The crunch mid-day fixture of a dwindling albeit impressive Carlo Ancelloti led Everton side against an underperforming, widely criticised Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s Manchester United side at Goodison Park made for a perfect start to the weekend Premier League round of fixture and it definitely lived up to it’s pre-match billing.
Coming into the game the pressure was on for the Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer after a disappointing record-breaking home loss to rivals Arsenal( the first in 14 years) and a shocking 2-1 Uefa Champions League loss in midweek to minnows Baseksehir Istanbul, rumours and whisperings of an impending sack and replacement by former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino were becoming even louder. The game without a doubt had a make or mar, do- or die feel for the gaffer and he came into the game needing some much-needed result and performance from his big guns.
Solksjaer’s team news brought forth the first controversial event of the day as the enigmatic, underperforming Paul Pogba was surprisingly dropped from the starting lineup in favour of Juan Mata and Antony Martial finally returned to the starting lineup after serving his suspension. Everton also had a surprise inclusion in their starting lineup as arguably the ”signing of the season” James Rodriguez returned with Gylfi Sigurdsson getting the nod in midfield too.
The Merseyside team began the game in the ascendency as they flooded the United defence with relentless attacks, their efforts were rewarded in the 19th minute as they opened the scoring through a well taken Bernard goal as United’s porous defence was laid bare once again, this time with no Paul Pogba to lay the blame on.
Solksjaer had the look of a man out of ideas and surely had thoughts swirling of yet another bad day at the office but needn’t have worried as his star Portuguese Bruno Fernandes popped up with the much needed equaliser in the 25th minute from a delightful header off a precise Luke Shaw cross. That goal seemed to have spurred the away side into life as seven minutes later they scored once again, establishing the lead for the first time in the game, Bruno Fernandes cross seeming to have been converted by teammate Marcus Rashford. The goal was eventually adjudged to be the Portuguese 6th of the campaign so far as the manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer could finally breathe an undeniable sigh of relief with Manchester United going into half-time in the lead at 2-1.
The second-half was all about keeping possession for the away side as Manchester United seemed more in control of the game after what was sure to be an interesting halftime pep talk from Solksjaer. On the 80th minute, Pogba finally had his much-anticipated appearance of the day as he replaced the tiring Mata while Cavani took the place of the hardly noticeable Antony Martial. The intention was clear from Solksjaer, wind down the clock with fresh legs to secure a much-needed three points and it worked as they soaked up the pressure for most of the closing periods and finally sealed the win in the 94th minute through a Fernandes break-away and assist to Edinson Cavani, as the Uruguayan striker finally got his first goal in Manchester United colours
As the final whistle blew with the game ending 3-1 in favour of manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side, it is hard to ignore the fact that the win was secured sorely because of a Bruno Fernandes masterclass rather than the managerial quality of the much-maligned Norwegian manager.
