Everton 0 Manchester U 1
Everton 0 Manchester United 1, Goodison Park, English Premier League, October 29, 2011. Manchester United gained all three points in the lunch time fixture against Everton through an early goal by Chicharito. The Toffees came more into the match as United defended ever deeper but failed to level the score with the game ending 1-0 in favour of the visitors.
Sir Alex Ferguson´s men had succumbed to a heavy 6-1 defeat at the hands of neighbouring Manchester City at Old Trafford in their previous Premier League fixture. The Eastlands club had knocked out United in the FA Cup Semi Finals of the 2010-11 the season, but no-one could have imagined that The Sky Blues would bury The Reds in an avalanche of goals. The Merseysiders, for their part, had comfortably defeated Martin Jol´s relegation struggling Fulham side by 3-1 at Craven Cottage in their last Premiership encounter. But in a closely contested match at Goodison Park, Manchester United went into an early lead in the 19th minute of the first half when a good cross ball from Patrice Evra was converted into the back of the net by Javier Hernandez from just two yards out. The Everton players pressed hard for an equalising goal and the blue shirts came close to level the score as a well-taken free-kick from full back Leighton Baines smashed against the crossbar shortly before the half time signal. Then, eleven minutes into the second frame, England U21 international Tom Cleverley was replaced by Portuguese flankman Luis Nani with what appeared to be an injury to the midfielder´s knee. Only a few minutes later, Danny Welbeck could have made it 2-0 to Manchester United, but his strike from close range was brilliantly saved by Tim Howard in the Everton goal. Midway through the second period, Sir Alex eventually decided to make two more substitutions with goal scorer Chicharito making way for Dimitar Berbatov in the 66th minute, and Danny Welbeck being replaced by Antonio Valencia seven minutes later. Despite winning away to The Toffees, Manchester United remained five points behind Roberto Mancini´s table topping Manchester City, who defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers by 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Everton Team: Tim Howard, Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, Johnny Heitinga, Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman, Marouane Fellaini, Leon Osman, Louis Saha, Jack Rodwell, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. Substitutes: Shkodran Mustafi, Ross Barkley, Magaye Gueye, James McFadden, Denis Stracqualursi, Apostolos Vellios, Jan Mucha. Manchester United Team: David De Gea, Phil Jones, Nemanja Vidic, Jonathan Evans, Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Tom Cleverley, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez. Substitutes: Rio Ferdinand, Fabio da Silva, Antonio Valencia, Luis Nani, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Anders Lindegaard.
Javier Hernandez Quickfacts
Chicharito scored 12 goals in 36 games for Manchester United in the 2011-12 season.
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