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Home   /   Everton v Manchester United: AS IT HAPPENED

Both sides come into this early kick off at Goodison Park under pressure, after both sides have fallen to defeat in their last two games.

Fifth place Everton have lost their momentum, after a brilliant start, with defeats to Southampton and Newcastle United away from home in the last two weeks.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under huge pressure to get a positive result here, after a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend and a 2-1 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League in midweek. The Red Devils sit precariously in 15th place, much to the dismay of their supporters.

Carlo Ancelotti will be delighted to bring back two of his more experienced players from injury; James Rodriguez and captain Seamus Coleman come back into the side, after missing the defeat at Newcastle. Lucas Digne returns at left back, having served his suspension for the red card he received at Southampton and Mason Holgate makes his first start of the season, in the centre of defence.

David De Gea replaces Dean Henderson between the sticks from midweek, along with Fred, Victor Lindelof and Scott Mctominay coming back into the side from the defeat in Istanbul. Record signing Paul Pogba is yet again left on the bench, leading to more questions about his future at the club.

Anthony Martial returns to lead the line in the league, having served the three match ban he received for a red card in the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils have plenty of options on the bench should they be required; Donny Van De Beek, Daniel James and Edinson Cavani provide the attacking options among the substitutes.

1′ Kick off!

The players observe a minutes silence, in honour of those who lost their lives in the war, to a spine-tingling rendition of the last post. United get this must-win game underway, with Bruno Fernandes taking kick-off.

4′ Early United Possession!

The Red Devils are looking to take control of this game early on and Fernandes is trying to pull the strings in midfield. However, Everton are seemingly more than happy to sit off and let United have the ball.

6′ Chance!

Calvert-Lewin almost has an opener! Bernard picks the ball up down the left-wing and cuts inside of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, before whipping a cross in towards the head of Calvert-Lewin, but the number nines header flies just over the crossbar.

10′ Everton Pressure!

Everton are really putting the United defence under pressure; Coleman is slipped in behind Luke Shaw and is in acres of space in the box, but he is in two minds of what to do and produces a wayward cross, which is easily cleared.

16′ Close!

Martial should have put The Red Devils ahead! The ball bounces out from a corner to the edge of the box and Fred beats the Everton players and flicks it over their defence, with a brilliant overhead kick. The ball falls perfectly to Martial, who takes it down and toe pokes his shot past Pickford, but the ball rolls just wide of the post. He really should have hit the target there!

19′ Goal!

Everton take the lead! Jordan Pickford launches the ball upfield and under pressure from Calvert-Lewin, Lindelof flicks the ball backwards to Bernard; the tricky winger cuts inside and fires home into the near corner, from just outside the box. That was a good finish, but the defending was poor.

23′ Half chance!

McTominay hits a perfect diagonal pass to Marcus Rashford, down the left wing; the England forward cuts inside and tries to curl the ball into the far corner, but his shot is wayward and does not trouble Pickford.

25′ Goal!

United are back in this game! Juan Mata sets the ball out wide to Shaw, who is very high up the pitch; the left back whips the ball in to the box, straight on to Fernandes’ head and the Portuguese makes no mistake with the header, placing the ball perfectly into the far corner. That was a very well worked equaliser, leaving Pickford with no chance.

28′ Woodwork!

Bernard plays a brilliant pass down the line to Digne, which sets him in on goal, but the French defender decides to shoot, instead of squaring the ball to Calvert-Lewin and the ball strikes the outside of the post. You can hear the anger of Calvert-Lewin that the ball wasn’t put on a plate for him.

32′ Goal!

United are ahead! Rashford picks the ball up in the pocket and plays the ball out wide to Fernandes; The Portuguese returns the favour, with a stunning cross to the English forward, who glances his header into the far corner. On second look, it appears that Rashford didn’t actually touch the ball and Fernandes is awarded his second goal of the game!

34′ Booking!

Holgate becomes the first player to go into the book, for an aggressive challenge in midfield on Fernandes.

37′ Offside chance!

United look a completely different side from the first 18 minutes; Martial is played in behind and is one-on-one with Pickford, but his shot is easily gathered by the goalkeeper and the linesman raises his flag.

42′ Injury!

Coleman looks to assert himself on the game and puts in a heavy challenge on goal-scorer Fernandes; the midfielder limps around the pitch for a minute and then eventually goes down. Luckily for The Red Devils, their number 18 gets back to his feet.

45′ Injury!

Martial jumps up with Michael Keane for the header and the Everton defenders leg strikes Martial powerfully in the head and the striker seems a little dazed, but he plays on.

45+4′ Booking!

Allan makes a poor, frustrated, late tackle on Fred in midfield and he becomes the second player to go into the book.

Half Time: Everton started the first 20 minutes of the game brightly and deservedly took the lead through Bernard. However, since then it has been all United and they have shown great character to come back.

Fernandes equalised with a perfectly placed header from a Shaw cross and the Portuguese doubled United’s lead, after Rashford missed his cross and the ball went all the way in to the far corner.

46′ Second half underway!

Everton start the second half and immediately have a chance to take the lead. They get down the wing thanks to some neat play by Gylfi Sigurðsson and the ball is set back to Abdoulaye Doucouré on the edge of the box, but Shaw does well to block the shot.

50′ Booking!

Fernandes looks to press the Everton midfield, but he is a bit overzealous in his efforts and is shown a yellow card for a late slide tackle on Sigurðsson.

53′ Chance!

Calvert-Lewin is set away down the left-hand side and the striker tries to turn provider for Rodriguez, but the Colombian can’t quite connect with Calvert-Lewin’s cross.

57′ Chance!

Coleman makes a brilliant drive forward, down the right-hand side, but he can’t quite set his feet properly and his shot is blocked.

60′ Penalty shout!

United float a free-kick deep into the box and Pickford drops the ball straight into the path of Harry Maguire, but the defenders shot loops over the crossbar. Replays seem to show Pickford took Maguire out as he tried to shoot, but VAR somehow says no penalty. How has that not been given as a penalty?

63′ VAR check!

Maguire makes a heavy challenge on Digne; the linesman raises his flag for an offside against Calvert-Lewin earlier in the move and VAR is checking the tackle, but the decision is there was no foul play by Maguire.

65′ Substitution!

Sigurðsson is replaced by winger Alexander Iwobi; can this attacking change help Everton get back in the game?

67′ Substitution!

Axel Tuanzebe replaces the injured Shaw, who limps off the pitch. Tuanzebe impressed in the away win over PSG in the Champions League.

72′ Chance!

The ball is lofted over the top of the Everton defence by Fred and Rashford runs on to it and in on goal, but the number 10 shoots straight at Pickford and he spurns a glorious chance to make it 3-1.

75′ Chance!

Iwobi plays a dangerous cross in towards Calvert-Lewin and the striker is perfectly placed to equalise, but Maguire makes a brilliant defensive header, to keep Everton at bay.

80′ Substitution!

Cenk Tosun replaces Rodriguez for Everton; the Colombian didn’t affect the game in the way that he would have liked. The Toffees go two upfront, in an attempt to salvage a result from this game.

81′ Double substitution!

Pogba replaces Mata in midfield, as United look to get more control on the ball to see out the game. Cavani replaces Martial up front; the Uruguay striker will be looking for his first Manchester United goal.

83′ Booking!

The battling Fred becomes the second United player to go into the book, after a tactical foul on Coleman, who was breaking away down the right-wing.

86′ Booking!

Tosun becomes the third Everton player to receive a yellow card, for a tactical foul in midfield, to stop United from breaking quickly.

88′ Booking!

This game is becoming a bit scrappy, as both sides look to secure a result. Doucouré flies in to a challenge a bit too aggressively on Fred and is shown his sides fourth yellow card of the game.

90+2′ Missed chance!

Coleman does some brilliant work to escape from the United defenders, down the right wing and then cuts the ball back to the edge of the box for Doucouré, but the midfielders shot is high and wayward.

90+5′ Goal!

United seal a huge victory for Solskjaer! The Red Devils break quickly and have four attackers on two defenders, with Everton searching for an equaliser. Fernandes drives forward and plays Cavani in, who smashes home past Pickford for his first United goal. Game over!

Full Time!

The whistle blows for the end of the match and Solskjaer will be massively relieved after that result! Two goals from Fernandes and a late strike from Cavani sealed an important victory for The Red Devils, which sees them rise up to 13th in the table. The 3-1 victory will take some much needed pressure off the manager, going into the international break.

On the other hand, Ancelotti will be wondering what needs to be changed for The Toffees; that is their third defeat in a row, which Ancelotti has not done since November 2006.

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