
EPL : Man. United Beats Everton to Remain within Top Four Mark, Chelsea’s Poor Run Continues
By Sakiru Olopade.
Manchester United continued the quest for the champions league qualification with the 2-0 spanking of Everton at the Old Trafford.
The Red Devils are neck to neck with Newcastle United with Tottenham on the duo’ s heel for a fierce battle for the 3rd and 4th place on the log.
Having this at the back of their mind, the Erik Ten Hag’s side did not leave any stone unturned in securing the maximum three points.
The United had 21 shots at goal in the first half, their most on record since 2003/2004 in the opening 45 minutes of a EPL game and an indication of their zeal to win the encounter.
Scott Mc Tominay broke the deadlock in the 36th minute, after Jordan Sancho’s sleeky pass to ram the opener past Jordan Pickford at his near post.
After the much sought 1st goal, United continued pilling pressures on Everton’s defense but Jordan Pickford made a string of fine saves to put United’s attackers at bay.
What could have been the second goal before the end of the 1st half was wasted by enterprising defender, Aaron Wan- bissaka who failed to finish up with an empty net after Anthony’s shot had bounced back to him off a post.
The second half saw Everton with decent performance but Manchester United were not in the mood to surrender their lead.
Anthony Martial, coming off the bench to score his 1st premier league goal in the 71st minute, slotting past Pickford after Lisandro Martinez and Marcus Rashford had combined beautifully down the left flank.
Marcus Rashford left the pitch with an injury scare, suspected to be groin injury. However, Christian Eriksen returned after two and a half months with an ankle injury to add bite to United attack.
At Molineux stadium, Chelsea with their interim manager, Frank Lampard continued the poor run with a 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers . The Blues failed to score yet for the 3rd successive game, did not show any sign of improvement, even with the return of their former manager, Frank Lampard.
The Wolves were on the foot- front throughout the encounter and deserved their win from sweet finish by the Portuguese , Matheus Nunes, beating Kepa Arrizabalaga with a ferocious shot from a tight angle after a hasty header clearance by Kalidou Koulibaly.
With the result, Frank Lampard made a losing return to Chelsea with his first game in charge of the Blues while Wolves secured a hard-earned victory.