Erik ten Hag received his first taste of FA Cup action as Man United played out a feisty and gritty victory over Everton at Old Trafford.
It took United just three minutes to get on the scoreboard, and it was their star summer recruit Antony who tapped the ball in from close range to start the celebrations at Old Trafford and put the home team on their road to victory.
Conor Coady capitalized on a blunder made by David de Gea to score an equalizing goal for Everton against the flow of play, which put a temporary damper on the positive vibes that were circulating throughout the stadium.
The second portion of the first half turned out to be a back-and-forth contest, with both teams blowing opportunities that could have resulted in glorious goals due to poor last ball play.
United regained the lead within seven minutes of the game being restarted, while Coady went from being a hero to a zero. After some spectacular wingplay from Marcus Rashford and after the England ace flashed the ball across the face of the Everton goal, the center defense put the ball into his own net by sliding it in after the pass.
After Alejandro Garnacho was brought down by Ben Godfrey in the second half’s stoppage time, Marcus Rashford added a third goal for United by converting a penalty kick to put an end to any remaining uncertainty about the outcome of the match.
United maintained their composure to earn a hard-fought 3-1 win and secure their spot in the next round of the competition, despite late pressure from Everton and Dominic Calvert-Lewin having a goal disallowed due to an offside call in the build-up.
Rashford, who plays the number 10 position for United, has been in outstanding form all season long, and this match was no exception; Rashford was at the center of everything great that the home team accomplished.
Rashford’s pass made it so that all Antony had to do to score United’s opening goal was gently caress his shot into an empty net from a distance of no more than four yards out. The 25-year-old was the one who set up the opportunity for Antony to score it.
The second goal scored by the Red Devils was eerily similar to the first, with Rashford beating Seamus Coleman to the ends of the field before throwing a dangerous pass with his left foot into the kind of area that center backs fear.
Rashford scored his 106th goal for United from the penalty spot, making it his seventh goal in United’s home stadium in his last seven home matches.
It would appear that Everton’s valiant effort against Manchester United’s local rivals Manchester City the week before wasn’t a fluke, as they gave as good as they got for a significant amount of this fight. Everton gave as good as they got for the majority of the game.
After Tuesday’s embarrassing loss at home to Brighton by a score of 4-1, Lampard was met with calls for him to be removed from his position less than a year after he assumed leadership of the club.
In spite of their performance at Old Trafford on Friday evening, such calls are only going to become louder given that Everton has been eliminated from both cup competitions and that their place in the Premier League is in jeopardy given that they are currently ranked as low as 18th.