(Football news) In what was one of Manchester United’s most dominant first half performances, the Red Devils registered 21 shots on goal in the first half against Everton but found the net only once when Scott McTominay scored in the 36th minute. Despite creating the chances, Erik ten Hag’s side weren’t clinical enough to capitalise on their opportunities with the likes of Antony, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Marcus Rashford wasteful in front of goal. Martial then scored in the 71st minute to seal the victory, managing to get his eighth career goal against Everton.

The result meant that Manchester United are now fourth in the league, equal on points with third place Newcastle who have a superior goal difference. One of the biggest talking points of the match was Marcus Rashford being forced off injured to do a suspected groin injury. Everton suffered their first defeat in five Premier League games and striker Ellis Simms missed a fantastic opportunity in the first half to get his side into the game. Everton remain outside the relegation zone on goal difference. 

Speaking after the match, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said “As long as you don’t score the second there is fear. But we conceded only one chance in the game, so two chances in two games [including Brentford]. We created a lot of chances in what was a third game in six days which is a credit to the team’s performance. 

“In two really good results we’ve shown great mentality and character, so we are happy with that. We take things game by game, we know what we are capable of, and you can see we are still improving. Today we played brilliant football, created so many chances, the midfield played really well with a lot of speed and direct play. We just needed to be more clinical and score more goals.”

Everton manager Sean Dyche said “There were too many mistakes from us to be honest. They were the dominant force in the first half, where we were getting done by straight balls which we didn’t deal with very well by our standards. It was pretty simplistic what we could have done better. 

“There was some really good last-ditch defending, Jordan [Pickford] made some really good saves, but the reality was not doing the basics well in the first half as a collective. They did go in front and should have been further ahead, although ironically we had the best chance of the game with Ellis Simms, which may have changed the feel of the game at that stage.”

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