Erik Ten Hag: ““We have to be more clinical and more ruthless and this game has to be finished by half time and we didn’t,” he tells the BBC. “But it is still a very good performance and it is still a big compliment to the team.”
Manchester United’s manager also points out that his side has had to play three games in seven days and blames the hecticness of United’s schedule for Marcus Rashford’s injury. Manchester United have played more games than any other top flight team in Europe this season and continue to fight on three fronts with the Carabao Cup already safely ensconced in the trophy cabinet.
Jordan Pickford: “We know they are a good side with them being in the top four,” he tells the BBC. “We were still in the game with it being 1-0 but as a team unit we need to be better. We had a game plan and sometimes you have to hold your hand up. We have got to keep grafting and working hard. We know as a team we want to be much better and coming to Old Trafford we need to step up to the plate. We have eight games left and they are eight finals.”
Match report: Manchester United 2-0 Everton
Despite missing countless first half chances, Manchester United eventually ran out comfortable winners but have been left worrying over the fitness of Marcus Rashford. Jamie Jackson has the lowdown from Old Trafford.
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Scott McTominay: “We have to be more clinical and I’m sure that’s what the manager will say,” says the scorer of United’s opener. “After Wednesday night and the reaction we showed after the game against Newcastle, it was a good win.”
Harry Maguire: “It was great football from ourselves and we were disappointed to only go in 1-0 up,” says the Manchester United skipper of his side’s first-half performance in a post match interview with BT Sport. “The game should have been gone. The lads started on the front foot, we were aggressive, we created chance after chance after chanc e and I think if the score was three, four or five nobody would have any arguments.
“So yes, we werre disappointed to go in at 1-0 and we knew the second half would be different but I felt like we controlled the game well. We got a comfortable 2-0 win in the end and now we focus on the next. We had a game plan and got in behind them a lot.”
Full time: Manchester United 2-0 Everton
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeep! It’s all over at Old Trafford, where Manchester United have won very comfortably courtesy of a goal in each half but will be sweating over the fitness of Marcus Rashford, who pulled up lame with a groin injury. Everton could have lost by a lot more and may find themselves plunged back into the relegation zone by Premier League stumps this weekend.
90+2 min: Pickford and Martial find themselves in a rugby league-style tangle on the floor after the United goalscorer had tried to run on to a weighted pass along the floor from Tyrrell Malacia. Pickford was quick off his line to foil and then land on top of him.
90 min: We’ll have three minutes of addded time at the end of a half in which Everton rallied impressively until United knocked the stuffing out of them with that goal scored on the back of Seamus Coleman’s unfortunate error.
88 min: Bruno Fernandes is given the Man of the Match award, presumably because he’s going to finish on the winning team. He’s played well for United but Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been the quite obvious stand-out player in this match.
86 min: Bruno Fernandes curls a shot into the gloves of Pickford moments after Scott McTominay had appealed for a United penalty. The ball did hit Seamus Coleman’s arm, but the Everton skipper was on all fours at the time and was using it to help hold himself upright.
84 min: Scott McTominay picks out Bruno Fernandes at the far post and the Portuguese tries to steer a header into the path of Wout Weghorst. He succeeds only in passing the ball to Jordan Pickford, who accepts the gift gratefully.
80 min: Manchester United substitution: Wout Weghorst on for Marcus Rashford, moments after David De Gea had comfortably saved a long-range effort from Seamus Coleman.
Rashford limps back towards the tunnel in obvious discomfort, looking thoroughly fed up. For all that, he still takes the time to remove and hand his shirt to a young fan. On this Easter weekend, it’s important to remember the man is a living saint currently limping among us.
78 min: Eriksen floats a ball from deep in behind the Manchester United defence trying to pick out Marcus Rashford. The striker stretches to try to control the ball, pulls up holding his groin and immnediately signals to the bench. That’s a worry for Manchester United, who have come to rely on his goals, even if he hasn’t scored today.
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76 min: Manchester United double-substitution: Eriksen and Fred on for Marcel Sabitzer and Jadon Sancho. The announcement of Eriksen’s name is greeted by a huge cheer and a long round of applause from those in the stands.
74 min: Demarai Gray pulls a low diagonal shot wide of the far post as Christian Eriksen prepares to come on for Manchester United.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Everton (Martial 71)
United double their lead. Seamus Coleman miscontrols a long ball from the back on the edge of his own penalty area, allowing the ball to squirt behind him from under his foot. Marcus Rashford is on hand to capitalise and squares it for Anthony Martial, who can’t miss. And that, one suspects is that as far as the outcome of this game is concerned.
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70 min: Everton substitution: Ellis Simms makes way as Neal Maupay jogs on holding a metaphorical banjo while looking for the nearest bovine backside. He hasn’t scored since the second game of the season.
69 min: Marcus Rashford shoots over the bar from distance under pressure from Tom Davies, who was sliding in to try to block his shot.
67 min: Marcel Sabitzer has a keen eye for a dink into the opposition penalty area and on this occasion he picks out Bruno Fernandes. His header is on target but Jordan Pickford tips over for a corner. Nothing comes from the set-piece.
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65 min: Alex Iwobi and Ellis Simms have shots from distance blocked in quick succession as Everton try to establish a foothold in the game. They’ve solved the problem of constantly allowing those long Manchester United passes into space behind their defence by sitting deeper and are now trying to build on their good start to this second half.
64 min: Everton win a free-kick wide on the right. Aaron Wan-Bissaka heads the ball clear at the far post.
62 min: Jordan Pickford rushes out of his penalty area to cut out a long Bruno Fernades ball upfield towards Marcus Rashford. He tries to pick out Elis Simms with a ball in behind of his own but doesn’t quite pull it off. Excellent goalkeeping from a player who’s having a fine game.
60 min: Manchester United subsitution: Anthony Martial returns from injury to replace Antony, who wreaked havoc in the first half but should have scored at least one goal.
59 min: Dwight McNeil attempts to cross into the Manchester United penalty area but see his effort blocked by Wan-Bissaka. Everton double-substitution: Tom Davies and James Garner on for Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana.
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57 min: Alex Iwobi runs into space in the centre and tries to pick out Gray with a diagonal pass to the edge of the penalty area. Tyrell Malacia anticpates, cuts it out and canters upfield.
56 min: United advance down the left but Maguire is unable to pick out Jadon Sancho in the Everton penalty area.
55 min: Free-kick for Everton wide on the left after a McTominay foul on Gray. The ball’s sent sailing towards Tarkowski at the far post but the defender sends a looping header high and wide.
53 min: Dogged defending from Everton generally and Idrissa Gueye in particular as he avoids the temptation to lunge in on Rashford seven yards out to concede a penalty but instead remains on his feet and steals the ball off the striker’s toe.
52 min: Such has been United’s dominance that if Everton can cling on and escape from Old Trafford with a point it will be the mother of all smash-and-grabs. However, it’s difficult to see anything other than an emphatic United victory on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far.
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50 min: United advance again with Antony, Wan-Bissaka and Fernandes linking up down the right. Everton clear again but remain seriously under the cosh.
49 min: Now Sancho fouls Coleman down by the corner flag and Everton get another chance to clear their lines.
47 min: The opening couple of minutes of the second half are played in Everton’s half but Manchester United don’t create a chance. Tyrrell Malacia fouls Seamus Coleman to give the visitors some respite.
Second half: Manchester United 1-0 Everton
46 min: Everton make a change at half-time, bringing on Vitalii Mykolenko in place of Ben Godfrey at left-back. It’s no great surprise as Godfrey will surely endure night terrors for months to come on the back of the roasting he got from Antony in that first half.
Half-time: Manchester United 1-0 Everton
Peep! the players troop off for their half-time brew with Manchester United a goal to the good. But for their profligacy in front of goal and the heroics of Jordan Pickford, they would have scored a hat-full. On the evidence of this first half, there’s no way back for Everton but if Sean Dyche can work his magic and tighten things up at the back, there’s always a chance. They’ve been monstered in these opening 45 minutes, although Ellis Simms missed a wonderful chance to give them a shock lead against the run of play.
45+1 min: United play yet another long diagonal into space behind the Everton defence. Antony cuts inside Godfrey onto his trusty left foot, advances on goal and shoots. Jordan Pickford saves again. That’s your lot for the first half.
44 min: Marcel Sabitzer plays another ball over the top but his target Jadon Sancho hadn’t made the run in behind. Michael Keane shepherds the ball back to Jordan Pickford.
42 min: Under constant pressure Everton clear the ball but not sufficiently high upfield. It finds its way to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has a shot deflected wide for a United corner. Nothing comes of it but Everton need to do something to stop Manchester United getting the ball into their penalty with such regularity.
40 min: Rashford runs in behind to spank a Marcel Sabitzer dink over the top towards the Everton goal. Jordan Pickford stands tall to foil him again at the near post. The lineman’s flag goes up.
38 min: It’s worth noting that Everton had plenty of opportunities to clear the ball in the build-up to that United opener but Marcus Rashford’s determination to dig the ball from out of a thicket of legs belonging to players of both teams led to it being played wide to Sancho, who provided the assist for McTominay.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Everton (McTominay 36)
Well, that was coming. Scottish goal machine Scott McTominay fires United ahead, running into a pocket of space in the Everton penalty area to help a Jadon Sanchez pass to his feet past Jordan Pickford from the corner of the six-yard box.
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35 min: Playing in a more advacned role than he’s used to, with Bruno Fernandes sitting deeper in Manchester United’s midfielder, Marcel Sabitzer fires over the bar from close range after latching on to a dink over the top.
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33 min: Wan-Bissaka is first to a Jordan Pickford clearance and heads the ball forwards, sending Manchester United on the attack again. The pressure on Everton is relentless but they’re holding on for now.
31 min: Bruno Fernandes shoots high over the bar from the edge of the Everton penalty area after being teed up by a Scott McTominay pull-back.
30 min: Manchester United have had four outstanding chances in this game compared to Everton’s one. Somehow, the deadlock remains unbroken. It’s a terrific match.
27 min: Jordan Pickford rides to the rescue again as Manchester United play another long ball in behind and Marcus Rashford runs into space only to have his shot blocked by the England goalkeeper, who is keeping his side in this game.
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25 min: Antony scorches in behind Ben Godfrey on to another long ball but the Everton defender performs heroics to get back, slide in and block the Brazilian’s shot.
23 min: Everton have a penalty shout turned down as Harry Maguire appears to wrestle Demarai Gray to the ground in the Manchester United penalty area. Referee Mic hael Oliver is having none of it and neither is his VAR Paul Tierney. I’d need to see it again but my first impression is that Gray might have every right to feel hard done by.
21 min: Jordan Pickford stands tall to save well from Antony, who had been picked out by a long Bruno Fernandes diagonal towards the far touchline. He cut inside Ben Godfrey and only had Pickford to beat but the United winger wasn’t up to the task on this occasion.
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19 min: Oof! Good link-up play between Ellis Simms and Seamus Coleman leads to the young striker finiding himself in acres of space in the United penalty area with a clear shot on goal. He scuffs a low diagonal effort wide of the far post and it’s rabbit-in-the-headlights stuff. He should have scored!
18 min: A decent Dwight McNeil cross from the right is cleared by Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the far post.
16 min: Demarai Gray is fouled by Tyrrell Malacia and Everton win a free-kick in a good area wide on the right. Gray’s delivery is headed away by Marcus Rashford.
14 min: Manchester United are in almost total control of this game and it appears to be only a matter of time before they break the deadlock.
12 min: Oh my! Antony hits the foot of the upright with a low diagonal shot and the ball breaks to Aaron Wan-Bissaka. With the goal at his mercy, he steers a low diagonal shot wide of the far upright. That’s got to go down as a shocking miss, even if he did have to react very quickly as the ball broke his way off the post.
11 min: Antony plays the ball to the feet of Rashford on the left side of the Everton penalty area. Before he can pull the trigger, Alex Iwobi is back to take it off his toe. Good defending.
10 min: A chance for Everton as Amadou Onana rises highest to try to steer a free-kick sent in from the right goalwards. Over the bar.
8 min: Marcus Rashford runs into space behind James Tarkowski and unleashes a piledriver which Jordan Pickford saves superbly. Everton fail to clear properly, Manchester United recycle the ball. Pickford is called into action again to clear from the head of Rashford as the striker attempted to steer a Bruno Fernandes cross from the right goalwards. The punch isn’t clean and the ball cannons off Rashford’s head only to go wide.
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5 min: Everton win a corner after good defensve work from Antony. Manchester Unite break upfield at speed on the counter-attack and Jadon Sancho wriggles his way into the Everton penalty area. He rolls the ball across the box trying to pick out a team-mate but fails to find anyone in a red shirt.
3 min: Manchester United win a free-kick about 10 yards inside their own half, which Harry Maguire pings up the right touchline. The ball’s worked crossfield by Malacia and then Fernandes. Jadon Sanchez plays it inside to Marcel Sabitzer, whose shot is deflected behind by Michael Keane. Wide but not by much. Everton clear the subsequent corner.
2 min: There’s an early half-chance for Ellis Simms as he attempts to connect with a Demarai Gray cross from the right. The young Everton striker’s effort is blocked.
Manchester United v Everton is go ...
1 min: The sun is shining over Old Trafford as Manchester United get the ball rolling, playing into the Stretford End in this first half.
Not long now: Harry Maguire leads out Manchester United, while Seamus Coleman wears the captain’s armband for an Everton side who have won just two out of their past 31 on the road in the Premier League. As both sets of players line up either side of referee Michael Oliver, we’re into the last of the pre-match formalities and kick-off is just a few minutes away.
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Those teams: Erik Ten Hag makes three changes to the side that beat Brentford in midweek, all of them in his back four. Harry Maguire is rotated in for Raphael Varance, while Tyrell Malacia starts in place of the injured Luke Shaw. At right-back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, comes in for Diogo Dalot, who drops to the bench. He’ll be sitting alongside Christian Eriksen, who makes a welcome return from injury.
Sean Dyche makes just one changeand it’s enforced. With Abdoulay e Doucoure suspended, it looks like Amadou Onana, Idrissa Gueye and Alex Iwobi might play in the centre of a five-man midfield, flanked by Dwight McNeil and Demarai Gray. Ellis Simms comes into the side and will play through the centre.
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Manchester United v Everton line-ups
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Martinez, Malacia, McTominay, Sabitzer, Antony, Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford.
Subs: Butland, Lindelof, Martial, Eriksen, Fred, Varane, Dalot, Weghorst, Pellistri.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Tarkowski, Keane, Godfrey, Onana, Gueye, Iwobi, McNeil, Gray, Simms.
Subs: Begovic, Patterson, Holgate, Mina, Mykolenko, Maupay, Davies, Coady, Garner.
Today's match officials
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Assistants: Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett.
Fourth official: Graham Scott.
VAR: Paul Tierney.
Early team news
One of Manchester United’s players of the season, Casemiro sits out the final game of a four-match ban on the Naughty Step, while left-back Luke Shaw misses out with a hamstring injury and is likely to be replaced by Tyrrell Malacia. Christian Eriksen returns to the bench ahead of schedule, having recovered from the ankle injury visited upon him by Reading striker Andy Carroll during an FA Cup game in January. Tom Heaton, Alejandro Garnacho and Donny van de Beek all remain sidelined.
Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure is suspended on the back of the red card he was shown for raising a hand to the face of Harry Kane during Monday night’s draw with Tottenham. A graduate from the Manchester United academy, James Garner could start in his absence. Long-term absentees Andros Townsend and Dominic Calvert-Lewin remain unavailable for selection but left-back Rubin Vinagre could return after missing the match against Spurs with an achilles problem.
Premier League: Manchester United v Everton
Old Trafford is the venue as two famous old clubs with plenty to play for get yet another intriguing weekend of Premier League action under way. Deep in trouble, Everton sit just two places above the relegation but are level on points with Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth beneath them on goal difference. With any three from nine concertinaed in the bottom half facing relegation, every goal and point counts, and Everton go into this game unbeaten in four.
Manchester United have Champions League qualification in mind and following their fairly straightforward midweek win over Brentford currently sit in fourth. They’re unbeaten in 23 games at home, level on points with third-placed Newcastle and three clear of Tottenham Hotspur, who find themselves in fifth having played one game more. Kick-off at Old Trafford is at 12.30pm (BST) but you can stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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