Man Utd 2-1 Everton: five things learned as Martial unleashes himself on the Toffees once again

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Manchester United defeated Everton 2-1 in a less-than-convincing victory at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

United headed into this game after a disappointing defeat against Juventus in the Champions League last week. They looked a lot more comfortable on Sunday, but it wasn’t a completely convincing performance.

The Reds went in front when Pogba latched onto the rebound of his missed penalty in the first half. Martial notched United’s second after the break with a sweetly struck first-time effort from long range.

Everton had several chances go begging, most notably when Bernard rounded David De Gea only to find the side netting. The Toffees eventually found the net after a silly chip from Paul Pogba handed Everton a run on goal, Chris Smalling couldn’t stay on his feet and brought down Richarlison in the area.

Everton couldn’t find an equaliser in the end and the Red Devils looked relieved when the full-time whistle finally blew after 96 minutes.

Here are five things we learned from this afternoon’s clash at Old Trafford.

Lukaku can be dropped

Jose Mourinho has been reluctant to drop Romelu Lukaku in the past due to the lack of options the club has on the flanks.

However, The 25-year-old Belgium international has failed to find the back of the net in his last eight (now nine) matches and has not scored at Old Trafford since late March. The Belgian’s goal drought saw him dropped this afternoon with 20-year-old Marcus Rashford taking his place up front.

Juan Mata started on the right side of three bladed attack and looked comfortable there, linking up well with Rashford going forward. Lukaku replaced Rashford with half an hour left on the clock which could and should have provided him with the opportunity to get off the mark. He was presented with the perfect opportunity by Pogba late on, but missed a free header from close range, much to the delight of travelling Everton fans.

Martial needs to play

Anthony Martial has rejected several offers to renew his contract by Man Utd. The reason for this could be that he has spent most of his time on the substitutes bench since Alexis Sanchez arrived in the summer.

That has changed in recent games with the Frenchman putting in a key performance against Chelsea where he grabbed a brace and he played excellently today. The 22-year-old spearheaded most of the Red Devils’ attacks and won his side a penalty in the first half.

Martial followed up his performance in the first half with a sweetly struck first time effort that curled beautifully into the right corner of the net. The Frenchman could’ve grabbed his second brace in two Premier League outings, but he hesitated when he found himself one-on-one with Pickford near the end of the game.

Still, United might want to redouble their efforts to keep the France international at Old Trafford, as he could finally be finding his rhythm at the club.

Pogba shuffle isn’t alway a winner

Martial won a not-exactly-stone-wall penalty in the first half after theatrically falling to his feat after attempting to round Idrissa Gueye in the penalty area.

Pogba approached the penalty with his now customary Fred Flintstone impression, taking what seemed like a thousand steps before hitting the ball to the annoyance of, not only Grameme Souness On Sky Sport’s punditry panel, but also among contingents of United’s fans who just wanted him to get on with it.

The shuffle didn’t help the World Cup winner as Jordan Pickford was equal to his shot; luckily for Pogba his parry landed back at his feet and he was able to pass the ball home.

Walcott looks lost

Theo Walcott looked almost paralysed this evening as he failed to make an impression on the right side of Everton’s attacking trident.

The Englishman made a few positive interventions in the early stages, linking well with Gylfi Sigurðsson, but he seemed to fall asleep after that. He failed to make decent runs into the channels even when his colleagues behind him were carving out attacks in the midfield.

Walcott also failed to provide Seamus Coleman enough cover, allowing Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw to exploit a lot of space during United’s advances.

Smalling loses his feet

Smalling was put in a difficult position by Paul pogba in the second half after the Frenchman attempted a ridiculously flamboyant chip in the centre of the park which only achieved setting up the visitors with a free run on goal, which Richarilson made the most of.

Richarilson had edged past Smalling, but the English defender was far from beaten and could have stayed on his feet to challenge the advancing Brazilian, but he opted to slide into the striker hitting everything but the ball and injuring himself in the process.

Smalling should know better after playing his 300th Premier League game on Sunday and his wreckless decision even drew criticism from his predecessor, Rio Ferdinand, who implored the centre-back to stay on his feet on Twitter.

 

The post Man Utd 2-1 Everton: five things learned as Martial unleashes himself on the Toffees once again appeared first on Squawka News.



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