Manchester United traveled to Goodison Park to take on Everton in one of the matchups of the weekend. It was a complete 180 from United from their last game, a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal, as they put three past the Toffees.

After their disastrous defeat at the Emirates last game week, manager Louis van Gaal made some major changes. Dutch internationals Daley Blind and Memphis Depay were dropped after a horrid time on international duty with Holland. Phil Jones and Ander Herrera started for them respectively.

Ashley Young was dropped in place of Marcos Rojo, the likely long-term solution at left back for United while Luke Shaw is out. In the midfield, Michael Carrick was dropped after his shocking display against Arsenal with Bastian Schweinsteiger. Van Gaal once again went with the “Schmidfield” of Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin

Everton went with their usual look lineup. Brendan Galloway started at left back while Leighton Baines is still out. Steven Naismith and Aaron Lennon started out wide for the Toffees with Arouna Kone and Gerard Deulofeu looking to make a major impact off the bench.

United starts off the brighter of the two

Everton looked to get off to a lively start with the first chance of the match inside of five minutes as Galloway released Naismith, but the Scotland international saw his shot charged down well. Just a minute later, Galloway conceded a free-kick after a harsh tackle on Herrera. On the ensuing free kick, Juan Mata’s strike was half-cleared by Everton captain Phil Jagielka before Schweinsteiger’s half-chance was sent wide.

Roberto Martinez’s side continued to be pushed back even though they had some strong attacking play at points.

The best chance for van Gaal’s side in the first ten minutes came when Matteo Darmian sent in a fantastic cross for Wayne Rooney, but the United captain missed it.

Everton begin to look lively, but United find the back of the net first

Romelu Lukaku was starting to get in behind the United defence, but Chris Smalling continued to chase him down and deny him opportunities. Everton continued to pin United back for the time being with Barkley and Naismith giving it a go before Lukaku’s strike, which took a deflection, wrong-footed de Gea but the ball skipped past the wrong side of the post.

Everton keeper Tim Howard was forced into a save as Herrera struck it from 25 yards out and tipped it over. The ball looked to be going over the crossbar, but the American took no chances. On the ensuing corner, a poor clearance by Everton gave Schneiderlin a chance to finish and that he did as the ball fell to him via Smalling.

United double their lead

Not too long after the first goal, United doubled their lead. Anthony Martial was taken down on the counterattack as referee Jon Moss played the advantage. It was a wisely played advantage as Rojo continued with the ball down the left flank.

With two men in the box, the Argentine sent a perfectly struck cross to the further man, Herrera, as the Spaniard headed towards the ground and past Howard to double United’s tally.

Everton were looking to get back into the game after a second goal from the opposition. Lukaku had a penalty shout, but referee Jon Moss was having none of it. It was a flurry of chances late in the half for Everton, but de Gea and Smalling did a majority of the cleanup work to make sure the Toffees did not get on the board. Manchester United nearly made it three when Rooney fed Martial who took it one-time, but Howard and Stones were there to deny.

Rooney provides the dagger

Mata came off for youth product Jesse Lingard to start the second half while Everton made their own change bringing on Kone for Naismith. Rojo went into the books after taking down Everton’s Belgian striker just outside the box, but Barkley’s free kick was headed away.

De Gea continued to be excellent as Everton kept on trying to peg one back, however, the Spanish keeper continued his excellence between the sticks especially with his foot save off Lukaku’s strike from about 10 yards out.

Rooney sealed the points for United as Jagielka gave the ball away in the midfield to Schneiderlin. The ex-Southampton man released Herrera down the right and would feed United’s captain who cooly slotted it past Howard to seal the points.

There were a few more chances for each side, with the notable one for United coming from both Rooney and Martial. Rooney was played in behind the Everton defense once again but took the shot with his weaker left foot as Howard did enough to stop it. In the dying minutes of the game, Martial danced around the box and found space to get a shot off which nearly fell to Lingard but could not get a shot off.

Barkley continued to give it a go at de Gea, but the Spanish keeper stood large and in charge as he finished off the afternoon with a clean sheet and three points for United.

United host rivals City next weekend, now second in table

Manchester United host city rivals Manchester City for the derby next week while Everton travel to Arsenal.

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About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.