Premier League: Manchester United continue UEFA Champions League qualification push with 2-0 win over Everton

Manchester [UK], April 8 : Manchester United continued to push for qualification to UEFA Champions League as they beat Everton dominantly by 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday, pushing them to the third spot in the Premier League table.
But now, after the results of other matches, Man U sits in fourth position in the points table with 56 points, with 17 wins in 29 matches, five draws and seven losses. They are tied with Newcastle United in terms of points, which sits at third due to goal difference. Everton is in the 17th spot with 27 points, only six wins in 30 matches, 15 losses and nine draws.
Though there was something not to cheer about in this win as top-scorer and in-form Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford was taken off the field with nine minutes left to play due to a suspected groin injury.
Manchester United registered a massive 21 shots on goal in the first half, but it was only Scott McTominay who could score. He scored his third goal of the season in the 36th minute.
Rashford should have given United a 2-0 lead inside the first twelve minutes, but Jordan Pickford's fantastic blocking stop prevented it. Then, after Antony's shot rebounded against the post, Aaron Wan-Bissaka sliced wide of an open goal.
Their wastefulness was matched by Everton, whose striker Simms missed a fantastic opportunity to score after driving into the United area unimpeded on minute 19.
Everton's goal was repeatedly pounded by United, but to no avail. Ben Godfrey's outstanding defensive play kept Antony from scoring after goalkeeper David de Gea's quick pass had put him through on goal. Marcel Sabitzer's near-post drive and Antony's shaky attempt both failed to trouble Pickford.
On the 36th minute, Jadon Sancho successfully threaded McTominay in behind to slam the opening goal past Pickford at his near post, breaking Everton's resistance.
Just to halftime, it might have been two, but Pickford made another outstanding stop to keep Everton in the game by tipping Antony's curling shot behind.
In the second half, Everton grew in confidence but still failed to threaten Manchester United's goal. On the other hand, Pickford was made to save two more goals.
As Lisandro Martinez and Marcus Rashford worked well down the left flank, Anthony Martial came off the bench to secure the three points by slipping the ball past Pickford in the 71st minute.
After a protracted injury layoff, Christian Eriksen returned to the field for United, but just four minutes later, Marcus Rashford was forced to leave the game due to injury.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said as quoted by Sky Sports, "As long as you do not score the second there is fear. But we conceded only one chance in the game, so two chances in two games [including Brentford]. We created a lot of chances in what was the third game in six days which is a credit to the team's performance."
"In two really good results we have shown great mentality and character, so we are happy with that. We take things game by game, we know what we are capable of, and you can see we are still improving."
"Today we played brilliant football, created so many chances, the midfield played really well with a lot of speed and direct play. We just needed to be more clinical and score more goals," concluded Hag.
Everton manager Sean Dyche also said, "There were too many mistakes from us to be honest. They were the dominant force in the first half, where we were getting done by straight balls which we didn't deal with very well by our standards. It was pretty simplistic what we could have done better."
"There was some really good last-ditch defending, Jordan [Pickford] made some really good saves, but the reality was not doing the basics well in the first half as a collective. They did go in front and should have been further ahead, although ironically we had the best chance of the game with Ellis Simms, which may have changed the feel of the game at that stage," concluded Dyche.