Match Report

Everton suffered another humiliating collapse at the home of one of the so-called “Sky Six” as they went down 4-0 to Manchester United in Ruben Amorim’s first home Premier League match in charge of the Red Devils.

One managerial tenure continued its honeymoon while another seemingly entered its death throes as the Portuguese’s charges rendered the Blues’ positive start to the contest meaningless when they capitalised on their ineptitude at one end of the field to open the scoring at the other in the 34th minute.

They then ran away with it with the help of embarrassing errors by both of Sean Dyche’s chosen centre-halves.

Both Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski gave up the ball in a vulnerable position in separate incidents in either half that led to goals while an unforgivably lethargic start to the second half by Everton ensured that the result was set in stone less than 30 seconds after the interval.

Dyche had spent the week since last Saturday’s dismal goalless draw against Brentford talking up his team’s improved defensive record over the previous eight games, insisting that they just needed to find the right solution at the top end of the pitch.

His answer today was to hand a rare start to Beto and, in a somewhat encouraging opening overall, the striker came close to scoring after 20 minutes when he was slipped in behind the defence by Dwight McNeil to round Andre Onana but then find the angle had worked against him and he could only drive into the side-netting.

Prior to that, both sides had had their moments, with Kobbie Mainoo stinging Jordan Pickford’s palms and Branthwaite forced to steam across his six-yard box to clear ahead of Diego Dalot while McNeil had wasted a really promising situation following his own interception of Leandro Martinez’s pass by simply running into a blind alley, and the slippery Iliman Ndiaye had failed to find Beto with a cut-back from the byline.

Meanwhile, Beto miscued wildly with a left-footed attempt, Mainoo skewed a shot in the other box off target and Pickford was fortunate not to be punished for going walkabout outside his area after Vitalii Mykolenko had mis-judged Noussair Mazraoui’s ball down the flank.

The floodgates opened, however, when Everton left Marcus Rashford completely unmarked on the edge of the penalty area as they defended a corner that had come just seconds after Ashley Young’s dreadful cross had invited the hosts to break away on the counter-attack.

The set-piece was swept to the England forward in oceans of space and though Pickford had a chance of reaching his placed volley as it searched out the far post, Branthwaite stuck out a leg and diverted it into his own net to make it 1-0 to Amorim’s men.

United, who had been tentative and disjointed to that point, seized the game by the scruff of the neck and doubled their advantage in the 41st minute. Branthwaite dithered on the ball near the touchline in his own half and was dispossessed by Amad Diallo who found Bruno Fernandes with a pass and Joshua Zirkzee confidently dispatched his low ball past Pickford.

Everton kicked off the second half but gave the ball away immediately, Zirkzee playing a clever ball around the corner for Diallo who set up Rashford to drill a shot between the keeper and his near post to make it 3-0 and confirm that it very much was game over.

Jesper Lindstrom drove a couple of disappointing direct free-kicks into the defensive wall as Everton searched for a crumb of hope before their misery was completed by Tarkowski allowing Diallo to rob him of the ball in a virtual carbon copy of Branthwaite’s howler and Zirkzee tucked home United’s fourth.

Nathan Patterson, Orel Mangala and Jake O’Brien were thrown on to get some minutes along with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and the Scot fashioned two chances for the striker that went begging in the closing stages but there would be no consolation for a Dyche outfit that lost 6-0 at Chelsea at the back end of last season, 4-0 to Spurs early in this one and has now failed to score in four successive games.

It leaves Everton at a dangerously low ebb heading into a crucial home clash with Wolves on Wednesday and Dyche surely clinging to his job as the club await the ratification of The Friedkin Group's takeover which is expected to come this month. 

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Updates

Everton surrendered four goals after a promising start at Old Trafford where Beto failed to take his chances, the Blues gifting a flattering result with defensive errors that continued Ruben Amorim's unbeaten start to life as the new Red Devils' manager.

Everton's increasingly beleaguered manager Sean Dyche, has finally dumped the seemingly uninterested Calvert-Lewin, with Beto starting as the lone and lonely striker up front. 

Armando Broja failed to make the bench after his run-out for the Under-21s against Nottingham Forest, but Seamus Coleman returns after his recent injury problems.

The Red Devils started by somehow avoiding the obligatory ball back to their keeper, instead working it around for 89 seconds before they ventured into Everton's half. The first good cross from Dalot was cleared by Branthwaite. McNeil gave the ball to Mianoo who tested Pickford with the first shot. 

Going the other way. McNeil just ran in trouble and gave up the ball. But a good ball from Young was helped on by McNeil after Beto had advanced offside.

An easy ball over the top found Dalot and Branthwaite was the only defender determined to stop him shooting. From the corner, Amad's volley was blocked but Everton broke through Ndiaye down the wing, Lindstrøm shot on target but from too far out, straight at Onana, no artistry or guile involved. 

Doucoure did well to carry the ball down the wing and feed Beto, whose first shot was absolutely abysmal. At the other end, Amad had a great chance but screwed his shot across goal for what should have been a corner. Instead, Lindstrom won a corner that was easily repelled.

Pickford came way out wide and was lucky that Amad's cutback was wayward. Everton had some ball possession that ended with a poor Gana pass and Rashford got behind, beating Pickford but not the brilliantly covering Branthwaite.

McNeil gave Beto a ball to savour, getting round Onana, but his difficult shot was the wrong side of the post. Everton were having a nice spell of control. Branthwaite was fouled and Lindstrøm got in a decent cross but Beto was on the wrong side of the 6-yard area.

Man Utd had a brief foray but overplayed it and then Ndiaye had a great chance to release Beto but botched his pass. Ndiaye then tried and failed to dribble through four defenders. A great run from Young ended when he passed straight to a defender.

Rashford needed close attention at the expense of a corner, from which Rashford scored, hanging back unmarked, thanks to a big interception by Branthwaite! Oh dear... Pickford had it covered. 

Everton's defending became scrappy as the Reds benefited from a jolt of newfound confidence. Mykolenko took out Amad for an obvious yellow card, Pickford doing very well to clear the ball with his feet albeit Man Utd had gone offside. 

But playing out from the back, Branthwaite was shockingly ambushed by Amad and a second goal became inevitable for Zirkzee. Young was then bamboozled by Fernandes but recovered well enough to just avoid giving away a penalty with his late challenge on the Man Utd captain. 

Seems silly to say Everton had dominated much of the half when they collapsed so easily to give up two horrible goals — largely thanks to Jarrad Branthwaite. 

With no more than 20 seconds of the second half gone, Rashford scored easily — this time Branthwaite not at fault, although well out of position!

Maino pulled back McNeil after losing the ball to him in a dangerous position. Chance for Lindstrøm to show his skill... off the wall!  Beto sent Casmiro flying. He was then caught cynically by Martinez. The free-kick almost saw a chance but it was blocked.

Everton kept playing on the front foot now the game was lost, Ndiaye winning a corner that was cleared for Rashford to attack, Mykolenko blocking his shot. Gana saw yellow for his battle with Amad.  

Pickford had to come out quickly to stall Fernandes. Beto was fouled by Casemiro, Lindstrøm showing his dubious prowess by putting it artlessly into the wall again. And Man Utd went up the other end after Amad stole the ball very easily off Tarkowski for Zirkzee to score a soft 4th.

Mass substitutions accompanied a mass exit by Everton fans with 20 minutes left. Mangala did well to stop Garnacho running amok. And incredibly, even Dyche finally gave Nathan Patterson a runout.

Docuoure failed to find Ndiaye with a key pass. Garnacho tried but failed to make it five. Patterson crossed far too close to Onana as O'Brien came on… Dyche using all five subs for only the second time this season. 

A great cross from Patterson saw a rare diving header of old by Calvert-Lewin, but it was too close for Onana not to save it. And the teams played out the final minutes,  Rashford denied a late penalty claim to end a disastrous showing for the Blues.  

Manchester United: Onana;  Mazraoui  (56' Shaw), De Ligt (56' Maguire), Martinez [Y:50']; Diallo, Casemiro (66' Ugarte),  Mainoo [Y:48'] (80' Mount), Dalot; Fernandes (66' Garnacho), Rashford, Zirkzee.

Subs not Used: Bayindir, Malacia, Hojlund, Antony.

Everton: Pickford, Young [Y:68'] (73' Patterson), Branthwaite, Tarkowski (82' O'Brien), Mykolenko [Y:39']; Ndiaye, Gueye [Y:57'] (67' Mangala), Doucoure, Lindstrøm (67' Harrison); McNeil, Beto (67' Calvert-Lewin).

Michael Kenrick

Match Preview

With just one win in their six games and no goals in their last three, Everton travel to Old Trafford this Sunday to face a Manchester United team looking to continue Ruben Amorim's unbeaten start to life as the Red Devils' manager.

The Portuguese saw his new charges earn a 1-1 draw at Ipswich last weekend before edging Bodø Glimt in the Europa League so this will be his first home Premier League game in charge, with the locals hoping that his "new manager bounce" continues against a team experiencing something akin to the opposite.

Sean Dyche takes his charges along the M62 searching for answers to a run of results that has seen the Blues lose just one in eight but a return for the season of less than a point per game means that they begin the weekend sitting just two points above the relegation zone.

He could finally be able to include Armando Broja in the matchday squad, though, three months after he arrived on loan from Chelsea, if the forward has no reaction from his run-out for the Under-21s against Nottingham Forest on Friday night.

Broja has been patiently working his way back from an Achilles injury that has sidelined him all season so far but he also played 45 minutes for the second string against Watford on Monday.

He played another 70 minutes in the defeat to Forest at Finch Farm while Youssef Chermiti featured for just over an hour and Sean Dyche says that he has already spoken with Broja about the possibility of making his first appearance for the first team at Old Trafford.

“We’re getting there [in terms of getting players back fit]," the manager said during his press conference in Halewood today. "AB (Broja) will get some minutes today, as will Youssef on his journey back to full fitness. For Youssef, this is just his start point, really, but AB is looking really fit, so that’s good.

“We’ll see how he gets on with his minutes today but he’s done a lot of background work and is feeling good. I’ve spoken to him about possibly being involved [this weekend], so we’ll see.

“Seamus (Coleman) at least is getting back on the grass with us so it probably won’t be enough for this weekend but he’s showing signs of getting truly fit, if you like, after an up-and-down time with niggly injuries.

“So, it’s coming. I don’t want to say too much because every time I do, we lose players again, but hopefully they’ll stay fit and keep getting fitter.”

It's highly unlikely that Broja will start — rather, Dyche may look to bring him on to affect the game late in the second half — so it will once again be a case of choosing between Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto, with the former likely to get the nod once more.

Elsewhere in the line-up, while Seamus Coleman will need more time to get closer to full match fitness, Nathan Patterson made a strong case for inclusion with his outing for the U21s against Watford, despite being harshly sent off for a second bookable offence.

However, with Dyche seemingly reluctant to drop the out-of-form Vitalii Mykolenko and Ashley Young among the most consistent performers this season, the Scot will likely have to kick his heels on the bench.

In midfield, Orel Mangala pressed his own claims for inclusion alongside Idrissa Gueye rather than Abdoulaye Doucouré but whether Dyche will drop one of his more automatic selections remains to be seen.

And finally, with Jesper Lindstrøm again struggling to make an impact in last weekend's dismal goalless draw against Brentford, it would not be a surprise to see Jack Harrison drafted back in.

Kick-off: 1:30 pm, Sunday 1 December 2024
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Andy Madley
Last Time: Manchester United 2 - 0 Everton

Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Mangala, Harrison, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin
 

Lyndon Lloyd

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