Neither team was quite as advertised during Friday evening’s maiden FA Cup third round tie. Manchester United were not the newly-minted title challengers they have been touted as in some quarters. Everton were not the doomed, fading entity that looks to be enduring its Premier League death rattle. No, quite the opposite in fact. This game was so riotously entertaining precisely because these teams looked a lot closer in ability than has been made out. United triumphed 3-1 on the night after a feisty affair that felt like a true FA Cup occasion.
United enjoyed the dream start as Antony put them ahead with four minutes on the clock. Marcus Rashford ghosted past Ben Godfrey and slid the ball towards the back post. Antony arrived to steer it home and give the Red Devils an early lead.
READ MORE:
Erik ten Hag’s side looked like adding to their advantage, with Anthony Martial and Casemiro both putting speculative strikes wide and high respectively. But Everton offered a threat too. Demarai Gray’s snapshot ricocheted off the post and out of play via David De Gea’s back.
The Spain international’s next intervention would be less successful. Amadou Onana’s through ball saw Neal Maupay guide it towards De Gea. The goalkeeper passively let the ball roll off his ankles, through his legs and in off a grateful Conor Coady. It was a bizarre brainfart from the veteran, one that will be constantly replayed on social media in the coming days.
United tried to make amends. Martial and Rashford played a slick interchange to bypass Coady, but Jordan Pickford saved the former’s attempt. Christian Eriksen sent the England goalkeeper scrambling from distance, but the Dane’s elegant curler went narrowly over. The teams went in level at the break after a curious but exciting half.
The second half got off to a frenetic start. Casemiro lost Alex Iwobi, who bore down on the United final third. Tyrell Malacia showed incredible pace to get back and dispossess him with a crunching slide tackle. The challenge was far but it caused Iwobi an injury that saw him stretchered from the field.
Coady was once again involved in a strange but impactful moment. Rashford tied Seamus Coleman in knots before squaring the ball. Coady slid in and sent it careening past Pickford to hand United a 2-1 lead.
Everton were still in the fight. Abdoulaye Doucoure’s marauding run ended with Coleman taking a shot. De Gea used his feet far more impressively than he had earlier to block the attempt, before Vitali Mykolenko’s follow-up was blocked.
The Toffees would find their way through again. Demarai Gray’s flick-on to Coleman saw the ball returned to him. The winger’s whipped cross was turned home by substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin. But the goal was ruled out for offside, with Gray going just a little too soon when meeting Coleman’s return ball.
Deep into injury time, substitute Alejandro Garnacho burst beyond Godfrey into the box. The exciting winger was brought down by the Everton defender, resulting in a penalty. Rashford stepped up to score and take his record to seven goals in his last seven home games.
United are unlikely to win the title. Even if Ten Hag has cracked a code that was beyond Messrs Van Gaal, Mourinho and Solskjaer, they are surely too far behind Arsenal now. Everton equally might not survive. For as spirited as this performance was, they have to do it in the league and secure the results to match their displays if they’re to stay up. But for one entertaining night under the Old Trafford lights, these two uniquely-placed sides meshed to put on quite a cup tie.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
