Everton were defeated by Manchester United at Old Trafford ending their four-game unbeaten run in uninspiring fashion.
In the first half Sean Dyche’s men were battered as the backline struggled to cope with simple long balls more often than not coming from Bruno Fernandes who operated in a deeper role.
Jordan Pickford kept his side in the game in the opening half an hour making multiple saves to deny Marcus Rashford, Antony and Marcel Sabitzer but the deadlock was eventually opened by Scotland international Scott McTominay who done well to beat the England goalkeeper at his near post.
United had a plethora of shots in the first half emphasising how open Everton were which is so unlike a Dyche side especially away at one of the ‘Big Six’ sides.
At 0-0 Everton did have one big chance through Ellis Simms and his finish was a microcosm of what their problems have been all season as he dragged his effort wide when he had a lot of time to place the ball or smash it at David De Gea but he did neither.
He was taken off with 20 minutes when it seemed that two up-top may have been better for the Blues who needed a goal but it was a like-for-like change as the misfiring Neal Maupay came on for him.
One minutes later Anthony Martial doubled the home sides lead after a costly Seamus Coleman error allowed Rashford to steal the ball off him and square it to Martial for a tap-in.
That put the game to bed for Everton who struggled to create any real opportunities in the second 45 minutes and even when Dyche decided to shake it up by taking both of his midfielders off nothing changed for the side who are fighting for their lives at the bottom end of the table.
Everton were never really expected to get anything at Old Trafford but in recent games they have shown a willingness to go down without a fight but within the first half an hour it was evident that they simply couldn’t lay a glove in this particular fight which will the worrying aspect of the defeat.
A massive game at home against out of form Fulham is up next and a win is a must otherwise they may start to be a gap appearing between themselves and some of the sides in the bottom eight.
