Man United Survive FA Cup Scare Against Everton

• As Rashford emerges shinning star in 3-1 victory 

Marcus Rashford has done it again! On the night that the England international was the star of the show once again, the Red Devils survived a scare to overpower the Toffees at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old striker was the hero for United, powering them to a 3-1 victory against Everton in the FA Cup third round at the Theatre of Dreams on Friday evening.

Rashford ensured a positive start for United as he exposed Ben Godfrey on the wing before sending a dangerous ball towards the back post for Antony to slide in the opening goal.

It was his good footwork that resulted in United’s lead being restored, too. He sent the ball into the box early in the second half to catch Everton goal scorer Conor Coady off guard, resulting in an own goal from the defender.

Everton thought they had pulled level once again through Dominic Calvert-Lewin but VAR put an end to their celebrations. Rashford, as the architect of all of United’s good work, then put an end to any of the Toffees’ hopes of getting a draw when he finally got the goal he deserved, converting a late penalty to put the game beyond doubt.

United are now on a seven game winning run and Rashford has been pivotal to that, having scored in each of his last five matches for the club.

Rashford’s renaissance continues with the England international maintaining his excellent form with another strong performance. He made easy work of Ben Godfrey down the left side to set up his team’s opening goal.

He was a danger throughout the match and his fancy footwork and dangerous ball in created United’s second. To cap off a near-perfect night, Rashford made international teammate Pickford look silly, waiting for the Everton ‘keeper to move before rolling his penalty into the opposite corner.

It was also a match that saw Demarai Gray proving to be Everton’s brightest player and the man most capable threat going forward for the visitors. That was summed up quite well when he charged forward and blasted the ball in off of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The goal would have been just reward but sadly for the Toffees it was ruled out because he was marginally offside in the build up. If his side are to pull away from the relegation zone Gray is going to need to produce a few more performances like this one.

Alejandro Garnacho, Manchester United’s rising star came off the bench and made an impact as his burst into the Everton box ended with him being brought down and earning a penalty for his side.

The youngster is making a case to be given more playing time at United and after Antony and Anthony Martial both underwhelmed once again, it may be time for Erik ten Hag to give him a proper run in the starting XI.

Interestingly, the night also had some losers in David de Gea, United’s goalkeeper who gifted Everton their equaliser with a calamitous moment. As the ball was whipped in, De Gea stood up against his post and let it slip through his legs which allowed Conor Coady to rush in and knock it over the line.

Much like his compatriot Kepa Arrizabalaga’s error against Man City the previous night, it really was impossible to decipher what on earth he was thinking. At least it didn’t cost his side in the end…

For Anthony Martial, it was a quiet and fruitless performance as he often seemed out of sync with the rest of the United attack. The French striker took too many touches on the ball and needed more time and space than any defence will afford him, making it far too easy to keep him quiet at Old Trafford on Friday. He needs to find form soon or he’ll find himself slipping back down the pecking order.

On his part, Nigeria international Alex Iwobi was stretchered off with a nasty looking injury following a challenge from Tyrell Malacia. Iwobi has been one of Everton’s best players so far this season and he and coach Frank Lampard will be hoping for good news as a long-term absence would deal a huge blow to their hopes of crawling away from the Premier League’s bottom three.

Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay came on as late introduction from the bench full of industry, but but did not have much to do as the match wore on.

It was another great outing for Manager Erik ten Hag as the Dutch coach set his team up well for this game as they dominated from the beginning and took an early lead.

However, the win would have been more comfortable had it not been for De Gea’s huge blunder leading to the equaliser.