-Lewin playing for the first time this season and debutant James Garner, a fellow substitute being denied by a spectacular stoppage time save by David De Gea, the Blues remained second best.
Lampard’s two home defeats this season have now come against ‘Big Six’ opponents who his side defeated in the run-in last term but the hope must remain that there have been significant enough improvements within their general play to ensure that such setbacks do not lead to the kind of desperate circumstances he faced when first coming to the club as – for a few minutes at least – Everton were potentially heading above neighbours Liverpool in the Premier League table.
