(Football news) A wasteful Toffees team that managed just six shots on goal out of their 23 efforts was defeated by penalties scored in the first half by Fernandes and Rashford.
A record for the most wins by one club over another in the history of the division was broken when the Manchester United held firm to seal their eighth clean sheet of the year and their 41st Premier League victory over the Toffees, despite Everton’s best attempts to create a ripple in the net.
Manchester United came within three points of fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who visit fourth-place Aston Villa on Sunday, despite the fact that the win leaves them in sixth place in the Premier League table. This boosts their ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League.
As for Everton, they have extended their unwanted winless run to 11 games, just one short of a club record set in 1994, and Sean Dyche’s men – for the time being – remain 16th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.
Both teams opted to name an unchanged starting lineup, and it was Everton who made the stronger start, capitalising on Manchester United’s sloppiness in possession; Dwight McNeil created the visitors’ first chance, with his deep cross from the left deflecting off Amadou Onana into the path of Ben Godfrey, but Andre Onana was quick off his line to smother the danger.
The Toffees’ positive start ultimately counted for nothing, though, as James Tarkowski gifted Manchester United a 12th-minute penalty after clipping the ankles of Alejandro Garnacho wide on the left. Fernandes stepped up to coolly roll his effort into the bottom-right corner – his first league goal since November 4.
Not long after both Fernandes and Jack Harrison fired shots over the crossbar, former Manchester United man James Garner, starting his 100th career league match, had a powerful curler from distance punched away by Onana, before Amadou Onana blasted the rebound off target.
Pickford was then called into action to make a strong one-handed save to keep out a well-struck 20-yard free kick from Fernandes, before Jarrad Branthwaite made a vital intervention to deny Kobbie Mainoo a close-range tap-in at the near post.
Everton was putting more pressure on Man United since they were not playing as well as they could. With plenty of space to drive into the penalty area, McNeil curled a dangerous cross-pass just wide of the far post.
After driving towards Everton’s box and evading several Toffees defenders, Garnacho, who had been an absolute baller throughout the match, was brought down by an outstretched leg of Godfrey. This forced referee Simon Hooper to point to the spot for the second time at the 36-minute mark.
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