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Still alive
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job is still intact thanks to Manchester United’s 3-1 comeback win over Everton on Saturday.
A double from Bruno Fernandes helped ease some pressure off United’s situation for now.
A loss today would’ve been the worst opening to a season for Man United since 1987.
That year United was fourth from the bottom at this stage of the season.
That cost manager Ron Atkinson his job and the legend of Sir Alex Ferguson was born.
Game Story
Early on it appeared Solskjaer’s destiny had been written when the Toffees took the lead 19 minutes in.
A Jordan Pickford clearance upfield was inadvertently flicked on by Victor Lindelof into the path of the onrushing Bernard.
The Brazilian made no mistake beating David de Gea with a nice low drive from the edge of the box.
The Reds however responded six minutes later.
Some great passing movements from Juan Mata and Luke Shaw saw Shaw’s cross from the left met perfectly by Fernandes and nodded home for the equalizer.
Everton almost regained the lead in the 29th minute when Lucas Digne broke free down the left and fired from a tight angle against the frame of de Gea’s goal.
In the 32nd minute, an impressive exchange of passes between Fred, Marcus Rashford, and Fernandes saw United go ahead.
United’s number 18 played a cross into the box that missed Rashford but sailed past Pickford who anticipated a deflection on the cross.
Pickford nearly gifted the Reds a third on 62 minutes, dropping a simple cross to the back post to Harry Maguire who couldn’t turn it into the open net.
A great chip through by Fred found Rashford in all alone in the 73rd minute but Pickford did well to close the angle and save the shot with his shin.
With the Toffees pressing forward for the equalizer United found a third in stoppage time.
In the 95th minute, with numbers forward, Bruno Fernandes turned provider on a quick counter feeding substitute Edinson Cavani who easily found the net for his first goal with the club.
Firsts
Both teams scored with their first shots on target today.
Everton’s goal in the 19th minute was their only shot on goal all afternoon.
Cavani’s goal was the first for his new club.
The loss marks the first time since December 2019 that Everton has lost three straight Premier League games.
It’s also the first time Toffees boss Carlo Ancelotti has lost three straight domestic league matches since his days at AC Milan in November 2006.
This is the first loss for Everton at Goodison Park this season
Comebacks
In United’s three league victories they conceded the opening goal but each time they were quick to respond.
At Brighton they equalized three minutes after conceding the opening goal, winning 3-2.
Against Newcastle, they tied the game 21 minutes after giving up the first goal, winning 4-1.
Today it took just six minutes to get back into the match.
Road Warriors
Man United has now won three straight EPL matches away from home.
They’re only the third team in Premier League history to win three straight on the road while conceding first in all three games.
Leeds United in 1999 and Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 are the other two.
United’s dominance at Goodison Park continues.
The Reds have now won 17 games on Everton’s home ground, the most wins for any visiting side at one specific venue in the competition.
Man of The Match
The team skipper who’s made headlines for all the wrong reasons both on and off the pitch was a rock at the back for United.
Harry Maguire played like the world’s most expensive defender Saturday, keeping the league’s leading goal scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin at bay.
The centre-back perfectly timed his challenges and made some intelligent passes with the ball.
Perhaps his strongest performance this season.
Managers Words
Following the victory manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was none too pleased about the unusually early start for today’s game.
“How can you expect players to perform to the best of their ability when you send them out at 12.30 pm? Absolute joke, “says Solskjaer.
“Our players were set up to fail today with the schedule. I pushed my club to really fight the kick-off time on this one to give us at least half a chance, but it was quashed.”
On the opposite side, Carlo Ancelotti says his side was poor defensively.
“It was not a good performance in one aspect and that was defensively. After we scored a goal we were not able to defend properly.
“It is quite clearly a problem and we have to sort this.”
What it means
The win not only saves Solskjaer’s job for now but it gives the Reds some much-needed breathing room in the standings heading into the international break.
For the time being, they move to 13th place with 10 points in seven matches.
The Toffees drop to 6th place and remain at 13 points.
Next Up
Solskjaer now has some room to work with as the international break buys him two weeks to think of a way to right the ship at Old Trafford.
The team’s next action is Saturday, November 21 against West Bromwich Albion.
Kickoff from Old Trafford is at 3 pm. (JSL)
