P: United 3 - 0 Everton
PREVIEW
Another game, another high octane clash in store for United. After the haut cuisine of Chelsea comes the plat du jour that is Everton, one of the Premiership’s more stubborn sides and a well-drilled outfit which will be hard to beat. It is in games such as these where United’s lack of a natural predator might be their undoing.
“So soon after playing Chelsea it is important to react with the right mentality and motivation and be alert, especially with three important games coming up,” said coach Carlos Queiroz. “For us and Chelsea, our matches against Everton and Bolton are the third part of Sunday’s game. It is like extra time against Chelsea, so we have to react in the right way otherwise your hard work can be undone.”
Sir Alex has stressed the need to be consistent as the team seeks to lengthen its stride in the coming weeks and put greater distance between itself and the champions. The December and January period will test all of Sir Alex’s faith in his young team, with United facing a dozen or more crucial games.
“We need to be a good position in January to attack the second stage of the competition,” Queiroz added. “If we are in a strong position at the end of January then we should be able to move forward. I believe we can win the title.”
Understandably, Jose Mourinho has a different point of view. His wise-uncle act in the aftermath of his side’s draw at Old Tarfford, commiserating with United for losing an opportunity to go six points ahead and then taunting the club for its lack of reserve options, should be just the motivation Sir Alex needs. If this doesn’t get the team ready to win against the Toffees and ensure the Glazer greenlight for substantial team investment this winter, nothing will.
United expect Ronaldo and Saha to recover from knocks although worryingly, Alan Smith is rumoured to play a part in the match. This has to be a wind-up! Everton have their own injury worries too with Andy Johnson said to have joined the under-rated Tim Cahill in the treatment room. Tim Howard, a United Merseyside loanstar, wont play.
“We don’t go there with fear,” Everton boss Dave Moyes said. “We understand how good the quality of the opposition is. Yet this is a game I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. We’ve had a couple of draws and I’m looking forward to getting my first win there.”
PREMIERSHIP RESULTS:
Watford 0 - 1 Sheffield U; Aston Villa 1 - 3 Manchester City; Fulham 2 - 1 Arsenal; Bolton W. 0 - 1 Chelsea; Liverpool 0 - 0 Portsmouth
MATCH REPORT…
United 3 - 0 Everton
Ronaldo (39) Evra (63) O’Shea (89)
BBC: Manchester United maintained their three-point lead at the Premiership summit with a comfortable win.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s much-changed side struggled to find rhythm early on, but Cristiano Ronaldo broke the deadlock with a 20-yard finish after 39 minutes.
Everton had no cutting edge and Patrice Evra scored his first goal for United from a tight angle after 63 minutes. Substitute John O’Shea wrapped up the win with a flicked finish from Evra’s cross two minutes from time.
United made five changes from the side that drew against Chelsea, with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidic and Louis Saha all left out.Everton had Richard Wright back in goal for his first Premiership start of the season with on-loan Tim Howard ineligible to play against his parent club, and were still without influential injured duo Andrew Johnson and Tim Cahill.
United’s reshuffle meant the league leaders were slow to get into their usual stride.Michael Carrick was robbed by James McFadden in a dangerous position after 15 minutes, and the Scot shot just wide after exchanging passes with Leon Osman.
Kieran Richardson glanced a free-kick on to the top of the bar before he almost got a goal in unconventional fashion when Wright’s clearance struck him, but landed safely.
Wayne Rooney received a predictably hostile reception from Everton’s fans who once idolised him, but he almost silenced the taunts with a header that flashed just wide with Wright beaten. Everton had more than held their own though in the early exchanges, and were somewhat unfortunate to go behind six minutes before the interval.
Carrick’s shot was blocked by Nuno Valente, and Ronaldo drove the rebound low past Wright from 20 yards.United sealed the points after 63 minutes when Evra surged on to Rooney’s pass and outstripped Joseph Yobo to slot a powerful finish through Wright’s legs.
It was the signal for Ferguson to make changes and rest players with the game apparently won, particularly Ronaldo, who was replaced by Gabriel Heinze. Everton threatened a late surge, but Yobo was just off target with a header from Mikel Arteta’s corner. And United sealed the win when substitute O’Shea stole on to Evra’s cross to beat Wright from close range.
TEAM
United: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Evra, O’Shea
Ronaldo (Heinze 67), Fletcher, Carrick (Brown 73), Richardson, Rooney
Subs: Kuszczak,Scholes, Saha
POST SCRIPT
Sir Alex: “I told Ryan Giggs on Sunday that he wouldn’t be playing today. He is 33 and you have got to look after the old species! I felt that we needed to change the team because we are playing Benfica next Wednesday and we couldn’t afford to have them going into that game cold.
“It was important to get the goal before half-time. James Beattie has got a fantastic spring and the lad caused us a lot of problems with that. Everton played well around that and we needed a break through. We were starting to get some pattern to the play before the goal but it was a fluent display. The goal just settled us down. When you make a lot of changes, you are not going to get the flow of the game that you had before. I thought we were okay because we had a lot of athleticism in the team and a lot of players wanted to do well.”
David Moyes: “I thought we played quite well. I certainly didn’t think it was a 3-0 defeat. I thought that we were well in the game before they scored their first and we tried as best we could to get a goal back.We were doing what we could when they got their second. IÂm pleased with what the players have done. This is a hard place to come but I didn’t think that was fair on Everton tonight. We had a few players out who are important to us.”
