If Dean Henderson was hoping for another chance to impress parent club Manchester United with his shot-stopping skills he will be disappointed with his performance against Everton. The goalkeeper did not have a save to make in the first half, so tame were the visitors in attack, then having lulled their opponents into a false sense of security Everton came up with a set-piece winner in the first minute of the second half to which Henderson had no answer.
It is still debatable how much Everton have improved under Carlo Ancelotti, though they managed the only two attempts on target in this game and at least Richarlison’s goal prevented any repeat of Sheffield United’s win at Goodison last September when Marco Silva’s side were losing to newly promoted teams for fun. United have been so solid in the top flight it is easy to forget this is still their first season back, and though this result, combined with Wolves’ win over Crystal Palace, ended their quest for European football they are still going to finish higher than many more established sides. Such as Everton, to name one.
“That was a big improvement on our last performance,” Ancelotti said. “The performance was good and the level of concentration totally different.” Defeat means United’s slim hopes of a top-six finish are over, but their manager, Chris Wilder, was philosophical. “I’m looking at the big picture, we shouldn’t be anywhere near the top six,” he said. “The club and players have overachieved massively this season and we’ve just lost our last two games to good sides in Leicester and Everton.”
The visitors found it difficult to beat the United press at first, constantly turning backwards and rarely crossing the halfway line in possession. All the home side had to show for their early pressure were a few free-kicks and corners, from some of which Ollie Norwood tried to test Jordan Pickford’s positioning, though neither goalkeeper was called upon to make a save from open play in the first quarter. Theo Walcott did get into a threatening position on one of Everton’s rare forays upfield, though after Gylfi Sigurdsson had picked him out in the area he merely rolled the ball across the face of goal. Dominic Calvert-Lewin might have done better when André Gomes broke up a Sheffield attack on the right and sent an accurate pass to find him in the middle, but the striker’s first touch was too heavy and Henderson was able to collect easily.
Pickford was finally called into action four minutes before the break, tipping away a shot from Chris Basham that looked to be going wide anyway, seconds before United had a scare at the other end when Calvert-Lewin hit a post. The striker is often accused of not being clinical enough and, having climbed well to reach Walcott’s cross at the far post, he needed to be a little more precise from a couple of yards out.
Henderson came out early during the interval for some extra ball work, so little had been his involvement in the game, yet less than a minute after the restart he was picking it out of his net. From a Sigurdsson free-kick 30 yards out Richarlison got in front of Enda Stevens and flicked a superb header into the bottom corner. There was nothing any goalkeeper could have done because of the header’s power and accuracy, and from Sigurdsson’s celebrations it looked as if finding Richarlison had been his intention all along. The Brazilian had rarely looked dangerous from open play but when the chance came he took it with an alacrity that left the home side momentarily stunned.
Everton began to play a bit more once ahead, with Gomes showing up well in midfield, and after an hour Henderson was needed to save from Calvert-Lewin. They should have scored again 10 minutes from the end with Walcott free in the area, but this time his low cross could not pick out Richarlison or Calvert-Lewin. United kept looking for an equaliser, with Billy Sharp miscontrolling their best chance, though for a team with the 18-year-old Jarrad Branthwaite making his first start at centre-half, Everton saw the game out safely enough.
