United crush Merseyside hopes of a trophy
Tags: UK, Football, Sports, Manchester United, England

A cold dry evening at the Goodison Park saw 2000 fans in attendance losing yet another chance of winning a trophy in the last 25 years. United got the match underway and boy did they start strong. For a side that has been criticized time and time again this season for being too slow to get the ball running they got off to a blazing start. Either Solskjaer is a legendary coach in the making who is getting the best from an inconsistent squad, or more likely his recruiters were not so hopeless after all and United are showing signs of living up to their potential. We can’t be sure right now but one fact will remain, Ed Woodward might sport the smuggest grin in the Premier League right now considering the recent performances of the team, 3rd in the PL and semis of the League cup, not a bad weekend!

Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani returned to Manchester United’s starting line-up as manager Ole made nine changes from Sunday’s thrashing of Leeds. Only captain Harry Maguire and playmaker Bruno Fernandes retained their places. Meanwhile, Ancelotti opted to rotate his goalkeepers with Robin Olsen coming in for Jordan Pickford. Seamus Coleman captained the side with his first start since mid-October after injury.

The match started with fast attacks from Manchester United who were fast on the pitch and were stiching good passes in the final third. Chances for United came from the work of Greenwood won the ball on the edge of the Everton box, and rolled it to Fernandes for once was not able to pick out a simple pass to Cavani. Had he done so, a tap-in for Cavani wasn’t a bad way for him to start. Corners and crosses were aplenty as United kept the pressure on the home side. The defensive line and the goalkeeper not being able to get DCL into the game with some long balls hurt them as United kept on pressing and kept the ball of DCL’s reach. It had been a truly dreadful start for Everton. They had none of the ball and had been sloppy in defense.

Everton finally mounted an attack in the 23rd minute as Sigurdsson broke into the United box before having his shot blocked. Five minutes later, United again had the ball and Bailly burst forward carrying the ball from his defensive line to the Everton 18 yard box, creating an attack for his side. Fernandes cut onto his right, crossing the ball in. Van de Beek met it but the ball was deflected wide for a corner. The home side had started to get a foothold in the game, although they have not created any chances of note. United should have scored, at least once, early on and it was defiantly something they were after, Everton on the other hand had a little more control over the game.

Source : Getty Images

The second half was less exciting for the first 30 minutes with both the sides trying to create some chances but neither of them being able to make any decisive strides into the opponent half. With the last 15 left Ole brought on Rashford and Martial to break the deadlock. In the 87th minute though, United sprung into action again with a counter. Anthony Martial found a delightful pass to Cavani and a sensational shot from the Uruguain striker found the back of the net! Later as Everton threw bodies forward in the United box to conjure up an equalizer they were caught by a strong counter by the United forwards as Martial broke into the box and rolls the ball calmly home with the last kick of the game.

Source : Getty Images

United deserved to go through they had plenty of chances at the start and at the end of the game and were technically sound for the most part. Everton, on the other hand, failed to create much at all. Disappointing performance from the home side in front of their side.

Some Numbers from the game —

- Manchester United have reached the League Cup semi-finals for the 16th time, second only to Liverpool (17) in the competition’s history.

- Everton failed to register a single shot on target in the second half, with Gylfi Sigurdsson having 57 per cent of their total attempts (4/7).

- Manchester United have scored in each of their last 25 away games in all competitions, since a 2–0 defeat at Liverpool in January.

- Anthony Martial is the third substitute to both score and assist a goal for Manchester United in all competitions this season (Mason Greenwood v Luton, Edinson Cavani v Southampton), with no sub having done this for the club in either 2018–19 or 2019–20.

- United made a total of 9 changes in their team from the last game they played, some squad depth :P

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This post is not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings or cause unrest, if you have any issues do comment and I’ll make sure to note your points and make corrections!