Marcus Rashford produced a goal and assist as Manchester United claimed a 3-1 win against Everton at Old Trafford in Third Round of 2022-23 FA Cup.
Rashford secured victory with a 97th minute penalty after Ben Godfrey fouled Alejandro Garnacho in injury-time.
Utd had earlier taken a fourth minute lead through Antony’s close-range strike from Rashford’s pass but a sloppy positioning error from goalkeeper, David De Gea allowed Coady to poke in a 14th minute equaliser for Everton from Neal Maupay’s tight shot under De Gea’s legs.
Coady then deflected Marcus Rashford’s 52nd minute pullback cross into his own net to restore Utd’s lead.
United eventually progressed whilst Everton’s winless run in all competitions extended to eight matches as speculation continues to intensify over manager, Frank Lampard’s future in charge of the Toffees.
Looking to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions, Utd enjoyed an engeretic start which saw Anthony Martial unleash Rashford on a quick solo attack in the fourth minute, which culiminated in Rashford rolling across for Antony to poke in from close-range.
Martial and Casemiro missed subsequent chances to double the Red Devils’ lead until Everton’s first chance fell to Demarai Gray in the 13th minute, as the winger curled a shot towards the bottom-left corner but struck the left-post and deflected wide off David De Gea’s back.
United initially scrappily cleared the consequential corner but failed to trigger an attack which proved costly as Amadou Onana won the ball on the edge of the box, and teed up Neal Maupay whose shot rolled under De Gea’s legs for Coady to poke in to restore parity.
Utd immediately responded in the 16th minute as Martial and Rashford played an one-two move into the box but the Frenchman saw his shot denied by Pickford.
Everton soon found themselves having to resolutely weather waves of attacks from the hosts throughout the remainder of the first-half, as Rashford wasted Utd’s best chance on a quick 32nd minute counter-attack which was flapped away by Pickford.
Christian Eriksen meanwhile curled a left-footed 40th minute strike wide of the top-left corner as Utd entered half-time on top, despite their end product struggles against a resolute Toffees’ defence.
On the restart, Casemiro sloppily conceded possession to Alex Iwobi who breaks forward up his right flank only for Tyrell Malacia to slide in with a heavy touch, which caused a nasty positional twist to Iwobi’s right ankle and ended the Nigerian’s involvement in the match.
Following a calm restart after Iwobi was stretchered off the pitch following three minutes of treatment, Utd reclaimed the lead a further three minutes later as Rashford collected a deep cross towards left flank and calmly pulled back only for Coady to divert into his own net.
Antony almost opened a two-goal lead for the Red Devils in the 54th minute as he cut in from the right and rifled in a low shot towards goal, only for Pickford to make a crucial save.
Vitaliy Mykolenko almost secured Everton a second equaliser after Abdoulaye Doucoure broke forward and teed up Seamus Coleman whose cross deflected off De Gea towards the Ukrainian who tried to bundle in but his attempt was cleared.
Everton then thought they were back in the game as Gray broke forward in the 74th minute from Coleman’s pass, during which he wrong-footed Malacia and teed up substitute, Dominic Calvert-Lewin to nod in from close-range but VAR ruled Gray marginally offside in the build-up.
Idrissa Gueye then fired wide in the 78th minute as the Toffees continued to apply the pressure on Utd’s defence, yet the Red Devils ultimately clung on to secure a Fourth Round spot for a ninth consecutive season.
Victory was ultimately assured in injury-time as Ben Godfrey bundled Utd substitute, Garnacho to ground, which led Rashford to dispatch a 97th minute penalty down the middle to extend Utd’s winning run to seven matches in all competitions.
What’s Next?
Utd will meet Charlton Athletic at Old Trafford in the Quarter-Finals of this season’s Carabao Cup on Tuesday 10 January at 8pm GMT.
Everton meanwhile host Southampton in a crunch relegation six-pointer clash at Goodison Park at the foot of the Premier League table, on Saturday 14 January untelevised in UK at 3pm GMT.
Teams
Manchester United: David De Gea, Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia (Martinez 77′), Casemiro (Fred 71′), Christian Eriksenn (Maguire 83′), Antony (McTominay 84′), Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial (Garnacho 71′)
Substitutes: Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Fred, Tom Heaton, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Anthony Elanga, Scott McTominay, Alejandro Garnacho
Everton: Jordan Pickford, Seamus Coleman (Gordon 81′), Ben Godfrey, Conor Coady, James Tarkowski, Vitaly Mykolenko (McNeil 81′), Alex Iwobi (Doucoure 51′), Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana, Neal Maupay (Calvert-Lewin 69′), Demarai Gray
Substitutes: Mason Holgate, Dwight McNeil, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anthony Gordon, Yerry Mina, Asmir Begovic, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Tom Davies, Ellis Simms
Referee: Darren England
Leave a Reply