Everton vs Manchester United match report: Wayne Rooney polishes off convincing win against former club
The former Toffees striker scored his first goal at Goodison Park for eight years
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Howard Kendall’s drink of choice was sparkling wine – cava mainly – and you might have imagined the death of their greatest manager would have inspired Everton to the kind of effervescent football that was the hallmark of his teams.
Instead, Goodison toasted Kendall’s passing with three-day old Babycham. There was the odd bubble but, against a Manchester United side whose recent record on the blue half of Merseyside is a feeble one, it was all very flat.
Perhaps because he wore the blue of Everton for Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial, perhaps because they expect him to return home one day, Wayne Rooney is no longer howled down at Goodison Park as he once was. However, he looked shorn of confidence, often preferring to pass when once he might have shot.
Then, with just over an hour gone, he timed his run perfectly to meet Ander Herrera’s pass and score the 187th Premier League goal of his career – only Alan Shearer has more. It was the first time he had scored at Goodison in eight years.
For Louis van Gaal the ease of his victory would have been a profound relief after his team’s surrender at Arsenal. “I wanted a response and this was more than a response,” said the United manager. “It was very difficult to prepare this match because we lost to Arsenal in such a horrible way. We had a lot of meetings, between 10 and 15 between Wednesday and this match.”
Van Gaal started with Ander Herrera, something he had not done since the 3-1 win over Liverpool more than a month ago. Van Gaal was rewarded with a measured performance from the midfielder that saw him create two and score one against a Toffees side their manager, Roberto Martinez, did not attempt to defend. The Everton manager said his side had played as if had just come back from international duty and in the 18th minute, after Steven Naismith had twice tried to clear, Herrera helped the ball on to Morgan Schneiderlin, who drilled it into the corner.
The second, was even worse. Everton allowed themselves to be consistently outflanked. Marcos Rojo had a small ocean of space in which to run and there was almost as much room between Phil Jagielka and Brendan Gallagher for Herrera to advance and meet the Argentine’s cross with a powerful, decisive downward header.
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