Manchester United were blowing off cobwebs as they took to the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday evening.
Almost two weeks had past since Michael Carrick had last stood in the technical area - due to the Red Devils' embarrassing outing in the FA Cup. However, this is a new-look United under Carrick, one that is playing without fear.
Under Carrick, the Red Devils have played on the counter-attack - expertly dispatching of Manchester City in a derby day that will live on long in the memory and downing Arsenal in the final minutes of the match.
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And it was again on the counter-attack that United struck under the lights on Monday. However, United's style of play wasn't Carrick's genius decision on the evening - in fact it was probably his worst.
Everton had given as good as they got, and had cut through an open midfield throughout the game. Instead, Carrick's decision to introduce Benjamin Sesko from the bench was inspired.
Racing against tired legs, Sesko used his blistering paces to burst away from the Everton defence and calmly slot past Jordan Pickford.
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There have been calls to start the multi-million-pound-striker, but Carrick stuck to his guns, knowing the plan was always to bring him off the bench.
Everton played well, and they had their chances to get back into the game, but as the Toffees started to push for an equaliser it almost played more into Carrick's tactics.
They wanted to sit back. And then they wanted to strike.
It was helped Everton lacked a cutting edge, with Gary Neville commenting: "Everton have actually played well in this second half.
"They have put the United defence under pressure, but they haven't had that little bit of creativity or quality in the final third yet."
Everton had all the ball, most notably turning corner kicks into something that resembled the Royal Rumble, but they never really looked likely to score.
United are unbeaten in the Premier League since the turn of the New Year, and with each passing week they're sitting prettier in the top four.