An overview of how the national media covered Everton's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League
David Moyes shakes hands with Manchester United's interim head coach Michael Carrick after the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images
David Moyes shakes hands with Michael Carrick after the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images
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Benjamin Sesko’s second-half strike ensured Everton’s disappointing home form continued for another match as Manchester United left Merseyside with three points.
Yet, while the national media focused much of its attention on the combination of nationalities that produced that winner in the first game since Red Devils’ co-owner Jim Ratcliffe’s controversial comments on immigration, most found space to offer an outlook on the Blues’ efforts.
And typically they reflected on a home performance that showed intent and made life tough for the visitors before their £200m strike force linked up for the defining moment of the game.
In the Guardian Andy Hunter wrote how David Moyes was “angered by another Everton home defeat but not a more encouraging performance” and highlighted how Sesko’s goal came because the hosts were seeking a breakthrough after a scrappy first half: “Moyes’s team were largely responsible for the overall improvement as they pressed in greater numbers and to better effect. Iliman Ndiaye’s influence increased and both Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Idrissa Gueye went close as the pressure from the home side intensified.”
He did reflect on the consequence of the winless home run stretching to a seventh game, however, adding: “They will need a transformation similar to that enjoyed by Sesko in a United shirt to achieve the European qualification that appeared within reach not so long ago. The 22-year-old now has six goals in his last seven appearances for United having scored only twice in his first 17 outings.”
Paul Joyce writing in the Times pointed to Moyes’ belief that visiting sides are finding the state-of-the-art facilities at Hill Dickinson Stadium too much for their liking as the justification for his conservative line-up, one that saw central midfielders James Garner and Harrison Armstrong and centre back Jarrad Branthwaite all playing out of position.
He wrote: “In an attempt to… make life a little more uncomfortable for visitors, Moyes opted for a line-up with just three overtly attack-minded players — Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry — and seemingly hoped the industry of the others would suffice. There was no quarter given in that regard.
“The difficulty was always going to be maintaining forward raids long enough to trouble a United rearguard in which Leny Yoro replaced the injured Lisandro Martínez and looked uncomfortable, especially on the ball, in the opening stages.”
That lack of cutting edge has been a real issue this season but for Oliver Holt writing for the Mail it is the missing piece in an exciting puzzle on the banks of the Mersey. He described the pre-match welcome led by Everton supporter group the 1878s as “spine-tingling” and concluded: “Everton are still searching for home comforts. This was their fourth defeat in six home games without a win and, for all their industry and endeavour, they are desperately lacking a cutting edge. When they find it, this place will become a fortress.”
For all the fight and determination, the Blues are struggling to find those moments of attacking quality, however, and it proved costly as Richard Jolly writing for the Independent noted: “In November, his [Ruben Amorim’s] United were clueless when confronted with the 10 men of Everton and lost at Old Trafford. The rematch was different and not just because Idrissa Gueye completed the evening without slapping a team-mate. Unlike Amorim, Carrick found a way. Successful substitutions have been a theme of his reign, and not just those involving Sesko.
“For one of his predecessors, it was a frustrating reunion. David Moyes has now seen Everton go seven games without a win at Hill Dickinson Stadium. They are yet to record a win over elite opposition at their deluxe ground, and when they were looking more ambitious than United, they conceded.”
In the ECHO the verdict was built around what felt like progress at home despite the result: “Everton’s winless home run stretched to a seventh game with defeat to Manchester United but what happened on the final whistle felt significant. After an initial, sharp chorus of boos for the officials who repeatedly left Davide Moyes and his players confounded, the mood in the giant South Stand turned to defiance and, to some extent, pride. Just like they had done at the end of a battling first half, the home supporters applauded their players off.
“The ovation peaked when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, then Jordan Pickford, went to acknowledge that reaction before the home fans left in the stadium roared their team’s name.
“This was another night of frustration and disappointment on the Liverpool waterfront. But it also felt like progress. Yes, Everton lost. Yes, they were missing a cutting edge in the final third. Yes, they still have not won at Hill Dickinson Stadium since that heady early December afternoon against Nottingham Forest.
“But they were unlucky on Monday night. They worked hard, they pestered their opponents and subjected them to a barrage of corners and crosses and just could not manufacture the opportunity that would save them.”
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