United beat Everton to give Solskjaer much-needed boost

Manchester United returned to winning ways with a convincing 3-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday that relieved the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, reported EFE-EPA.

Bruno Fernandes was again Manchester United’s standout performer as he led them to a victory that will be a huge relief for his under-fire manager.

Two limp defeats this week at home to Arsenal and away in Istanbul on Wednesday night had heaped pressure on the manager, but his team responded admirably and showed they remain committed to his project.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Solskjaer was uncharacteristically angry at the scheduling of two games in less than four days.

“The authorities set us up to fail. The kick-off time set us up to fail,” he said. “We have been to Turkey, played loads of games this season already, we got back Thursday morning and we are playing Saturday lunchtime, it's an absolute shambles.

“Who is responsible? We've had enough of that. Players this season, in these times, a pandemic, mentally and physically it's draining. Let us play on a Sunday, there's an international break after this, it's a joke. The players were brilliant.”

After falling behind early to Bernardo’s tidy near-post finish, United’s players quickly took control of the game.

The visitors were back on level terms on 25 minutes after lovely interplay down the left hand side ended when Luke Shaw stood up a fine cross for Fernandes, who arrived on cue to power in an unstoppable header past Jordan Pickford.

Everton could barely lay a glove on United, who were finding space all over the pitch.

Five minutes after equalising, they were ahead after Marcus Rashford picked up the ball in space, fed it wide to Fernandes who chipped a delicate ball back to Rashford, who failed to make contact with the ball but watched as it hit the back post and nestled in the net behind Pickford.

The second half was niggly affair short on clear goal scoring chances.

United were content to let Everton have the ball, but the Toffees, who looked short on confidence, were unable to fashion any meaningful opportunities.

The home team looked susceptible to the counter attack, and United could have wrapped up the game sooner if they had been more clinical with their final ball.

The visitors eventually added a third goal after another break away in stoppage time, with Fernandes driving forward against an outnumbered Everton defence to slip in Edinson Cavani to score his first goal for his new team.

For Everton, who started the campaign strongly and even led the table, this was a third league defeat in a row.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men head into the international break hoping to regain their form when they travel to lowly Fulham on 21 November, when United will host West Bromwich Albion.