The Everton verdict from Joe Thomas on a stunning night at Old Trafford
Everton earned a stunning win at Old Trafford
Everton earned a stunning win at Old Trafford(Image: Getty Images)
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“I’ve never felt more like singing the blues, when Everton win and Liverpool lose.”
It was a chant that reverberated around Old Trafford. A canvas of empty red seats was blotted by a smudge of Royal Blue as an away crowd that had no intention of leaving celebrated a monumental result.
For the full 94 minutes it was the travelling fans who dominated the airwaves at the famous home of Manchester United. It was rarely a contest - save for the desperate cries of “attack” the Stretford End appeared as stunned as the watching world by a battling performance that saw Everton mix guts with guile to secure a deserved three points.
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The result, courtesy of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s superb curling effort, was all the more incredible given Everton spent much of this match with 10 men. It was a self-inflicted wound too, with Idrissa Gueye raising his hands to the face of teammate Michael Keane as the pair appeared to debate who was at fault for an early Man Utd chance.
The inquest is already underway, sparked after David Moyes ran down the touchline to the dressing room on the half-time whistle. There will be repercussions at Finch Farm.
For Everton to overcome that moment of madness to deliver a first win in this stadium since 2013 - one that moves the club above Liverpool in the Premier League table - made this victory all the more extraordinary.
Everton had started well but were hit with a double salvo of setbacks in the opening stages as Seamus Coleman, on his first league start of the campaign, was forced off injured before the spat between Gueye and Keane. They did not let that stop them.
Just before the half-hour mark Dewsbury-Hall, who had produced his best display in Royal Blue against Fulham before the international break, provided the matchwinner as Senne Lammens was unable to stop his curling effort from hitting the back of the net. It was a goal that sparked pandemonium in the away end as Everton’s summer signing slid to his knees in front of them.
The celebrations were wild but had the feeling of supporters seeking to cling onto what was expected to be their only moment of joy amid the maelstrom of fighting a rejuvenated Man Utd against 10 men in their own backyard.
The hosts did indeed build pressure and recovered from their initial shock to lay siege to the Everton box. But they did rarely breached a resolute defence. When referee Tony Harrington blew for the break the visitors needed the respite and Moyes needed to re-organise a squad that had the potential to blow apart after the earlier red card - one that saw Gueye needing to be held back by Jordan Pickford and Iliman Ndiaye amid the carnage. It may have been useful to Moyes that his club captain was already in place to provide a level head in the turmoil.
After half-time, Ruben Amorim’s side threw what they could at Everton. They were repelled time and again, all to the soundtrack of the thousands of travelling Blues who grew in confidence as an unexpected result became more likely.
Keane and Dewsbury-Hall were superb, Jack Grealish’s defensive work - he made three crucial interventions in the scene-setting opening five minutes of the second half - was vital and, when the defences were overcome Pickford proved unbeatable, making two important saves from Joshua Zirkzee.
There were moments of fortune too, Bruno Fernandes shooting over from close range, Mason Mount curling just wide. But Everton presented a threat of their own and after riding a storm of Man United chances around the hour mark managed to diffuse the tension with a spell of possession that made holding on appear realistic.
In the end, for all the frenzy of a fight for survival, it was the home players that crumbled under the pressure - Amad penalised for a foul throw, Casemiro directing passes to the touchline and player after player in red losing composure as those in blue bit at them.
Moyes has an unenviable task ahead of him in the coming days. He will be required to sift through the rubble of the spat between his own players and then work out how to deal with the looming challenges of Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest without his most experienced central midfielder.
But it will be a job made far easier by a victory that showed his side had the heart for a fight. “I quite like it when my players have a brawl with each other because it shows they care and [put the] demands on players,” Moyes claimed in the immediate aftermath of the match.
How much he meant that is questionable but there is no doubting this win was a seismic one in a monumental season of transition at Everton. The hugs among those of his players still on the pitch when the final whistle came highlighted the significance of this win to his players. The way Moyes and his staff embraced tightly on the touchline revealed just how much it meant to them.
And in the stands, well, the number of away supporters who stayed late into the night to make their voices heard was the most poignant symbol of progress at a club that has yearned for better days for too long. They feel one step closer after that.