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United compound a black day at Goodison

, 17 October, 0comments  |  Jump to most recent
Everton 0 - 3 Manchester United

Phil Jagielka's wayward pass that allowed Wayne Rooney to score put the seal on a disappointing Everton

Everton hearts weighed heavy before kick off following the news of Howard Kendall's passing and they would find no solace on the pitch as Manchester United gained revenge for their 3-0 defeat here in April with a similarly comprehensive victory.

Stung by the manner in which his team had been dismantled by the Blues last season, Louis van Gaal's determination to avoid a repeat was evident from the start as United began with purpose and vigour.

And they took the lead in controversial circumstances following an 18th-minute corner as Wayne Rooney's apparent foul on Steven Naismith went unpunished by referee Jonathan Moss and the unmarked Morgan Schneiderlin slotted home.

The visitors then stunned Goodison Park with a second just four minutes later, as Marcos Rojo profited from an advantage call from the official to romp into space behind Seamus Coleman and whip in a cross that picked out Ander Herrera between two Blues defenders and he nodded past Tim Howard.

It was a double blow from which Everton never fully recovered, particularly in a first half that almost went from bad to worse when Rooney sprung the offside trap and cut the ball back to Anthony Martial but with the goal gaping, his shot deflected into the goalkeeper's grateful arms.

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Ross Barkley's whipped shot from the angle following a corner was as close as the home side came to scoring in what was largely a flat 45 minutes from Roberto Martinez's men.

Everton came out of the half-time interval with more energy and twice went close to pulling a goal back with chances at the back post but Lukaku was a shade late in anticipating the arrival of Barkley's free kick and couldn't get a good contact on the ball and Barkley's own failure to attack Coleman's clipped cross allowed Chris Smalling to get in front of him and deny an excellent chance to score.

A crucial save by David de Gea just before the hour mark was probably the signal that this was going to the Blues' day. Lukaku's placed side-foot shot looked destined to tuck inside the post but the Spanish 'keeper denied him with an out-stretched leg that preserved United's two-goal advantage.

De Gea then had to react quickly to push Barkley's free kick away as it bounced awkwardly in front of him before the Red Devils capitalised on an awful error by Phil Jagielka to wrap up the points. The Blues' skipper passed straight to a red shirt in the centre circle and two passes later, Herrera had released Rooney into a one-on-one duel with Howard and the American lost and it was 3-0.

The former Everton man had the chance to deepen the Goodison gloom with a similar chance a few minutes later when he gave Jagielka the slip again but this time Howard got enough on the shot to keep it out and the ball was bundled behind for a corner.

Martinez threw Gerard Deulofeu on instead of the industrious Aaron Lennon for the remaining 17 minutes but the Spaniard would get only a handful of opportunities to engineer a consolation and an injury-time free kick into the roof of the net by Barkley was as close as Everton came to affecting the scoreline on a miserable day.

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