Manchester United continued their impressive run in the Premier League with another stunning display against Everton. For the third time in five matches, they finished the match with a 4-0 score in their favour. On the other hand, Everton look to have a tough season ahead even after spending the fourth most amount of money in the Premier League.
Here are the main talking points from the match at Old Trafford:
- A homecoming for Wayne Rooney
The hype ahead of the match was all about Wayne Rooney coming back to Old Trafford to play for his boyhood club. The United faithful gave him a warm welcome and so did all the United players. Smiles and hugs were exchanged in the tunnel for what seemed to be an extremely heartening moment for Rooney.
However, once the game started everything was forgotten and it was down to business. United’s centre-halves, Bailly and Jones did their best to keep their former captain at bay. Wayne Rooney himself tried hard to create a chance or a goal but some neat defending by United thwarted his attempts.
- Everton lack pace
My primary conclusion from the first half was that Everton lacked pace while going forward. Maybe Rooney’s age is catching up and hence Sandro Ramirez, albeit for a short time looked threatening in the opposition half.
The lack of pace meant that Rooney and Siggurdson had to drop deeper and there were fewer men in the opposition’s box. United’s constant counterattacks didn’t help them either and all of the Everton players looked to be defending at one point of time.
- Lukaku missed Pogba’s presence
Romelu Lukaku did manage to score a goal and notched up an assist but he looked to be missing Paul Pogba’s presence on the pitch. Lukaku went missing for a large portion of the match and it was clear that Pogba’s delicious through balls and passes were lacking.
The Belgian has always thrived on the Frenchman’s deliveries and their link-up play is a pure delight to watch. They connect well on the field and both of them form a striking partnership. However, Lukaku will have to find a way to manage as Pogba is going to be absent from action for at least a month now.
- Tom Davies should not have been substituted off
During his time on the pitch, Davies looked Everton’s best bet to score the equaliser. He was quick, mobile, and agile and dribbled past defenders well. Though he went down a couple of times, Davies was Everton’s best man in attack.
Hence, it was surprising that he had to go off the pitch after the hour mark. There could have been a possibility of Davies scoring or creating the goal. He was the one who initiated most of the attacks from the midfield and was particularly impressive during the beginning of the second half.
- Manchester United know how to finish off games!
Manchester United played some extremely pedestrian football during major chunks of the first and second half. A 1-0 scoreline would have been disappointing for the United faithful. However, Romelu Lukaku’s clever assist and then his goal meant that the score read 3-0.
Then super-sub Anthony Martial earned and converted a penalty to make the score line 4-0. The most impressive thing about the last part of the game was the intensity and eagerness with which United played. They could have sat back and seen off the game but rather decided to improve the margin of victory.
